With This Ring

At first all I could do was gaze at him but then Britney’s flailing arms from behind him drew my gaze away from his.

“You freaking know him?” she mouthed shamelessly, her eyes widened with shock, and awe and fright all in one. Pretending to fan herself, she held onto to the door frame for support.

“Here she is,” she finally recovered enough to say. “We work together here. I apologize for the mess, we’re a little short on space. Please go in.”

I immediately declared my stance. “You’re not welcome here,” I said. “Get out.”

Britney stared at me in shock, her gaze moving from mine to his.

Maxim turned around and spoke to her. “Give us a moment, Miss Steans,” he said.

Britney’s mouth hung open. “You know my last name?”

He swung the creaky door shut on her, and turned back around to face me.

I still couldn’t believe he was standing in my office. Neither could I believe that I was about to be tied to him in a way that would be my worst nightmare. No matter what, I was going to bring an end to this. I watched him, breathless with some strange emotion, as he moved across the room over to a waiting chair beside a messy pile of packages that we were yet to get to.

Nothing could ever be between us especially after Anna. I decided to appeal to him directly. If Maxim hated the idea of this union too, there was hope we could somehow hatch a plan to thwart my father. He was known to be hard-headed and even his father was unable to move him when Maxim was not in agreement.

“Maxim,” I began. “Please call this marriage off. It’s an absolutely insane idea. We both know that you and I will never be able to get along … so unless you want a miserable life wouldn’t it be better to call this madness off right now?”

“We don’t need to get along,” he drawled.

His words brought me too close to despair. If he however was on board …

“You want this?” I asked, shocked.

He studied me with eyes that were like blue gems. So beautiful and electrifying they enticed you with the promise of being able to see into the man’s soul, but at the same time it frightened you at what destruction and danger lay in the cold, deadly depths.

“This union,” he said with an elegant shrug, “will make our families a formidable force. What’s there not to want about it?”

His answer disappointed me, but it shouldn’t have surprised me. Of course, he would want it. He was like my father. What he already had was not enough. His whole existence was dedicated to acquiring more power and wealth.

“Don’t you want to be happy? Is controlling the horrid underworld the only thing that you truly want?”

“What I want,” he answered, “is protection. We were both born into a world of many sins, so the best we can do is keep those sins from eventually coming back at us.”

Temper blazed in my stomach. “Well I’d rather be happy for one day than protected and miserable for a hundred.”

He cocked his head then to study me. “Is there someone you… care for?”

“Why? So you can go and kill him?” I almost screamed.

He sighed. “Not at all. I was trying to establish the fact that you have no reason for your objection to this union. After we’re married you’ll be able to carry on with your… plans. There will be no restrictions to your activities.”

I had been about to speak but at his words, my mouth shut back closed. “What? You’re proposing an open marriage?”

He frowned. “I meant your business plans.” He waved his hand around the room. “Whatever this is. Our marriage will not be open.”

Burning hot tears of anger stung my eyes. Living in New York and making plans for my future, I thought I had left the past behind for good. I couldn’t believe this was the life I was going to be resigned to. I had to make him see things my way. Appeal to his sense of fairness, if he had one.

“Maxim,” I began, my voice soft and pleading. “I don’t want the same life you want. I don’t want power or millions in the bank or bodyguards everywhere I go. I want an ordinary life. I want to fall in love for real. I want to have a family of my own. I want to have picnics in Central Park with them. I want to take my kids to school and not worry about whether they will be snatched on the way home. Surely you understand this.”

His phone began to ring then and without taking his eyes off me, he pulled it out of his suit jacket and pressed it to his ear. He didn’t say a word and instead listened.