Page 21 of Bound Bride
As sisters, we're pretty close.
Or we were before Dad got wrapped up with the Vasiliev brothers, and my life ended.
Everything they put me through squashed my desire to be around anyone while killing my hope at a normal life.
Until now.
I'm alone in a very large house, surrounded by people who only view me as Kon's wife, and I'm getting crushed by a responsibility I can't share on pain of death.
My only other respite is Marissa, the gym coach, who turns up one day after Calvin watches me attempt and struggle to find my pacing in the gym.
She's as close to a friend as I get.
"You're doing great!" Marissa cheers. "Deepen that squat. I want you to feel the stretch all the way up your thigh. That's it." Her hands hover around me as I follow her instructions while biting back a curse. My thighs burn like they're on fire and my stomach aches from how tightly I'm clenching my abs, but her praise does wonders for helping me get deep enough.
"Amazing! Alright, bring it back up for me," Marissa instructs.
I grunt and adjust my grip on the dumbbells while slowly lifting myself back up. As soon as I'm standing straight, I groan dramatically. "Oh my god, my legs are going to fall off."
"We wouldn't want that, would we?" comes not Marissa's voice, but a cold, horribly familiar voice that makes me shiver immediately, despite the sweat clinging to my skin.
Mathew.
He stands in the doorway, flanked by Calvin who flashes me a polite smile. "Rose. Your brother has come to see you."
I tighten my grip on the dumbbell and contemplate my choices.
If I strike him with it over the head, will death be instant?
Would killing him and telling Calvin the truth be enough to save my family from the claws of the other Vasiliev brothers?
Or would my treachery spell my end and Kon would let my family rot because he married a trap?
"Mathew," I gasp, and the dumbbells slip from my fingers, landing on the mat with a thump. "I didn't expect to see you."
"Why not?" His false, sickly smile widens as he pushes past Calvin and strides forward. "Life is good. Business is good." He reaches me and clasps my bare, sweaty shoulders. "Why wouldn't I come and see how my darling sister is doing?"
"It's just a surprise, that's all." I lock eyes with him. "How's the family?"
He doesn't even blink. "Oh you know. Everyone'seagerlywaiting to hear from you and everything you've been getting up to." His grip on my shoulders tightens momentarily, then hesteps back. "Let's go for a walk! Seems like Konstantin has one hell of a garden here."
After accepting a towel from Marissa, I dry off the sweat from the back of my neck and around my face as we head outside and onto the stone path leading a winding trail through Kon's beautiful and vast garden.
"Little family privacy, if you don't mind?" Mathew scoffs at Calvin as he follows. Calvin's eyes meet mine and I nod slightly, so Calvin falls back and allows distance to form between us as we walk.
"So, Kon's given you a guard dog," Mathew remarks in a low voice. "You better not be getting any ideas."
"It's not like that," I reply while twisting the towel in my hands. "He has concerns after his late wife. Probably doesn't want me to get killed the same way."
Mathew snorts. "He's fucking stupid."
"Don't say that," I snap before I can stop myself. "He's a decent man."
"Decent?" He sends me a cold glance. "Don't tell me you've fallen for his act? You think I'm bad? That man is a cold-blooded, brutal monster, and you're only alive because he lusts after that used thing between your fucking legs. Speaking of which…" Mathew glances behind us as we turn a corner that leads past some high hedges and blocks us from Calvin's view. "I brought this for you. I assume he's fucked you already?"
From under his coat, he hands me a pregnancy test and my heart stalls in my chest.
Dressed in only a skin-tight tank and leggings, there's no way I can sneak this inside without being seen.
