Chapter nine | Ekaterina
It's been four days since I got married, and truth be told, it's fun.
Not fun okay, but it's not as unbearable as I thought, let's say that I'm adapting, however, some things are still the same.
Like the fact that Valentina despises my existence for some reason, the woman genuinely has major problems.
She's currently glaring at me, it became her significant expression whenever she sees my face.
I raise a questioning brow when she doesn't turn her gaze away from me, which causes her to roll her eyes and stalk out of the kitchen.
But thankfully I'll have to deal with her once every week, that's a thing I'm really grateful for.
I search the kitchen drawers for the Cheerios I found a couple of days ago, I'm truly blessed with those.
"What are you doing?" His voice meets my ears and I startle, even though I've been getting used to his unexpected appearance every now and then.
"Searching for food," I state the obvious and suppress the urge to roll my eyes at him, I swear I can feel his glare burning a hole in my back.
"Found it." I sigh gratefully and place the package on the counter only to find it empty, I groan in frustration and contemplate if the idea wandering through my mind is stupid or not.
"Why don't we go shopping, hmm? I also need some art supplies." I say and give him the most charming grin I can,
the muscle in his jaw ticks and he glance at the expensive watch on his wrist, and uncontrollably I roam my gaze all over him.
He's wearing his usual three piece-black tux and a black undershirt which isn't surprising at this point, everything fucking black, his dark hair is perfectly styled on his head,
sharp cheekbones and strong jaw, and his piercing gray eyes that are right on mine, the man in front of me looks like he came right out of a fashion magazine.
"I have a meeting in an hour, and I'm sure as hell that you won't finish your 'shopping' in less than that." He says and I frown, losing any hope of going out.
It hasn't been that long since I went anywhere, but I just hate staying in this house, it's so....lonely, I don't even know how to describe it, it just feels like I'm locked up.
I shift my gaze to his and nod, he stares at me for a beat and put his hands in his pockets, "I'll come to take you after the meeting if you want." He says, raising a brow.
Joy sparks inside me and I grin, "I'll be ready." I say excitedly and stride towards him, his face stays blank but I don't miss the hint of a smile at the corner of his lips.
"One day it'll be a full-on grin, I promise you that," I say confidently and he looks taken aback for a moment, he probably thought I couldn't notice that he's happy.
Well, he does underestimate me sometimes.
"Shut up." He grumbles teasingly and I roll my eyes as I brush past him, but I don't even bother with wiping the smile off my face as I walk away.
*:･ﾟ✧*:･
"Jesus, fucking pink." He mutters the moment I get in the car, "you're not allergic to color, Alexander, it's okay." I say mockingly assuring him.
He narrows his eyes and I smile a little, "it looks beautiful, don't even try to deny it." I mumble and he doesn't utter a word as he turns on the engine and strides off.
I roll my eyes but don't push him further, I'm glad his robotic self is even functioning to me at the moment.
Moments of silence pass and I don't make a move to break it, I lose track of time until I find him parking and waiting for me.
"Are they coming with us?" I ask cautiously as I motion at the bodyguards beside me,
Please say no.
"No, they're not, they'll stay here." He says and takes my hand as I get out of the car, and as much as I try to, I can't ignore the amount of people staring at us.
It makes me uncomfortable and for a moment I wonder if it does the same to him, even though he doesn't look bothered, but I feel like he'd prefer staying at home than doing this.
He gives my hand a light squeeze catching my attention as I shift my gaze to him, "what?" I ask when he doesn't utter a word.
"You're anxious." He says and my brows furrow, "how did you know?" I don't even try to deny it.
Because I know that he won't believe my words, "your pulse, Ekaterina." He says and I notice his thumb that's hovering over the pulse point in my wrist.
"Oh, is that a habit of yours?" I ask teasingly, in desperate need to change the world, I've always been great at hiding what I'm feeling with smiles and laughter.
"You're great at hiding what you're feeling, sometimes I need....to know if something's wrong." he says sternly as we walk inside the mall, I clear my throat and shift my eyes off him.
He takes the hint and drops the matter, I never want to talk about such thing out loud, let alone with him,
"Where do you want to go?" He forces and I scan the shops around me before speaking,
"I need some Cheerios for starters, then I want to get some clothes and my art supplies." I say shrugging and he narrows his eyes, "if that's okay." I add widening my eyes when I realize that it sounded like an order.
He rolls his eyes, "don't even try." He says sternly and a laugh slips uncontrollably out of me, and his expression softens for a split second before it disappears.
I ignore him and stride inside a shop that catches my attention, "wow, look at how beautiful that is." I squeal excitedly as I motion at the pink dress in front of me.
"I hate the color because of you." His dry reply comes in a moment later catching my attention as I shift my gaze upwards just so that I'm able to meet his eyes.
I glare at him and he smiles smugly in my face, "it's prettier than you." I find myself lying through my teeth, amusement flashes across his face.
"Now sweetheart, why are we lying?" He asks, tilting his head a little as shivers run down my spine.
I narrow my eyes at him, "you're so arrogant did anyone tell you that before?" I ask shrugging unapologetically,
A small smirk tugs at his lips as he scans me from head to toe, and I cross my hands over my chest getting slightly defensive.
Not even slightly, a lot.
"Usually they're too fucking scared to say anything." He says casually running a hand across his jaw, his gray ashy eyes still on mine.
I know it's reckless to act that way with him, but it's just way too boring to not take a risk in this life, "I'm not scared of you." I say with confidence I'm barely feeling.
It's not completely true, I'm fucking scared of him, if I let my mind wander there I won't talk like that again,
but on the other hand, as much as I love denying it, I'm still his wife at the end of the day, and even though some men here hit their wives shamelessly, I know he's not that type of man.
When I shift my gaze to his eyes, I find him leaning down to me, his mouth close to my ears as I feel shivers running down my spine from how close he is.
His scent hits my nostrils and I shiver and straighten my neck, "well, Ekaterina, that's an audacious thing to say." He says in his low tone, my breath hitches but I stay still.
Looking at him through my eyelashes as he continues staring at me, just as the sound of heels clicking catches my attention and I force myself to take a wobbly step back.
Sucking in another breath as I look at the woman who I'm so grateful for her interruption, she's a tall beautiful woman, with her slick bun tightened on her hair and a white dress that's molding perfectly to her body.
"Hello, can I help any of you?" She asks in a sincere sweet tone and I smile at her, "yes, thank you, I just wanted to know if there was another size of those." I motion at the pink dress that caught my attention earlier.
Doing everything in my power to avoid his gaze that I can feel through my body, "I'll go check it." She says politely and excuses herself as she brushes past me.
Nope, nope, I take a breath and force my eyes to meet his, he tilts his head and crosses his arms against his chest, "what?" I ask in the most nonchalant tone I can manage.
He doesn't reply nor does he respond in any other way of his, no jaw ticks or glares, interesting.
"You genuinely like that dress?" He asks raising a brow, my brows furrow and irritation runs through my blood at the annoying tone he's using.
"No I normally go around buying dresses I hate." I reply and his face stays blank, "I was being sarcastic." I feel the need to add from how emotionless he seems.
"You know what sarcasm is? It's when someone says-" I start but his words cut me as he finally glares at me, I can't believe I was actually waiting for this.
"Jesus, I know what it fucking means." He replies with a stern expression, and I almost laugh at the way he looks like he wants to kill me.
"I'm so sorry, it's not restocked until next week, you can come back then." A feminine voice catches my attention and I turn around to find the assistant that helped us.
I glare at him before giving her a smile, "thank you." I reply sincerely and look back to find him smirking,
He's happy that it's out of stock, that fucking-
"Don't be sad, it was so goddamn awful." He says and I roll my eyes, "I wanted it." I reply annoyingly as we start walking away.
"I'd have said that you can come back next week but we'll be gone." He says and my brows furrow as my footsteps slowly pause.
"What is that supposed to mean?" I ask as confusion rattles through my bones, "we're flying to Las Vegas for some work, and I can't leave you here because you're going to meet my brothers." He says and raises a brow.
"Hold up." I point a finger at his chest, "you're telling me that we're traveling to Las Vegas to meet your brothers? And fuck—a plane again!" I say and I'm sure the expression on my face is pure horror.
My eyes widen further as I recall memories from the last time, which was a couple of days ago, it wasn't awful but it was still hard, "I'm going to work and in addition, you'll meet my brothers." He says dryly.
Completely ignoring the panic that's happening inside my body, "I don't want to fly again." I say and he looks at me like I'm a little child complaining.
"Look I know you don't understand what human emotions mean but I genuinely panic when I'm on a plane," I say desperately placing a hand over my chest dramatically.
As I feel the judgment that's coming out of his expression, the fucking asshole, "I understand what phobia means, but you'll have to eventually face it, Ekaterina, you can't live all your life running from planes." He says and I contemplate if he's making fun of me.
"You're an asshole." I almost scream at the whole place, and the said asshole smiles, a full-on smile, it's nothing like the hints he's given me before, and it lights his whole face up, making him look absolutely fucking breathtaking.
"So I've been told." His reply comes a moment later and I suppress the urge of punching his gorgeous face,
I need to get a grip.