Once Upon A Lie

Eight:

Eight:

The dress Alina had on was so tight that she couldn't breathe. Her mother had insisted on it. "It's a formal charity event, Alina," Makhi said, "you've got to dress formal. You know that. Besides, Aleksander will be there. Don't you want to look nice for him?" It had taken everything in Alina's power not to tell her mother how much she didn't care what Aleksander thought. Instead, she had smiled politely, and slipped the strappy black dress on.

Their parents had talked the whole evening, chattering away about stocks and new business things and whatever else came to mind. She'd been shoved in next to Aleksander who kept on staring at her instead of eating.

"Nikolai said something interesting yesterday," said Aleksander.

Alina raised an eyebrow. "Talking to me now, are we?"

"If you're going to be pissy about this, I won't tell you what he said."

Alina scraped at her food awkwardly. "Maybe I don't want to hear what you have to say."

"Nikolai wants to ask you out."

Alina, who had just taken a sip of water, coughed. "Is he alive still? Aleksander, please tell me that you didn't kill him."

Aleksander chuckled. "I didn't kill him."

She squinted at him. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because," said Aleksander, "you were right about me and Zoya. If I get to have someone, you should get to have someone too. But it has to be someone that understands our world. Someone----"

Alina scowled at him. "You mean, someone that isn't Mal Oretsev?"

Aleksander grinned. "Yes. Exactly. He's a scholarship kid. He doesn't know how our world works. You wouldn't want to break his little heart, would you? If you went out with him, you'd be setting him up for disappointment."

She glared at him. "You don't approve because of Mal because he's poor, is that it?"

"I don't approve of Mal because he's not good enough for you. You're Alina Starkov. You're beautiful, intelligent, and that little upstart would want you for nothing to use you. You and Nikolai are on the same level. If you want to date someone, I'd let you date him."

Alina stopped playing with the food. "You'd let me date him?"

"Yes, well. You talked about leveling the playing field. If we're going to do this, we're going to do this on---"

"Your terms?" Alina finished.

"Yes. That should be obvious."

"You know, the parents never said that I couldn't date while we waited to get married. They never said that I had to listen to any of your bullshit. If Nikolai wants to ask me out, he can ask me out and you aren't going to do a damn thing about it. The same goes for Mal. Or anyone else. You don't want anyone to know I'm yours? Then no one will know I'm yours. And everyone will know who I'm with if I decide to be with someone."

Their parents were lenient on the drinking thing, and Alina took a sip of the champagne that was in front of her. She had been sipping on it all night. It was making her feel light and airy.

"Is this the way you want things to be between us?" Aleksander said. "Because I could have been your one and only. You could have been mine. But if you decide to be this way, I won't bother with the marriage formalities."

She shrugged. "Fine. It's not as if this was a love match anyway. My parents are making me do this. My father threatened my inheritance, and he threatened to keep me away from my family. The only reason I'm doing this is because I don't have a choice in the matter."

"Then, we won't go by the rules anymore. You can be with whoever you want to be with. But there will be no fucking."

Alina locked eyes with him. "Tit for tat, Morozova. If I'm not fucking anyone until I get married, neither are you. Do you think you can keep it in your pants that long?"

Aleksander grinned. "Sure I can."

She stared at him apprehensively, not liking how certain he sounded about that. Aleksander was a man whore. She knew he could barely last a week without sex. "Why do you sound so pleased about that?'

"Because," he said, "you're Alina Starkov. You're the daughter of one of the richest families in Ravka. You want only the best. Nik's a great guy. But for you, the stoner rich kid without any ambition----he's not the best. And Malyen Oretsev, however sweet you might think he is.... you don't really fucking know him."

"And you do?"

"Yeah, I do."

"How do you know him?"

"Who do you think provided his scholarship?" Aleksander said. "The Folds foundation did. Every student that applies, we have to do a thorough background check on. Oretsev's nothing more than a violent delinquent who got lucky and got a second chance. If you know what's good for you, you'll keep away from him."

Alina shook her head. "I can't believe you. That's some fucking elitist bullshit, Aleksander. Just because he's poor doesn't mean he's dangerous or violent."

"Would you like me to show you the police records we found of the guy he nearly beat to death? I wouldn't want to make you lose your dinner though. They're pretty graphic and bloody."

Alina's stomach churned. He had to be wrong. He just had to be. Both him and Genya seemed so sweet. It was the first time in her life she had had something close to friends. What Aleksander was saying about Mal couldn't have been true. "You have no idea what you're talking about."

"I do," he said, "and if you even think about going out with him I'll have to tell the parents and then maybe we'll wind up pushing the wedding a little closer up."

If her parents hadn't been watching, she would have stabbed him with a fork.

"So, what will it be Princess?" he asked. "Nikolai, or...."

Alina sighed. On the one hand, she had grown up with Nikolai. He was one of her dear friends. He was good looking, fabulously wealthy, and pretty damn charming. She could do worse than him if she wanted to fool around.

On the other hand, Alina hated that Aleksander was still trying to control her life. She took another sip of her champagne, and grinned. "Fine. Tell Nikolai I look forward to going out with him."

Aleksander's face fell. "Seriously?"

"Seriously," she said, "might be nice to date someone with a sense of humor for a change."

His grey eyes got that deadly look in them. Alina knew that he would be pissed, but she didn't care. For three years, she had walked around on tip toes pretending not to want things. And if he was going to give her them, she was going to take whatever the fucking hell she could get.

Besides, Nikolai was a good guy. He at least, wouldn't hurt her. And, in fact, maybe there was a way she could work everything out to where he got what he really wanted and she got that too...