8. Alena

Leaving Kristof in the garden with his date, I stumble into the house and immediately make a beeline for the kitchen with the pendant resting firmly against my breastbone.

I'm walking on air. There's no other explanation for the light sensation of my limbs. Pushing open the door, I dart into the kitchen and squeal excitedly. Poor Katja gets so frightened that the cup she's holding slips from her fingers and splashes back into the sudsy abyss below.

"Alena! You scared me!" She glances over her shoulder and then pauses. "Oh, my God. What happened to you?"

I rush to her and clutch her arm tightly, unable to contain the excitement bubbling inside me. I feel like I'm either going to explode or faint, maybe both.

"Hekissedme!" rushes out of me in a garble, and Katja chuckles, shaking soap suds from her hands.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Kristof," I hiss, tightening my grip on her arm. "He kissed me."

Katja's eyes widen. "For real?"

"For real!"

"Oh, my God!" Katja squeals and joins me in bouncing excitedly up and down. "What happened? How? Where?"

Releasing her arm, I dance around the island counter, clutching at my dress as the kiss replays on a loop around my head.

"We were out by the rock garden. He swept in and saved me from that creep, Mikhail, and I was annoyed with him because of what happened earlier, but then he kissed me and oh, my God, Katja, it was amazing!" I place my hands on the countertop and giggle. Excitement washes over me in delightful shivers and I tap my fingers against the granite. "His lips were so soft but hard at the same time, y'know? And he smelled all super sexy and spicy and his voice was so low and rough. Oh, God, Katja, I could die!"

The phantom pressure of the kiss still lingers against my lips, as does the heat of his body and the sharp, electric charge that filled the air between us.

"Please don't do that." Katja laughs. "I don't want to be left alone."

"Oh, please, if you kissed Petar, you'd do the same, I just know it!"

"Alena!" Katja scolds with a smile, and her cheeks flush as red as mine must be from the heat in my face.

"I know, I'm sorry. I just…" Darting back to her, I clutch at her hand and grin. "Thank you. You were so right, acting more like my mother finally got his attention. He definitely doesn't see me as a little girl. I've not felt this seen, this excited since?—"

"Alena!" Mara appears in the kitchen doorway, one hand on her hip, and even from across the room, her icy presence immediately dampens my excitement. "What on earth is all the yelling about? We still have some guests out here. Now please, gather yourself!"

I purse my lips and attempt to shove down the fizzy adrenaline inside me.

"Yes. I'm sorry, I was just… I'm sorry." And yet the happiness remains. Even she can't fully dampen my mood right now.

"Where did you and Mikhail disappear off to?"

"Hm?"

"Mikhail. I saw the two of you leave together. What happened?"

"Oh, we just went out to the garden?—"

"It's so nice to see the two of you getting along," Mara continues, so I fight the urge to roll my eyes and grab one of the leftover cupcakes from the stand as I pass.

With the rest of the guests leaving, I should make an appearance to say goodbye.

"It's important that you take an interest in this, Alena." Mara stops me in my tracks with a long, pointed finger. "It will make the arrangement much easier."

My heart skips a beat. "Arrangement?"

"Yes." Her thin lips press together, and Mara straightens herself, standing an inch taller. "You and Mikhail are due to be married next year, on your birthday. Rather fitting, don't you think, since you just had your first date?"

"What?"

"Your union will secure an unbreakable bond between us and the Kuznetsovs, and beyond that…" She presses her hands together and smiles like the cat that got the cream—and then a full pail right after. "This will really secure the Orlovs on top."

My world shatters, and the bubble of excitement from my first kiss crashes down around my ears like a crystal ball.

Married? To Mikhail?

"No."

"What?" Mara's gaze becomes steely, and all color vanishes from her lips when she presses them together.

"I said no."

"There is no no here, Alena. It is happening."

"No!" Warmth prickles up my neck, and I can't help stamping my foot in frustration. This can't be happening, not when the night was so perfect. Not when Kristof finally noticed me, not when I finally got my first kiss.

Married to Mikhail? "I refuse."

"Don't be so ridiculous, Alena," Mara scoffs at me. "You're eighteen now, an adult, and it's high time you started shouldering some of the responsibility that belongs to you as our first and only child."

"I don't care! I don't care about any of that. I'm not just some piece of meat that you can sell on to the highest bidder or the one who will make life better for you and Papa. What about me? What about my life!"

"Alena!" Mara raises her voice, silencing the tirade spilling from my own lips. "How dare you, you ungrateful girl! Your father and I have given up our lives for you for the past eighteen years. We have loved and protect?—"

"Loved!" I snort, the cupcake crumbling between my fingers.

"Loved and protected you since the day you were born, and now it is time for you to perform your duty. The Kuznetsovs are a proud and respectable family. The union will bring us power and prosperity. Isn't that what you want? For your father to be successful? For his seat to remain unchallenged so he can grow old safely?"

"It's not about that," I wail, losing my fight with my own tears, and they start to spill over, racing hotly down my cheeks. My dreams of freedom, of a life beyond a cage, are rapidly crumbling before my eyes, and there's nothing I can do to stop it.

A flicker of hope rises when my father storms through the door, his bushy brows pulled low.

"What is with all the shouting? You are lucky, young lady, that most of the guests are gone so there is no one to overhear your impudence!"

"Papa, tell me it's not true. Tell me I'm not to be married."

He pauses, and a flicker of uncertainty passes over his face like a shadow. He glances at Mara, whose stern look doesn't waver.

"Yes, Alena. I have discussed things with Mr. Kuznetsov, and a union between Mikhail and you is being drawn up."

That flicker of hope snuffs out faster than you can blink.

"No, no, I won't do it. Anyone but him," I gasp, taking a step forward. My vision blurs as the tears continue to pour, and I clutch at my abdomen with no care as to the crumbs on my fingers. "Mikhail is awful. He's rude and unkind. Out in the garden, he tried to force himself onto me. You can't marry me into a family like that, Papa, please!"

"Oh, stop it, Alena!" My father's voice booms around the kitchen, silencing my pleas, and as he straightens up, the walls seem to close in around him as his anger flares. "Such accusations are beneath you."

"It's not an acc?—"

"Enough! You led him on, wearing a dress like that, and then you dare stand there and look down on a marriage to him?" My heart breaks as he waves a hand at me, and his face twists as he speaks. "Now, I have to go make amends, and you"d better hope to all hell that your irresponsible actions haven't destroyed that chance for this family."

Sobs pull from my chest, but they fall on deaf ears. "Please, I?—"

"This engagement is an order, not a request, understand?"

Just like that, my sale is complete.