Where the Snow Falls (Seasons of Betrayal Book 2) (18 page)

“She probably has it filed away somewhere.” Vera liked things in a particular order. “But this isn’t what I mean.”

Carefully sliding the book off her legs, he closed it and put it off to the side. “Why do you have that look on your face?”

Tucking loose strands of hair behind her ear, she asked, “What look?”

“Like you’ve seen a ghost,” Kaz answered, his gaze darting over her face. “Let me guess … Carmine or Alberto?”

“Alberto.” She was quick to go on when she saw his frown. “He didn’t say anything, not much anyway.”

“But whatever he
did
say is worrying you, no?”

“What if he does come for me, even if we’re married? Have you considered that?”

He had, more than once. Though his concentration had focused mostly on Vasily, Kaz didn’t doubt that he had yet to feel the full weight of Alberto Gallucci’s anger. He and Kaz’s father wouldn’t just go calmly into the night.

“I have, but you have to understand that it won’t be nearly as easy as he may think it. It would be foolish for him to risk a war, not just with us, but with the Chicago family as well. Things were different when no one stood at my back.”

“I worry about that,” she said softly. “The day my father tries to take me from you. Because he won’t care that I have your last name.”

“There’s no reason to worry yourself with that. I have it under control.”

Straddling his lap, she looked down at him with a slight smile. “I know.”

“Then enjoy this time,” Kaz said softly. “You’re only getting married once.”

And he was going to make sure it was memorable.

Constant movement surrounded a stone-still Violet.

The shuffle of chiffon.

The sweep of silk.

Jewelry was handed over, necklaces clasped, and earrings placed properly. The hairdresser who was taking care of the girls moved from one woman to the other, fine-tooth comb in hand to smooth back any stray strands. The woman—a friend of Vera’s, apparently—who had come in to handle the makeup worked on fixing the smudge of lipstick on the left side of Dina’s mouth.

Still, Violet stood frozen.

It almost seemed
surreal
.

Girls spent a good majority of their life considering their wedding day—what it would mean and how it would happen. She had been one of those girls.

Yet here it was.

And there she was.

Not dressed, though her hair and makeup were done, watching the excited twins dress and Vera fuss.

Violet thought it might be a little sad, considering she was without any of her family or their acceptance, but it wasn’t that at all.

She was ready.

And that was the most surprising thing of it all.

“Ready?”

Violet blinked, snapping out of her daze. Vera stood in front of her, a garment bag slung over her arm. She had been ready for this for a while, but she didn’t think that was what Vera was asking.

“You’ve only got another fifteen minutes, and we have to leave,” Vera said. “Let’s get your dress on.”

“Sure,” Violet said.

She followed Vera into a private room just off from the main sitting area of the hotel suite. With the door safely closed behind them, Vera laid the garment bag out and unzipped it to expose rushes of vintage styled lace in a soft cream color.

For a second, Violet simply stared at the dress as Vera pulled it out with careful hands.

She’d shopped for it alone, even though Vera had offered and the twins had practically begged to help her pick one out. It wasn’t that she didn’t want them there, or that she didn’t appreciate their willingness to be involved in the wedding and the details, but it was just …

Something Violet wanted to do alone.

Picking out the dress had been surprisingly easy once she found it. A backless, form-fitted lace number that showcased skin and curves with every turn. Dangling ropes of pearls that hung down from the small straps around the shoulders and framed the wide-open back only added to the charm of the gown.

It was not
Catholic
ceremony approved.

It would be too daring—a little too free and sinful.

But Violet thought it was perfect.

It was also the first time Vera had seen the dress as she helped Violet slip into it.

“Huh,” Vera said under her breath, taking a step back to admire the gown with soft eyes.

Violet ran a hand over the skirt of the dress that just began to flare below her hips, but not too drastically that it would put the gown into the mermaid style. It was elegant; the lace hugged her hips and then fell smoothly to the floor.

“What?” Violet asked after Vera quieted.

Vera’s gaze snapped up to meet hers. “It’s a beautiful dress. I’m sure Kaz will love it.”

Violet smiled but didn’t respond.

Kaz enjoying the dress was just about the only thing Violet had cared about when she’d purchased it. No one else’s opinions were important, though she appreciated the compliment from Vera.

“I swore …” Vera trailed off, smile fading just a bit.

“Keep going.”

“I swore you’d go for something pretty—maybe even princess-
y
.”

Violet smirked. “Something safe?”

Vera tipped her head to the side slightly, not bothering to hide her appreciation in the slightest. “Well, it doesn’t matter what I thought, no? This is …”

She knew exactly what it was.

Violet turned to face the large mirror, her hand coming up to rest at her bare throat. The only jewelry she’d opted to wear for the day were a pair of sparkling, dangling diamond earrings with pearls resting on the ends to match the ropes of pearls on the gown.

“It’s perfect,” Violet said. “How much longer now?”

“Not very long.”

“Have you truly thought this through?” Konstantin asked from his position next to his brother with a tumbler of amber liquid in one hand.

Kaz stood staring at his reflection in the mirror as he arranged his bowtie. Today was the day, and waking up this morning, he had felt the change in the air. The wedding had yet to happen, but he already felt different—more complete almost.

“It’s a little late for that, innit?” The question came from Alfie, who was sitting off to the side, dressed as though attending a proper English wedding. A top hat rested on his knee, and he held a cane with the head of a lion in his hands. “Here we are.”

“But binding yourself to one female for the rest of your life … sounds awful.” And Konstantin did truly look sick at the thought.

“Perhaps you should have voiced these concerns
before
today,” Rus added. “Let the man enjoy it.”

Kaz was doing just that.

No one was going to ruin this day—not for him or Violet. He had placed extra security measures just to make sure no uninvited guests made an appearance. He had also made sure to have it indoors, just in case.

By the time he finished with his attire, it was nearly time for the ceremony to begin, but before it did, he wanted to make his rounds of the room—make sure he expressed the right amount of gratitude for the people who had chosen to attend.

It was his job, after all.

“Let’s go.”

Kaz was the first to walk out of the room, the others following behind. The distance from the room in which he got ready to the private ballroom he had rented for the day was a short one, and waiting for him outside the double doors was Irina, Maya, and another woman who Kaz had never seen before.

Though he hadn’t spoken to his mother since the day after she found out about the engagement, he wasn’t surprised to find her here. Unlike that day, she had no trace of stress in her features today—she looked rather happy.

Weddings did that to people.

“Look at my boys,” she said with motherly affection, straightening Kaz’s bowtie then smoothing a hand over one of Rus’s lapels. “I couldn’t have asked for better sons.”

Kaz readied to respond, but the woman who had been standing with his mother snared his attention. She looked out of place almost, at least until Rus offered her his hand, and she willingly, and quite happily, accepted it.

“You haven’t met Kira, have you?” Irina asked, smiling fondly. “She’s Ruslan’s date.”

Kaz didn’t bother to try to keep the surprise off his face as he looked at his brother, a silent question in his eyes.

Rus, who didn’t seem bothered in the slightest of the attention now on him, shrugged. “My tastes aren’t singular.”

Kaz wasn’t touching that.

Not even a little.

What his brother chose to do—or rather
who
he chose to do—was his business.

“Let me walk you to your seat, Mama,” Kaz said offering her his arm.

Once the doors opened, revealing the winter wonderland on the other side, the guests stood. It was only after he walked his mother to the front of the aisle did Kaz go back to make his rounds, making sure he spoke to every single person in the room.

Then he went back to the front of the room, his hands in his pockets, and waited.

“Oh, here let me fix that,” Vera said, batting Violet’s hand away from her face.

Quickly, Vera pinned the birdcage veil back in place properly, bent down to fluff the bottom of Violet’s gown, and then stood straight with a wink.

“Smile, Violet.”

She did, staring beyond Vera to the closed double doors that separated Violet from her present and her future.

A blissful one, surely.

An uncertain one, maybe.

But it was there.

And maybe she wanted to pull the doors open before it was time.

“You good?” Vera asked. “I’m going to go grab my seat with Ma.”

Violet nodded. “Wonderful. I’m great.”

“Okay.”

“Thank you.”

Vera stilled, her fluttering fingers fixing the rose pinned at the shoulder of her dress. For a long second, the two women simply stared at one another.

Violet broke the silence. “For everything, Vera. I know you have reservations about—”

“You make him happy,” Vera interrupted softly. “The rest will work itself out. That is all that matters to me, Violet.”

She respected that more than Vera knew.

“Go grab your seat so we can get this started,” Violet said, grinning a little wider.

Almost time …

Vera fussed over Dina and Nika’s matching silk and chiffon gowns, making sure to tell them to behave. She then disappeared behind the double doors, taking special care not to let anyone see who was waiting behind them.

Still, Violet had managed a tiny peek.

Her heart stuttered in its beats, and her hands tightened around the bouquet of cream-colored roses she held.

While the nerves were heavy in her stomach, she knew it was more about the people who would be watching the wedding and ceremony than the day itself. She didn’t know them—barely any of them—and she had a slight clue that those who knew her had already formed opinions about her and Kaz and their day.

But … Kaz’s voice was louder than her nerves.

Enjoy your day.

You’re only getting married once.

Just thinking about Kaz was soothing to Violet—calming, even.

So all those worries she’d had leading up to their day and all the concerns eating at her and making her look over her shoulder suddenly drifted away.

She suspected they’d be back, but for that moment, they were gone.

This day wasn’t about those things—it was about
them
.

And they were far too
good
to be wrong.

Lifting her gaze back to the doors again, Violet waited. Shortly after,
Canon in D
began to play, the melody of the tune keyed by a pianist behind the double doors.

“Go,” Nika said.

Dina shot a wink over her shoulder and headed for the double doors. Like her older sister, Dina slipped through the doors without opening them too much and exposing Violet and Nika. Violet counted in her head—fifteen seconds exactly—and the tempo of the music changed at a specific point. Nika gave a fleeting smile over her shoulder and followed behind her sister.

Violet
waited
.

Even the sound of the music seemed to bleed away for those twenty or so seconds that she stood there waiting.

She’d always thought her father would be waiting with her at this point in her life, but strangely, she was happy that he wasn't.

He would never have given her those seconds in peace—those quiet moments just before those doors were pulled wide open.

She would have focused on whatever her father would have said, caught up in some strange mixture of happiness and sadness at being given away.

Instead, her attention was on the doors.

So when they opened, all she saw was Kaz.

She’d barely even heard the change in the piano, the melody changing from the previous song to another she’d chosen for her walk. She didn't really hear the sounds of guests standing from their chairs as she moved in full view, standing in the doorway.

The unfamiliar faces were simply blurs in her vision as she began to walk toward the one person whose attention was entirely on her.

She knew more people were watching than just Kaz.

More people were looking.

But while they were looking at her, she was only staring back at him.

His suit was a black-on-black ensemble tailored perfectly to his form, not that Violet expected anything less. He’d been fiddling with the gold cufflink on his right sleeve when the doors had opened, and he’d froze like that, slightly turned, hand at his wrist, and his gray gaze on her.

The sexiest of smiles curved his lips at the edges, and Violet couldn’t help but grin back beneath the birdcage veil.

She still didn’t see the people.

The music didn’t really register, either.

It was just Kaz, the satin lined aisle, and her walking forward.

Violet figured that visual was more appropriate than anyone could ever possibly know.

She’d always choose to walk toward him—she’d already done that several times over.

There was no walking away.

There would never be any walking away.

It seemed like a blink and Violet was at the end of the satin lined aisle.

Kaz stretched his hand out, reaching for her.

She didn’t hesitate to take it.

He’d always been hers.

Weddings were fucking exhausting.

That wasn’t to say Kaz wasn’t enjoying this time with Violet—he was—but he was ready to get out of his fucking suit and get on with his night. From the moment he’d said ‘I do’ and pressed a lingering kiss to Violet’s mouth, they were bombarded by people.

He hadn’t minded at first, sharing their moment with everyone else. He was even glad that she seemed to be having a good time in the midst of his family and associates.

But as the night waned on, he was ready for everyone else to disappear.

All it had taken was her sitting forward beside him, offering a tantalizing view down the length of her back, the dress stopping just above the swell of her ass. It was just a glimpse, enough to prevent his thoughts from going anywhere beyond how quickly he would get that dress off her.

The ballroom had its own bathroom, separate from the rest in the hotel, and if he wasn’t mistaken, there was a room across from it. And with the thought of that room in mind, his gaze shifted over the crowd, spotting Violet sharing a dance with his brother.

She looked happy.

Carefree.

He wanted to see that look on her face for the rest of his life.

Abandoning the table, he crossed the floor to her. Rus caught sight of him first, murmuring something in Violet’s ear before he stepped away—probably in search of his date.

Drawing her closer, he captured her hand in his, wrapping his other arm around her and contenting himself, if only momentarily, with the feel of her skin beneath his hand.

Looking down at her, he smiled. “Are you happy?”

“Absolutely.”

Though this was a celebration for them, many of the guests were talking amongst each other, networking. Kaz didn’t mind, not for what he was trying to do.

“How much longer will this go on?”

She laughed lightly. “We haven’t even eaten dinner yet.”

For fuck’s sake. “When is that?”

“Not for another thirty minutes, but—”

It wasn’t a lot of time, that thirty minutes, but it would do.

Interlocking their fingers, he led her through the throng of people toward the back of the room where the office was. It was used mostly as storage for extra glassware and whatever else the hotel needed for this space.

“Why are we in here?” Violet asked the minute he got both of them in the room with the door shut.

He intended to answer her question, but first, he made quick work of removing the jacket to his tux and tossing it across the back of a chair. She knew his intentions; he could tell from her sharp intake of breath and the way her gaze shot down to his trousers.

“I’m in my wedding dress,” she said, though it sounded like a poor excuse to him. “And I want to keep it.”

Already working on the buttons of his shirt, he merely gave a nod of his head and said, “Then take it off.”

But she didn’t. She just stared at him, or rather at his chest, as though she had never seen his tattoos before. Captivated, he always thought. But he rather liked that look on her.

“Do you want to know what these stars mean?” he asked, remembering that he had never explained the significance of the ink that marked his skin.

Crossing the floor before she could even answer, Kaz put his hands on her hips, spinning her slowly as he searched for the hidden zipper. With such delicate straps, he knew something had to hold that thing in place.

Crouching down, he found the tab and gave it a sharp tug as he dragged it down, revealing the delicate lace beneath. Where most women would wear white for their wedding night, Violet didn’t—she wore red.

“Take it off.”

She did as he commanded, the dress pooling at her feet as she slipped it off her shoulders. Knowing that she would still need to be back in it shortly, he put it off to the side.

When he turned back to her, she was now facing him, every bit his fucking weakness as she stood there in nothing more than a scrap of lace and heels. A sight that had his cock hardening further.

Violet offered him a cunning smile. She knew the effect she was having on him. “Your stars, tell me about them.”

“I got them when I was twenty-one,” he said as he backed her up against the wall, enjoying the way her lips parted as she drew in a breath.

Cradling her face, he kissed her once, twice, waiting for that moment when she started seeking him out, wanting more, and when it came, he allowed it just long enough for him to get his hand wrapped in the silky fall of her hair.

Making a fist, he pulled, drawing her lips off his as she gasped in shock, her back arching.

“I had to learn how to take orders,” he whispered as he drifted his other hand down her heated skin, feeling the body tremor rolling through her.

But stopping at the edge of her panties, he didn’t delve inside, even knowing he would find her hot and slippery. Instead, he ran his fingers over it, feeling her through the material. And fuck if he couldn’t feel her arousal against his fingers soaking through.

“It took a while—I had no patience for that shit.” Rubbing languid circles on her clit, he asked, “And how patient can you be,
krasivaya
? Will you wait to come until I give you permission? Are you going to be good for me?”

The shuddering moan that left her lips made his heart kick up a bit. She’d always been so fucking responsive, and he loved it.

But she knew he needed more than that—she knew he needed her words. “Come now. Tell me what I want to hear.”

“Yes.”

“Yes,
what
?”