"Excuse me?" I asked slowly, wondering if I had heard him correctly.
"I don't like to repeat myself, but let me assume you didn't know that, so I'll give you a free pass," Dimitri said, "You're going to be my wife."
"No," the words flew out of my mouth before I could stop them and I regretted them a moment later when I saw the way his eyes became hard, like two chips of pebble.
"Come again," one side of his mouth pulled up into a smirk that didn't reach his eyes, "And this time, choose your words carefully."
A tremble started from the tips of my toes and went up to my hands, "I-i mean, I'm a married woman. You c-cant_"
"The word can't doesn't exist in my dictionary," he put his hands into his pocket, shoulders drawing back into a stance that made him look even larger and more forbidding.
I stared at him, wondering what the hell was going on, "I think you have the wrong person."
Surely if I was really the one he wanted he would have done some research that would have informed him that I was married, unless of course he wanted to turn me into a bigamist. And God forbid another crime that wasn't my fault be added to my already tainted list.
His eyes narrowed, "No, I don't think I do. And yes, I know all about your sham of a marriage to Miller. That flimsy document won't hold in any law court."
My eyes went saucer wide. Did he really mean that my marriage wasn't- no, it couldn't be. My mind raced with endless possibilities. After all, I had been sold like a pig at the slaughterhouse, I hadn't even signed a marriage document.
"Fortunately for me, I'm not as stupid as Miller," with those words, he pulled out a document from the inside pocket of his jacket and held it out to me, "All you have to do is sign."
With shaky legs, I stepped forward and took the documents. I unfolded it slowly and stared at the heading typed in bold, uppercase letters, the reality of my situation only now hitting me. Along with that reality, this close, his intoxicating smell hit me like a ton of bricks, more staggering than the marriage contract in my hand.
Dimitri smelled like he looked; dangerous.
A mixture of leather, spice, cologne and power, wafting together and intoxicating me.
"I_"
"I'm a busy man, Zahra," he sighed, "Sign the papers."
I glanced down at where his signature was already on the paper. It suited him, I thought with humour. The letters of his name twisted and curled over each other in a slanted, bold hand.
I heard a click and my head shot up, expecting to find him with a gun pressed to my head. I wouldn't have been surprised, after all, the man I had trusted to take me away from my wretched life had turned out to be a mafia don and had held a gun to my head just for the sake of his side whore.
Instead, I found him holding out a golden fountain pen to me.
I took the pen, my fingers brushing against his. A current of electricity shot through my fingers and raced up my arm and I twitched back, heart racing.
What was that?
When I looked at him, his expression was still completely blank so I assumed I had been the only one who had felt it. Whatever 'it' was.
"Sign it, now," even though the words were calm, I could feel the order in them.
Without another thought, I bent toward the table at the side and scrawled my name down on the dotted line, sealing my fate.
"Good girl," he hummed, the words making me to shiver.
"Now what?" I asked, stepping away from the table with the marriage contract on it.
I hadn't even bothered to read through the document, but then again, it wasn't like I could do something about it even if there was a small print about me being sacrificed to Anubis.
Dimitri was right about one thing, he owned my life. He was a man who was used to getting anything he wanted and so, I didn't doubt for one second that whether I had signed of my own free will or not, I wouldn't have walked away from here without being his wife.
The question now was why. Why did he want me to be his wife?
"You can have everybody you want, why me?" I asked quietly, voice rife with defeat.
"I thought I warned you about asking me questions."
At my side, my hands curled into fists, "Are you going to blow my head off now for asking? I doubt you came all this way just for you to leave married to a dead body."
He smiled, a real smile this time around, "You don't know what I will or won't do, Zahra, never forget that."
"If you think my signature there has made me your property, yours to do whatever you want with, you should better think again," I said with bravado I didn't feel, "You don't own me."
"Hmm," he studied me silently for a while.
"I'm sick and tired of men who think the world revolves around them upending my life time and time again."
"Who knew that you had such a mouth on you," his accent had deepened, "You may have gotten away with talking to Miller like this, but trust me, Kotenok, you don't want to get bratty with me."
"I'm not afraid of you," I said even as cold sweat trailed down my back. It was becoming obvious that he wanted me based on my association to Ali, but why exactly.
Were they rivals or something? Was this some insane ego trip or competition? Well, the fact remained that I didn't want or like being a pawn on their chess board.
He took a step forward, and i took an answering one backward. His mouth spread into a face splitting smile and he continued to approach me till I was backed up against the wall, chest heaving.
Dimitri slapped one palm above my head and then he leaned forward, crowding me, "Are you sure about that, Kitten?"