Once Upon A Lie

Fifty-three:

Fifty-three:

Aleksander's head was pounding. He had gone out early that morning to get breakfast for him and Alina. When he'd headed out to his car, someone had knocked him out. That was the last thing that he remembered. Now, he looked around his surroundings and tried to figure out where he was.

"Ah, Sleeping Beauty awakes." He looked up and there was a tall man towering over him. Two of them. One, he recognized as Fedyor. The man that Nikolai had said worked for his father. The other one he didn't know. He had brown hair and brown eyes.

"Listen," said Aleksander, "whatever your employer is paying you to keep me here, I will pay you more to let me go. You've just got to let me go."

The second man snorted. "Listen to the arrogance of this kid, Fedyor. I pity the person that ends up with him. Maybe we should shoot him just to make it easy on the girl. She could find someone better."

Fedyor snorted. "We were told not to shoot him. Magnus has other plans for him."

"Magnus?" said Aleksander. "Like Magnus Opjer?"

The two men shot looks at each other, then quieted.

"Ivan, you've said too much husband," said Fedyor, "the boss isn't going to be happy with us about this."

"Why has Magnus Opjer kidnapped me?" Aleksander asked.

Feydor and Ivan exchanged looks.

Ivan chuckled. "Nice try, rich boy. Magnus knows that you know. And now that he finally has you, he is going to do everything in his power to keep his family safe. That's what he does. Once Nikolai marries Alina, he'll have all of the power over you. And you'll have nothing."

"I'll still stand to inherit a billion-dollar company and my trust fund," Aleksander replied, "that's still a considerable amount. But if Nikolai thinks that he's going to marry Alina, he's an idiot who's forgotten how marriages work."

"I think the boy knows," said Fedyor.

"Really?" said Aleksander. "Because The Apparat forced me to marry Alina to protect her honor. The Apparat knows that I'm Alina's husband."

"Yes. And if something should happen to you, another man could marry Alina," Ivan said, "which is why we're keeping you here long enough for the wedding to take place. Everyone will believe that you've abandoned Alina because you feared the responsibility."

Aleksander snorted. "No one will believe that. I was the one that proposed the arranged marriage in the first place."

"Really?" said Fedyor. "Because we took someone else to make everything seem a bit more believable. Someone everyone knows that was important to you."

"What are you talking about?" he asked.

"Zoya Nazyalensky. We thought she would put up a fight too. Strangely, she came willingly once we told her our little plan. It seems that she isn't exactly fond of Alina Starkov, and that she wants you for herself."

"Where's Zoya?" he demanded. "Have you hurt her?"

Ivan laughed. "She's being kept in the same place. She, however, is not tied up and gets privileges. Because she's not a flight risk, unlike you. Of course, if you want your freedom, Miss Nazyalensky does have an offer she would----"

"Fuck off," Aleksander snarled.

"Right. Well. I've got an important meeting with Magnus to update him on your well-being," said Ivan, "but don't worry rich boy, Fedyor is going to be right here watching you the whole time. So don't even think about escaping. He'll stop you."