The Marriage Ultimatum (City of Dreams Series) (18 page)

Sabrina’s only attendant, Lacey, gorgeous in a deep blue satin cocktail dress, handed her the male version of the same ring to place on Vlad’s right ring finger. Somehow, Sabrina hadn’t thought Vlad would want a ring. But then she remembered that this entire day was an artificial production for the benefit of the press—there were discreet cameras everywhere.
Wake up, Sabrina! This is all for the worldwide audience
.

And still she felt a strong measure of satisfaction when she placed that ring on his hand, even though her fingers shook during the entire process. She was a fool.

Then Vlad was bending his head to kiss her chastely on the lips, and the hard warmth of his lips and his big hands grasping her chilled shoulders had Sabrina leaning forward almost as if she would curl into him and be stroked like the kitten he likened her to.
Yuck!
She hated her inability to disguise her response to him, especially in front of this huge audience. Then Vlad set her back from him, and they walked hand in hand back down the aisle to uproarious applause.

And the show was only beginning. The headache and nauseous stomach of the past two days, since her discovery of that photo reasserted itself with a vengeance. Sabrina could only be grateful that a five o’clock wedding on a Sunday evening had to mean that most people, of necessity, would not be able to party all night at what Tomas had called the wedding of the decade.

Alex was dressed in a toddler version of the tuxedo Vlad wore and charmed everyone with his shy smile as he nibbled on a continuous series of Russian snowflake cookies. The cucumber and radish salad and the caviar and smoked salmon were too exotic for him to want to sample and he’d only a small helping of the noodles from his beef stroganoff. Mrs. Egan sat near them at the head table and whisked Alex away with a promise of warm milk and some rest before their wee hours’ overseas flight.

With Alex well looked after, Sabrina knew that Vlad expected her to be front and center with him as he chatted with nearly every important person he had invited. She was locked at his side, his arm about her waist, the top of her head reaching the top of his shoulder. Sabrina recognized politicos and movers and shakers from every level of New York business and government as well as sizable cadres from D.C. and Europe. A few faces she recalled from the functions she had so recently attended with Vlad, but the vast majority were people she had only ever seen in glossy magazines or on the business news.

Those that had already passed through the receiving line were feasting and dancing, and suddenly the noise and the crowd became overwhelming. Sabrina looked up at Vlad, and in an instant, he gave her an all-encompassing glance before halting his well-wisher’s greeting mid-stream.

“Pardon us for a moment, Senator, my wife needs a break, and I think something to eat.”

Hearing him say ‘wife’ somehow sent a shaft of pure possessiveness through her the like of which she hadn’t felt even through the typical promises of the civil ceremony. He drew her closer while he signaled a passing waiter and created a small plate of blini for her. Sabrina forced herself to nibble at it. She felt hungry but the rich, traditional food didn’t appeal. Instead, she scooped up some caviar on a sliver of cucumber and washed it down with champagne

“I don’t know what you’ve been doing these past weeks, but eating hasn’t been high on the list,” he commented. She knew the biggest reason her healthy curves had dwindled was her knowledge of that photo of her mother in his desk and what it meant, but she couldn’t start the discussion she wanted in the middle of this crowd.

“I’ve been busy, same as you,” she responded.

It took effort to sound careless because if being next to him in the receiving line was difficult, being the sole focus of his navy eyes taking in every detail of her appearance was truly unnerving. She had missed him. He had been absent for three weeks, and he thought she looked like she was fading away. It was embarrassing. What was that word people used to use? Pining? Sabrina lifted her chin.

“The food is great.” She changed the subject, selecting some smoked salmon and brown bread from the overflowing buffet display and making a show of eating it. The food and drink was arrayed in a series of long tables featuring a variety of exotic delicacies and including two over-the-top ice sculptures, one for caviar and one for vodka. She helped herself to a champagne and sipped. At least she didn’t feel faint anymore.

“I’m going to just freshen up, then I’ll find you back here on the receiving line, okay?”

Not wanting to look at his hard profile for his response, Sabrina slipped away and out through the ornate doors that led out into the hallway outside the ballroom in search of the bride’s designated powder room.

She was glad to escape the crowd and most of all she was desperate to escape Vlad. It was torture to stand in the circle of his arm and accept well wishes on their marriage, knowing there was now one more lie to pile onto to those that already existed between them. That was the most horrible fact she had to grapple with: her complete inability to stop wanting him in spite of all she now knew. She should run as fast as she could away from this situation, away from him but she couldn’t and most humiliating of all, she knew she didn’t want to. She wanted to stay with him in spite of it all. She didn’t recognize herself. Who was this needy, emotional basket case?

She ran cold water over her wrists, reapplied her makeup, and was feeling marginally more collected when she emerged from the restroom. She walked forward sliding her lip-gloss back in her tiny purse when she bumped into a man standing directly in front of the powder room door.

For a moment, she thought it was Vlad searching her out, but this man though of similar coloring was neither as broad nor as tall.

“Excuse me,” she began, “I wasn’t looking.”

“A bride is forgiven everything on her wedding day,” he said and something in his formal speech pattern had her looking back into his face again.

Then her brain clicked back on. “Oh. Right! You’re Vlad’s best man, aren’t you? We haven’t been properly introduced. Vlad’s been traveling these past weeks leading up to today and I guess we didn’t discuss…”

She felt her face heat. This man would surely know Vlad if he had stood as his best man and certainly would know their wedding was a publicity stunt. Or would he? Her best friend Lacey had been her witness and Sabrina had been far too embarrassed to tell her every sorry detail about the true state of affairs between herself and Vlad.

“I’m Pieter. Vlad’s brother.”

Sabrina’s eyes widened as she took a closer look at him. She could see the superficial resemblance in the black hair and blue eyes but never would she have guessed they were brothers. When Vlad entered a room, he owned it. This man looked as if he spent all of his time on the sidelines.

“I travel a lot for VGI as well. As a matter of fact when Vlad told me the date of the wedding, I wasn’t sure if I could get back in time.”

“I see,” she said.

No, she didn’t see. Sabrina knew intuitively that she would move heaven and earth to attend a family wedding—ha!—if she had any family. Lacey had been thrilled on short notice to act as her witness and Sabrina would do the same for her. But guys were different on every level, and especially about weddings.

“Pleased to meet you, Pieter.” Sabrina put out her hand.

Pieter grasped it. “The pleasure’s all mine.”

When she would have broken contact, he held on.

“So,” without warning, his eyes took on a malicious glint, “you haven’t told Vlad that you aren’t Alexei’s mother, have you?”

“I…what?” Sabrina’s already pale face took on a greenish pallor.

“You’ve just given me the answer.”

He laughed at her still frozen expression.

“I wasn’t so sure when I read the coverage in the press. They make up the most ludicrous stories.”

He laughed again and this time when Sabrina tried to yank her hand away, he tightened his grip painfully on hers.

“But imagine what a story it would be if they knew Vlad married Alexi’s sister not his mother? Talk about leaving my brother with egg on his face?”

That nasty chuckle again.

Sabrina flushed then paled again as she realized there was only one way Pieter could be in possession of the true facts about Alex’s parentage.

“So it’s you? You’re Alex’s father…” Her voice faded to a disbelieving halt.

“Indeed. God knows how many bastards I have running around.” He snickered.

“You disgusting pig.”

Sabrina was sickened by the cavalier way he owned up to being Alex’s father. She twisted her body to break free of his hold, but Pieter easily grabbed Sabrina’s other hand and curled his fingers tightly around both of her wrists.

“Let me tell you how it’s going to go, Sabrina.” His voice was low and menacing. “Nothing changes. Stop squirming, because I really don’t want to hurt you. Just listen. You say one word to my brother about any of this, and I will tell him the truth about you. I have the better claim to the boy and I will assert it if you put my back to the wall. If you tell Vlad any of this, I will take Alex from you. Vlad will divorce you, and I will take the boy, by right, as his father. You will be left with no one and nothing, especially not the cushy lifestyle,” his snaky gaze drifted to the emeralds gleaming against the pale skin above her décolletage, “that’s such a huge step up from the dump you came from.”

She wanted to clock him square on the jaw, then stomp on him and all of his threats but instead, against her will, her body started trembling as his words sank in. She tugged her hands away again and this time he released them. She rubbed at her wrists and felt the blood rush agonizingly back into her fingers.

“Better get back inside before my brother misses you.” His eyes were cold as he issued the instruction. “He swore he’d never tie the knot, but I suppose you provide him with ample comfort on those occasions when he’s actually at home.” His gaze crept over her exposed skin and Sabrina cringed. “Don’t kid yourself that wearing his ring makes you any different from the women he has in Europe and wherever else the business takes him. But Vlad is discreet; I’ll give him that. He keeps his affairs quite separate from anything VGI related.”

“Enough, stop talking.” Sabrina almost raised her hands to her ears but stopped herself from the childish gesture. Now tears were threatening and she wanted him gone.

“Oh. Wow. You have feelings for him.” It was a statement. “You suckered him into marriage but then you fell for him. That’s the funniest thing I’ve heard in years. Well, good luck with that. We don’t do feelings. In that way, my brother and I are very much alike.”

Sabrina wanted badly to smack his foul mouth and failing that, she wanted to duck into the bathroom again to ease her roiling tummy and wait till he was gone and the entire reception was over. Or maybe she would simply walk out of the hotel and run as far away as she could get from this slimy guy and this horror show she found herself in.

But Vlad would already be wondering where she was. And she had way too much pride to let Pieter see just how much he affected her.

He’d solved the mystery of Alex’s parentage. As bombshells went, that was huge. But she couldn’t think about that right now.

She schooled her features into a serenity she had come to think of as her paparazzi face.

“That look doesn’t fool me for a second, Sabrina. I know you’re scared, and you should be. Don’t forget what I said.”

“I heard what you said. Now leave us alone. Stay away from me and stay away from Alex.”

Then with the appearance of a calm she was far from feeling, she swept past him and returned to her wedding celebration.

Chapter 14

Honeymoon for Three

“Rina? Rina! Wake up. It’s morning.” Alex’s little body was rolling across hers as he sought to stand up on the bed in the midst of what was the beginning of the plane’s descent.

Sabrina sat up, groggily checked the small bedside clock, and settled Alex beside her, relieved to realize she had silky pjs on. So much of the previous evening was a blur. It came back now in quick snatches of memory. The ceremony. The unbearable headache, the actual, physical pain caused by the fear that Vlad was Alex’s father. The ugly encounter with Pieter in which he admitted he was in fact Alex’s dad. His threats. The stress of the new fear that she now had to keep her mouth shut about Alex’s parentage or risk losing both of them—Vlad and Alex, the two most important people in the world to her.

Her wedding gown hung from the rod in the small closet of the cabin; she glanced down at the rings on her right hand.

In spite of it all, she felt strangely at peace. Could almost believe that she would be able to deceive Vlad because to do otherwise meant risking it all. And she could not do that. She could barely contemplate that possibility. She loved Alex too much. She loved Vlad. No, that wasn’t it, was it? But she cared for Vlad—too much to risk losing him. They were married and damn him, Vlad had signed, sealed, and delivered her acquiescence with his ridiculous contract—the contract, which right now she was so very pleased to have signed.

“My wife is exhausted,” Vlad stated sometime in the wee hours this morning, and the flight attendant had shown her into the cabin and helped her to undress.

The reception was still going strong when Vlad had ushered the three of them out of the Pierre and into the waiting car just before midnight. They’d headed to the airport where his jet was waiting. Alex had already been asleep, comfortable in his pajamas, courtesy of Mrs. Egan before she saw them off at the hotel. Peggy Egan had pursed her lips when told of the honeymoon arrangements, but both Sabrina and Vlad had been in agreement that Alex would join them.

“Not a proper honeymoon with a toddler along, Mr. Grigory, if you don’t mind my saying so. I would be happy to—”

“I don’t think I’d ever be able to stop you saying what’s on your mind,” Vlad smiled at the caregiver, his mouth quirking up at the corner in the way that always made Sabrina melt, “but we’ll be fine.”

Sabrina remembered being grateful for that decision even though he hadn’t asked her. So preoccupied by her own overwhelming thoughts, it hadn’t occurred to her to discuss such basic plans with him. She hadn’t even been sure they were going to go on a honeymoon, much less a trip to the Amalfi Coast with Alex in tow.