Bound to Vasiliev

ILIAS

Ilias was in disbelief. His father was asking him to marry, and for convenience? He must be out of his mind if he thought Ilias would agree.

After Valentina’s death, he’d made a promise to himself that he wouldn’t look at another woman. Ever.

Her loss had changed him. He wasn’t the same happy man he used to be when she was alive. Valentina was his everything.

He stood up, his breath heavy, and glared at Andrei. His father returned to his chair, sat down, and smirked, his fingers interlaced.

“You’re out of your mind if you think I’ll agree,” Ilias said in Russian, his accent growing thicker with his rising anger.

“You don’t have a choice, son. Think about your daughter. She needs a mother,” Andrei said, knowing that Alyona, Ilias’s five-year-old, was his weak spot.

“No, you don’t get to use her to manipulate me. She has Nadya. I won’t marry another woman, especially not for your benefit. Do you think I’m stupid, Father?”

The office door swung open, and Alyona rushed in, her toothless smile wide as she ran towards her father.

Her nanny, Nadya, followed behind, giving Ilias a quick nod before standing in the corner.

“Papa!” the little redhead shouted, reaching out her tiny arms. He picked her up, smiled at her, and kissed both of her cheeks, pressing his forehead against hers.

His father knew how to play his cards. Bringing Alyona to the office to try and change his mind. To make him think he was doing this for her.

“Moya malyshka (my little girl),” he greeted her back, trying to hide the anger boiling inside him. Alyona didn’t need to see the argument between him and his father.

“Also, think about Jelena. She needs a doctor. Maybe this woman has the answer to why your sister can’t wake up from her two-year coma.”

Ilias looked at Alyona, kissing her cheek again, his lips lingering on her skin longer than they should have.

“We can find another way. Your business is thriving, we don’t need an alliance. I know that’s what this is really about. Finding a wife for me and a mother for Alyona isn’t what I want.”

“Mommy? I want a mommy!” she said in her limited English, her arms wrapped around his neck as she looked at him with her pleading icy-blue eyes.

She was just like her mother, same hair, same eyes, same adorable personality.

Yes, it was true. His daughter, just like Valentina, was his biggest weakness.

Ilias sighed, looking down. Do I have a choice? He did, but he doubted his father would let him make it.

“Where do I sign, and when is she arriving?” he asked through gritted teeth, holding back tears of anger.

“As soon as you sign, I’ll call my friend, and he’ll let me know when they can come and prepare for the wedding.

“Of course, I heard she’s stubborn, so I hope he convinces her,” Andrei replied, sliding the contract across the desk with a pen on top, ready to be signed.

He set Alyona down on the floor, telling her to join Nadya while he finished up with her grandfather.

He sat down, read the contract carefully, and signed. No questions asked. In a few days, Ilias would be a married man, sharing his home and his bed with his future wife for an entire year.

“Good job, son. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to make that call. William Moore is waiting.” Andrei smiled as he picked up his cell phone to call his future business partner with the news.

Ilias couldn’t stay in his father’s office a moment longer. He stood up and looked at his daughter, a soft smile on his face.

“Will I have a mommy?” she asked, holding the hem of her pink dress, her hopeful eyes on him.

“Yes, moya printsessa (my princess). You’ll have a mommy soon,” he replied, and her loud squeals echoed in the office. Andrei covered the speaker of his phone, urging them to leave.

Ilias picked up Alyona and left, not saying a word to anyone in the building until he stepped outside.

Once he was on the street, he took a deep breath of the cool fresh air and put Alyona in his car, buckling her into her car seat.

Nadya placed her hand on his arm, the older woman with shoulder-length graying hair and amber eyes giving him a gentle smile.

“Sir, I’m truly sorry about what’s happening. But, I’m sure whoever the lady is, she’ll be a great wife and a good mother to Miss Alyona,” she tried to reassure him, but he wasn’t easily convinced.

“She will be the woman I marry, but I won’t see her as my wife or as my daughter’s mother, Nadya. And as for my little girl, she better be a good role model to her, or else this contract will be over.”

He opened the door for Nadya, gesturing for her to get in, and closed the door behind her before walking around the car to the driver’s seat.

“I’ve known you since you were a little boy. I’ve been your nanny ever since. I know losing Valentina and your mother has been hard on you, but I don’t think you’ll take it out on an innocent woman.

“She’s a victim of her father, just like you are of yours,” she said, wiping away a tear that had rolled down his cheek at the mention of his late wife.

Nadya turned his head to face her. “You have a great heart, and I’m sure Valentina would be happy to see you move on and fall in love.”

“No, Nadya. There’s no chance of me falling in love. Sure, she might be a help to my sister, my daughter, and my father’s business, but I’m not going to fall for her.” Ilias fired up the engine and pulled away, heading back to his manor.

She won’t be anything like Valentina, he told himself. Glancing in the rearview mirror, he saw Alyona gazing out the window, her infectious smile lighting up her face as she swung her legs in delight.

“I’m getting a mommy. I’m getting a mommy,” she sang, clutching the blue teddy bear she’d picked up from the seat next to her.

At least there was someone who was excited about having a mother figure in her life. He could only hope that this woman would be kind and selfless. If he was being honest, the whole situation scared him.

He was afraid that Alyona might forget her real mother, and he was afraid that she might grow to love his future wife. After all, in a year’s time, this woman could be gone from their lives, potentially leaving Alyona heartbroken.

“Yes, printsessa. You’re getting a mommy,” he murmured, keeping his focus on the road until they reached home.

There was no going back now, and he was well aware of it.