Confined Love

I shook with a mixture of rage, sadness and helplessness, "I've done nothing to deserve this."

I had the feeling that I'd rather my husband was an asshole to me at every moment, than to play this hot and cold game with me. I was too vulnerable to be able to survive this mercurial treatment.

He cupped my jaw in a deceptively soft hold, and I immediately steeled myself against melting into his hold. This close I could see the gold flecks in his green eyes, and his intoxicating scent filled my nose.

"In life, some of us are the players, while the rest of us are pawns. The sooner you accept your fate, the better for you." my husband replied.

I gritted my teeth against the venomous words that threatened to spill from my throat and choked on them instead. He must have seen the words in my eyes even though I didn't say them, and it made a small amused smirk to tick his mouth up.

Dimitri pulled away from me, "There's a party tonight. Be ready for me by seven. It's a black tie gala, so dress accordingly."

I stared at him, confused. And then glanced down at myself pointedly, "And what do you suppose I wear to this black tie gala?" I asked snidely. If he expected me to show up in my raggedy outfits all so he could embarrass me, then he'd better be planning to drag me there kicking and screaming.

I wasn't ever going to make myself laughing stock again. I had dedicated my life to loving Ali and all it had done was turn me into a thing to be laughed at and whispered about. Over my dead body would that repeat itself.

"Clothes." He said dismissively.

"What clothes?" I narrowed my eyes at him, wondering what he was playing at.

"Come," he said mysteriously, and i followed after him, curious about what he was about to show me. I didn't know if it was just my imagination, but Dimitri seemed to be have slowed down his steps, and I was easily keeping pace with him with my injured ankle.

I bit my tongue against the urge to snarl at him.

He led me all the way to the room just beside his own. It was empty and I glanced around, confused by what was happening. He led me into the room and to a door leading off from it.

I finally understood why he had brought me here when he pushed open the door and it revealed a gigantic closet. But that wasn't the shocking part. My jaw dropped to the ground at the contents of the closet.

Every inch of the room was covered with clothes, carefully hung and arranged according to color, function and design. Shoes lined one wall and in the center was jewelry in glass boxed compartments. I took it all in, a tingle of excitement rolling up my spine.

"Don't get excited kotenok," he purred, "These are only for public display. Each outfit, shoe and jewelry here will only be worn when you're in public with me. In this house there will be need for pretence and you'll be exactly what you are."

I swallowed, "And what is that?"

"Nothing." The words fell from his mouth with a chilling finality, and it made me shiver.

I steeled my spine and pretended that his words hadn't affected me, "You're putting a lot of thought into this party. Who's going to be there?"

"What did I say about questions?"

"I don't remember."

He took a step forward and I took one backward, immediately regretting the move when a satisfied smile curved his mouth. I knew that Dimitri wanted me to be terrified of him, to tremble at his feet and feed his massive ego.

The truth was that I was scared of him. Why wouldn't I? I was entirely at his mercy and he wanted to use me for some purpose even I didn't understand. I just didn't want to show him that I was scared.

"We're going to have to do something about your memory." He said, "But that's beside the point. Tonight, you're going to play your first role yet."

"What role is that?"

"Your role as a dutiful wife. At the end of the night, I want everyone thinking that we adore each other and are so in love."

I stared at him in horror, mind racing with thoughts, "Nobody's going to believe that we are in love. Not after that hasty, manufactured marriage."

"That's why you're going to make sure they do?"

"And how do you intend for me to do that? Newsflash, but it's not all that easy to fake feelings, and it's doubly hard to fake it for a man I hate who forced me into a sham marriage and is bent on using me in his sick games." I hissed, fingers clenching into fists at my side, "You can make me do anything else, but there's no way I'm going out there to act like you're not a monster."

I expected him to become furious, or to attack me in some way, but instead, he chuckled darkly, "Let me rephrase, Kotenok. This isn't a request, this is an order. You'll do as I tell you to or face the consequences."

I scoffed and crossed my arms over my chest, "What could you possibly do that you haven't done already? Believe it or not, but I have nothing left to lose. Go ahead and do your worst. You want to kill me, go the fuck ahead. It beats having to be your wife anyway."

He stepped away from me and walked decisively toward a side of the room. There, he picked out a hanger with a slinky navy blue dress, then pulled out black shoes, a black rhinestoned purse and a box containing diamond earrings and rings. He gathered his bounty and dropped it on a bench in the middle of the room.

"Be ready for me by seven," he said.

"You can forget about it!" I snapped, "I'm not going to pretend to feel anything but loathing for you."

"And what about miss Valor, do you also loathe her enough to have her blood on your hands?"

My heart stopped beating for a moment and cold washed over me, "You bastard!"

"Be ready by seven, Kotenok. I don't like to be kept waiting." My husband walked out of the door, leaving me to drown under the weight of what I had done when I had signed that marriage document.

I hadn't just signed my life away, I had made my innocent bestfriend into a bargaining chip and put her at risk.