Chapter 98

When Emily danced with Dmitry her heart was beating so fast that she heard it would jump out of her body. He had this sardonic expression on his face that she was scared of being in his personal space. "I know you are not comfortable around me but there is no need to be scared of me, I will not harm you, Emily. You are part of my family now."

Emily gulped the heaviness and nodded. "May I ask you something?" She couldn't help but ask.

Dmitry nodded. "You may."

Alexandrio asked me not to speak about it but I couldn't hide my curiosity about it anymore. "How did you end up with this mark on your face?"

Dmitry chuckled when he recalled the incident. But he couldn't tell her the reality of the incident. Not until his brother shared the truth about their identities with his wife. So he told her the thing he told everyone who isn't aware of his real identity.

"As I have already told you before, I was in the army, it happens during one of the training sessions. If this mark was the reason for you being scared of me you could have asked me about it before."

Emily squeezed his hand, "I apologise for my behaviour. I have always seen you with these six giants behind you. I know you are a big businessman but I never saw anyone like this, my friend is from a big business family too, Alexandrio is your brother even though he has never been with these giant looking guards like you. I mean you don't even need any of these bodyguards when you look like this."

Dmitry chuckled. "I am beyond their reach, Emily. They all are big businessmen but I am the biggest among them. You know thaw saying the biggest fish in the pond, just replace it with ocean and fish with a sea monster. Leave it, I have to do all this for my safety, one day you will understand it. I hope we don't have the ice between us anymore. Keep my brother happy," he said when the song ended.

"Wait, you are saying that as if you are leaving?"

"Because I am, this city's air is unhealthy for my lungs. I have to go. I know you have been praying for it since I arrived here."

If only the floor could swallow her. "I already apologised to you for my behaviour."

Dmitry laughed and eyed his brother who was walking up to them with a scowl on his face. "You did, but I have to return to my kingdom now. One more thing, he placed a rolled paper which had a red ribbon tied on it in her hand," I hope you like my wedding present for you."

Alexandrio rested his hand on Emily's waist and smiled at his brother "don't tell me you are leaving already?"

" I am, stay safe, Alex," Dmitry said with a warning in his tone. The warning was not for him but the people around him. Alexandrio knew his brother was a caged monster. He had demons under his ice-cold mask, and if he ever allowed the monster in him to lose, things would turn ugly.

Dmitry Kyschove was not a human, he was a demon wearing human skin!

Alexandrio watched his brother leaving. He sighed, leaving a shaky breath. Emily looked at the rolled paper in her hand. "Do you know what it is?" She asked her husband who nodded.

"Yes, but you can't open it yet, let's go and change. We have to go on our honeymoon."

Emily smiled shyly and they both took their leave from the reception as per traditions. Once they reached their new home, Alexandrio asked Emily to dress up because he was taking her to dinner.

Emily frowned at his odd words. It was their wedding night, for God sake! "Xandrio, we came back from our reception feast, why would we go out for dinner, it's our wedding night."

Alexandrio placed a soft kiss on her head. "I have planned something for you. Please change into something formal. We are going to a black-tie restaurant."

Emily pinched her lips together in irritation while walking inside the closet. "What wedding night I got. Other brides are fidgety over their husband taking off the wedding gown and my husband wants me to dress in something formal."

Emily eyed the seductive nighties in her closet with longing and put on a formal powder pink suit with a stiff face. She didn't want to start her new life with a fight so she decided to keep quiet but tomorrow she was going to raise this issue to him. Everyone marries once for goodness sake! It was a lifetime memory but he ruined it for her.

Alexandrios heard her mumbling but he couldn't say anything to her. He wanted nothing else than to devour himself into her arms but couldn't, not till he gave her what she deserved and she deserves the wound to be healed. Today, he was going to put on the balm over her infected scars and sew her back. Today, Alexandrion was going to give her the long-awaited revenge.

Emily walked out of the closet and smiled stiffly. "Is this formal enough, husband?" She couldn't hide her sarcastic tone while asking the question.

"Better than enough, wife. Now, let's wait anymore," Alexandrio said, putting her hair behind her ear and tracing his forefinger along with her ear. The small gesture gave her goosebumps all over her body. She curled her toes in excitement.

"Xandrio…" she whispered but he shook his head. "Let's go," Alexandrio said, grabbing her hand firmly and walking out of the house.

Emily had never visited this hotel but the name sounds familiar to her. "I don't know but I don't feel good eating here."

Alexandrio kissed her head. "I promise they serve the best food but you might not like their services."

Emily thinner her lips. "I will hate everything even if you took me to dinner on the moon tonight, Xandrio."

Alexandrio chuckled. "Let's go inside."

Emily frowned when she found the place without any guests and only a single table was placed in the middle of the restaurant, with around twenty-five staff members standing there.

"Welcome, Mrs Kyschove." The manager said Emily, Smiling politely and went near her husband. "What is all this?"

"A dinner with my wife."

"Stop it, I know you are hiding something."

Alexandrio kissed her and pulled the chair for her, "have a seat, Zvezda."

She sharpened her eyes but accepted the chair. "Because I don't want to fight you on our wedding night."

He smiled. "Shall we order?"

Emily nodded. "I am already full from my reception feast but I would kill for a cup of hot, creamy and sugary coffee. I need it badly."

He nodded and glanced at the manager. "Coffee as per madam's taste."

He kissed her hand affectionately, loving every moment of bliss with his new bride. He licked her palm from inside with the tip of his tongue when Emily's eyes widened and she tried to snatch her hand but he didn't allow it, he leaned over the table and murmured into her ear. "I would do this with you tonight but between your legs."

Her cheeks tinted pink sheepishly. "I won't allow you to sleep the whole

night, Zvezda."

She looked down, didn't have the strength to look into his eyes again when he was saying these things to her. She still couldn't understand what was the purpose of this dinner tonight.

Before she could ask, he spoke up: "our coffee is here."

Emily exhaled irritated with getting disturbed. She removed her hand from the table as the waitress placed the coffee tray on the table. "Enjoy your coffee, madam, sir."

Emily's eyes widened as she snapped her head in the direction of the female voice. The woman was wearing a black skirt and white shirt with a bow tie and a golden tag on her left side.

"Katelyn!" Emily whispered the name with complete shock. Katelyn's eyes widened in horror. She glanced at the guests she was serving.

"You…!" She was horrified to see Emily. Katelyn straightened her posture and took a step back to leave. She recalled the days when she used to mock her for being a waitress. How she used to humiliate her every time Emily served her in that cafeteria near their college.

Alexandrio picked the cup of coffee and took a sip. "This is ridiculous, don't you even know how to serve coffee, there is a mark on the cup. Here," He scolded Katelyn, putting the cap back on the table with a thud.

She turned her gaze to him with a bewildered look on her face. " I apologize for this, sir…"

The manager ran to him, "Is there some issue, Mr Kyschove?"

"Yes, your services are not good enough to receive reputed guests if you don't even know how to serve coffee."

"I apologize, sir…"

"What's your apology worth, take this thing away from here and bring a new tray," the manager scolded her. Katelyn glanced at Emily who kept staring at her without blinking her eyes.

Alexandrio eyed Emily, her eyes shifted to him from Katelyn. Her gaze held so many questions and he would give them to her but first, he needed to show her something else. "He picked the cup from the tray and threw it at the marble floor."

"Call a sweeper to clean it," He ordered the manager who gestured at one of the staff members to obey the request. Emily heard Katelyn gasp in horror, she scowled but when she saw Victor with a mop in his hand she couldn't keep on sitting.

All those memories came back running, the college walls covered with he ranked pictures, Victor laughing at her and Katelyn mocking her. The mop dropped from Victor's hand as his eyes settled on Emily.

"If you don't drop your eyes from my wife I will make you clean the whole floor with your tongue!" Alexandrio snapped and Victor immediately looked down. He fisted his hand recalling how he lost everything in gambling to a dangerous man and was forced to work as a sweeper in his hotel to repay the remaining money. He recalled how he was tortured by those debt collectors until he signed his hotel to that casino and was left with nothing but a few hundred dollars in his account which was enough to buy only a few groceries that too from a local market. In short, Victor was ruined. Financially.

"Xandrio!" She gathered all her strength to call his name. He moved to her and held her waist affectionately. "Open the paper, my brother gave you, Zvezda," he asked her.

Emily frowned. She didn't understand anything. Her mind was not making sense, how was that possible, Victor was a son of a big hotelier. Why would he clean floors here? And Katelyn was a celebrity herself!

"Open it, wife."

Emily nodded and opened the rolled down paper. Once again she received a shock. Her head jerked at her husband who was smiling ear to ear. "Congratulations on your new chain of hotels, Mrs Kyschove. Our wedding present, from my brother."

Emily shook her head. "This is too much, Alexandrio. I can't accept it."

She told him, it doesn't matter who was listening to her. Her past no longer held her captive, the day she accepted Alexandrio in her life, was her first step to move on from her dark past.

"It's not from me but my brother and trust me when I am saying this, Zvezda, he didn't take it lightly when someone tried to return his gifts. Because he rarely gives them to anyone."

Emily gulped as she turned her eyes to the people from her past. She could have mocked them, laughed at them just like they used to do with her. The thing Victor made her go through broke her from inside. She pretended to be strong and unaffected but only she knew how broken she was from inside.

She only chuckled at the irony of the situation and held her husband's face lightly in her hands, placing a soft kiss on his lips. "I know you asked your brother to do it because if it was you who would have given this to me, I would have refused immediately. I know why you did all this, Xandrio and I love you for this but there was no need for any of this. I don't care about these people anymore. The moments, the time I spent with you made me see what love feels like. You are my everything, Xandrio. My biggest treasure. You made me see the sunshine again. This Emily started behaving like herself because of your love and now, after this, she nodded at Katelyn and Victor, "I don't care about them, never did. I cared about my reputation never about them but I forgot that I was trying to prove myself right when there was no need to do it, Xandrio. You made me see how wrong I was. Who are these people, no one? Then why would it matter to me, I was shocked seeing them not because of seeing them like this but seeing how much my pain matters to you."

Alexandrio nodded and cleared the tear that rolled down her cheek, "So do you want to keep them or fire them?"

Emily looked at them both, met their gazes and smiled politely, "let them work, unlike them I don't like making anyone's life hell. I didn't know why they are working here like this but if they are doing this, it means something bad happens to them both and they need money. So let them earn it."

Alexandrio nodded and gestured to the manager to leave them alone. He did not need to be told twice, he left with all the staff present there letting the new couple spend some time together before leaving.

"What did you do?" She asked when they were going back to their home. "I did nothing, Dmitry did. I just told him what I needed to do and this man lost everything to a loan shark. I paid him enough and acquired everything that belonged to this Victor."

Emily shook her head in his chest. She didn't even want to recall anything from the past except her friends. Now she has a new life to look forward to and she planned to live it beautifully with the love of her life.