Once Upon A Lie

Forty-six:

Forty-four:

When Alina and Genya were heading out of the hotel the next morning, Alina was surprised to see Aleksander there leaning against his car. His arms were crossed, and there was a dark expression on his face. Was this jealous Aleksander about to return? She could only hope not. He had been doing so well. Giving her space. Letting her take the lead on things. She didn't want that to change.

"Alina," he said curtly, "come here."

Genya glanced at her. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Gen. Go to school without me. I'll catch up with you later."

Genya looked warily at Aleksander, and her mouth was a thin line of displeasure. But she simply nodded at him and left.

When she was gone, Alina walked over to Aleksander. "I thought you weren't going to try controlling me anymore."

"This isn't about that." He glanced over her shoulder at the hotel, as if afraid there might be someone behind her that shouldn't have been. Or, Alina realized, looking for Mal out of jealousy.

She almost smiled but didn't. Resolved not to let him think that jealousy was something she liked. "What's this about, then?"

"These." He handed her a folder.

Alina opened it and stared at the pictures in shock. The first ones were of the wedding that they had been coerced into by The Apparat. There were more of them though. Pictures that went all of the way back to that summer between freshman and sophomore year. "I don't...I don't understand. Are these from our parents?"

Aleksander shook his head. "I don't know. What I do know is these started around the same time that Vasily died."

Alina looked at him sharply. "So, what? You think Mal did it?"

"I don't know what to think," Aleksander confessed, "and Alina, I'm not trying to be jealous or overbearing here. But I don't feel safe with you staying here right now. Can you please, please come with me and I'll get you a hotel room until we can figure this out?"

She handed him the pictures back. "Aleks, I'm not going to live in fear because of this. This wouldn't be the first time someone's stalked me."

Aleksander raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Oh, come on. I'm the daughter of one of the richest men in Ravka. My sonogram was on the cover of tabloids. If I flinched every time some weirdo with a camera followed me, I wouldn't be able to go anywhere. It's weird that they're delivering it to you, specifically, but this isn't the weirdest thing that I've had happen in my life."

"Why wasn't I ever told about this? Who stalked you?" Aleksander said.

She hesitated. "It doesn't matter. It was an overzealous photographer that got obsessed with me a long time ago. But um...they found him in Ketterdam in the canal on my sixteenth birthday. Someone put a screwdriver through his head."

"A screwdriver?"

"Aleks, you can't look at me like that. You've had weirdos too. Remember that woman who used to wait outside your hotel room when you used to do concerts?"

"That's different."

"How?" she challenged.

He paused. "It's.... well...." He sighed, and he ran his hand through his hair.

Alina smiled at him. "Look, I appreciate your concern. I know you don't trust Mal. I get that. But it doesn't matter if you don't trust him. Do you trust me?"

He sighed. "Yes. Of course."

"Then trust me when I say that I'll be fine. If I were really worried, I would go with you. But honestly, I think Genya's scarier than Mal most of the time."

"Genya?" he said. "The girl that spends her time covered in glitter and fabrics?"

"Yes. She has access to both scissors and needles."

"Hmm. I suppose that is true."

"You've got nothing to worry about."

"When you're not with me, I have everything to worry about."

Alina stood up on her tiptoes, and she stroked his cheek with her hand. "Overcontrolling, paranoid, freak." She whispered it softly, with a hint of affection in her voice.

"Headstrong, foolish, girl," he whispered back and kissed her.

"Come on," she said, "I'll let you take me to school."

"How privileged I am," he drawled, though there was a smirk on his face as he said it. He opened the passenger side door for her, and she got in. They drove off, and she tried very hard not to show how nervous the pictures actually made her.

There was evidence they'd gotten married. Even though the marriage had been forced on them. If that got into the wrong hands...she shuddered to think what would happen.