Mafia Princess by Kennedy Slope

Chapter Twelve

Iwas sure that by now the wedding ceremony had concluded and everyone was gathering in the hotel for a cocktail. I’d been in the bathroom for about thirty minutes doing my best to calm the ache in my heart. Now, I was just hiding out because of the embarrassment I felt.

“I’m such a moron,” I muttered to myself. I had been hiding in the stall, worried that Dom would send someone to come and find me. I should have known that he wouldn’t. I’d been alone the entire time. I imagined that I would get an earful from Dom about drawing negative attention to myself during the wedding, which was another reason that I had hidden out in the bathroom.

Sighing, I leaned back against the stall door praying that somehow the floor would open up and swallow me whole. It was the only way that I was getting out of the predicament I had put myself in.

The sound of the door swinging open, and the sound of heels clicking on the bathroom floor immediately caused me to stiffen. I had been alone for the last thirty minutes, but since the wedding ceremony was likely wrapping up, it made sense that women would be heading to the restroom to freshen up their makeup prior to the reception.

I leaned my head against the stall door. I knew that I needed to leave the stall. It was only a matter of time before the bathroom filled up with women who had probably been talking about me with their dates.

“Now or never,” I muttered to myself. Grabbing the stall handle, I wrenched the door open, squaring my shoulders as I prepared to take on the gossip and nasty looks I was bound to get. Not only was I a Petrov, but I’d made a scene in the middle of a wedding ceremony, which wasn’t going to endear me to anyone.

The woman in the mirror was a tall blonde. Beautiful and statuesque in a way that made me feel like a loser despite wearing a beautiful gold dress. I held my head high and grabbed my lipstick from my clutch.

“Beautiful wedding,” I said.

I wasn’t sure if this woman was at the wedding, but she was wearing a sleek navy dress, and I felt like I recognized her from somewhere.

“Yes,” the woman said. She gave me a slight smile, and I could hear a slight accent in her voice.

As I examined her in the mirror, I had an uncanny feeling that I knew her from somewhere. I just couldn’t figure out where. It made no sense since the only friends I had were my female cousins.

“Are you a friend of the bride or groom?” I asked. I wanted to know more about this woman. It was driving me insane that I couldn’t place her.

She turned to me, and I was blown away by the full force of her. Her blonde hair was pulled away from her face in a tight ponytail, which showed off her high cheekbones. Her full lips were coated in a red gloss, and her blue eyes were rimmed with smokey makeup.

This was the type of woman who belonged on Dom’s arm. She looked like an Amazonian ready to take on the world.

“I’m actually here to see you,” she said.

“Me?” My brow furrowed. “Do we know one another?”

“I didn’t think you would recognize me after all these years,” she said, and I immediately felt my hackles rising.

“What do you mean?” I back away from the woman. There was something about this woman that was starting to make the bottom of my stomach fall out. I knew this woman, and she knew me, but I couldn’t remember where, and I didn’t like being in the dark.

The woman reached out and grabbed me by the wrist causing my clutch to fall to the floor. “I need you to listen to me,” she said. The desperation in her voice made her accent thicker, and I could tell she was Russian.

That didn’t make me any less nervous.

“Did my mother send you?” I tried to wretch my hand away, but the woman’s fingers were like a vice around my bone. “You can tell her to go screw herself,” I spit out. “I’m not her little doll.”

The woman shook her head. Her eyes were wide. “I need you to get out of here,” she said. “Please.”

I was too freaked out to think too much about her words. Instead, I wretched my arm back with all of my might causing me to stumble backwards in my heels.

“You should leave,” I said. “This place is full of Blanchi’s. They’ll kill you if they think you are here to cause harm.”

I didn’t know why I was warning this unknown woman away. She clearly meant me harm, but I didn’t want to be responsible for someone’s demise.

“Please Sasha,” the woman said. “You don’t know what is going on.” The woman walked towards me again, but I backed away further.

“You need to go,” I said. “If I see you again, I’ll tell my husband.” I wouldn’t, but this woman didn’t need to know that.

“You need to listen to me. I’m trying to help you.” As the woman came closer, I took that opportunity to rush past her and out of the bathroom. Something told me that this woman wouldn’t follow me out.

Either way, I picked up the pace, practically running towards where I saw a throng of people eating finger foods and drinking cocktails.

My eyes searched the crowd looking for Dom. I couldn’t find him in the throng of people, so I had no choice but to walk deeper into the throng. I tried my best to calm my beating heart as I searched for the only person I knew.

“What the fuck,” a deep voice whispered in my ear, and I nearly jumped out of my skin as Dom’s hand wrapped around my upper arm. I immediately knew it was Dom as his scent wrapped around me.

I turned quickly, breathing out a sigh of relief as I came face to face with Dom’s angry eyes.

I hadn’t thought I would ever be so happy to see Dom. “What’s wrong?” he asked. Something about my countenance made it clear to him that I was freaked out. I wanted to tell Dom everything, but I knew if I did, he would hunt down that woman, and I couldn’t allow myself to be responsible for someone’s death. Even if that person had scared the shit out of me.

“Sasha?” Dom shook me slightly to bring my attention back to him. “What’s wrong?”

I gulped slightly in an effort to get myself together. I was a shit liar, and I hadn’t given myself time to consider what I might tell Dom.

“I’m fine,” I said. “I think I might have eaten something bad. I’m not feeling great.”

I wasn’t sure that Dom would believe me, or that he would even care if I wasn’t feeling well. But I must have looked terrible because Dom’s grip on me immediately loosened, and his mouth turned down with concern.

“We should go,” he said.

I shook my head. I didn’t want to leave. I’d already made enough of a scene. Plus, I didn’t know what the woman in the bathroom wanted, and the last thing I needed was for her to follow us home.

“I’m fine,” I said. “I just need a glass of water.”

Dom’s eyes watched me closely, but he nodded and placed a hand on my back. I tried not to jump at the contact.

I allowed Dom to lead me over towards the bar. Eyes were on us, but I didn’t give a shit. I was too busy racking my brain for where the hell I knew that woman from.

“Here,” Dom said, thrusting a glass of water towards me. I took a dainty sip of it allowing the cool liquid to wet my dry throat. I went to put it down, but Dom pressed slightly on the bottom. “Finish it,” he ordered.

I rolled my eyes. It seemed that Dom lacked the ability to not issue orders, even when he thought that I was ill.

“There the fuck you are,” a young man said, as he pressed forwards from the crowd. I tensed immediately, but the hand on my back was relaxed.

“Watch your language, Marco,” Dom ordered.

I breathed a sigh of relief. In my upset, I hadn’t recognized Dom’s younger brother. Marco had been his best man at the wedding, but we hadn’t spent a great deal of time together.

“Please,” Marco scoffed. “I’m pretty sure your little wife has heard way worse than that. Shit, everyone’s talking about the fact that you mouth fucked her before the ceremony.”

I groaned. I had practically forgotten all about the way Dom had dominated my mouth.

“Don’t worry about it,” Marco said, turning his attention to me. “Everyone thinks that you are pregnant, and that’s why you ran out. Apparently, one of the girls saw you in the stall.”

“What girl?” I asked, immediately wondering if Marco’ knew the woman who had grabbed me. I was certain that she had been Russian, but that didn’t necessarily mean that she was Bratva.

“Don’t worry,” Marco said. “All this works to our advantage. You being pregnant already makes you one step towards being a goddess to these men. You pop out a son nine months after your wedding, and they’ll be on their knees pledging their love.”

I cringed.

“Did you come over here for a reason?” Dom asked. He had pressed me close to his side, and I wondered if he was trying to protect me from his brother, or if this was just another action for show.

“Lorenzo wants to invite you two to sit at the head table,” Marco said.

“Isn’t the head table for the wedding party?” I asked.

Ours had been. Of course, the wedding party was filled with daughters and sons of important members of each family, but generally, you couldn’t just boot people from the wedding party.

Marco shrugged. “I’m sure he’s dealing with Francesca.”

I didn’t like the idea of impeding on a bride, but I knew enough to know that Dom nor I could decline without offending Lorenzo.

“Let’s go,” Dom said. His lower hand on my back pressed me forward, and I followed Marco. Even as I walked between the two men, I couldn't help the eerie feeling that had taken over me. Though I didn’t think the woman in the bathroom meant me any harm, I felt like a dove in a den of wolves.

“Lorenzo thinks you are carrying the heir to the mafia, so you might want to play that up a little bit.”

I looked over at Dom and tried to smother a smile at his long suffering look. I wondered if my brother Nikolai had felt the same way about me. I was so young when he died that we hadn’t had an opportunity to be close in the way that Dom and Marco clearly were.

The moment that I thought about Nikolai, I knew where that woman knew me from. “Oh my God,” I gasped. Both Marco and Dom turned to look at me. Then, hell broke loose.