Shock bursts through my skull and slams the wind right out of me. “Marriage?”
“It’s simple, Miss Dinali.” He takes a step closer, replacing the oxygen with the intensity that oozes from his pores. “You need money, and I need a wife. Marry me, play your part as my loving wife until my father dies, after which you can go live your life wherever you want with more money than you’ll be able to spend in two lifetimes.”
My eyes widen, tunnel vision blocking out everything around me except the man standing in front of me with a look on his face that says he’s nothing less than dead fucking serious.
Marriage?
Money?
Loving wife?
“What the hell is this?” I frown as warning prickles along the back of my neck.
“It’s a proposition.” He leans his head to the side, not taking his eyes off mine. “If you marry me and pretend like we’re nothing short of blissfully fucking happy until my father dies, we’ll get a divorce, and you will have the Del Rossa name at your disposal for the rest of your life.”
“This is insane,” I whisper, not sure what the fuck is happening right now. “You want me to marry you?”
“In exchange for money, yes.”
“How much money?” My words sound greedier than intended, but there’s no use in standing here, pretending that the promise of wealth isn’t tempting.
He holds his arms out wide with a wicked look on his face. “Like I said, enough for two goddamn lifetimes.” Dark strands fall down the side of his face. “All I need is your signature on a binding contract and your word as we say our vows before God.”
“Why me?” I blurt. “Why pick me?”
“Why not you?” he counters, his expression unreadable while his eyes resonate challenge.
“I’m nothing but a poor girl from the wrong side of town. You can have any woman you want, women from your own class, and far better suited than I am. Plus, I’m pretty sure you didn’t even know I existed until this morning.”
“Last night, actually.”
I cock a brow, unamused. “Again, why me?”
“My reasoning for choosing you shouldn’t concern you.”
“Of course it concerns me since it makes zero sense for you to pick me.”
He licks his lips, and my gaze follows, admiring the sinful glisten his tongue left behind. Heat drifts along my skin, and I can’t stop myself from thinking how strikingly beautiful Alexius is, even though I’m certain he’s nothing but darkness inside. The Del Rossa name comes with haunting shadows and immoral embers that never die.
With his broad shoulders squared beneath the fabric of his suit jacket, and his eyes luring me in, threatening to drag me into the storm that rages in ripples of blue, I find it hard to fill my lungs with air since Alexius replaced the oxygen the second he walked in.
It takes every sliver of determination not to show just how strongly he intimidates me, how hard it is for me to keep looking him in the eye rather than cowering and glancing away.
“It would be in your best interest not to worry about why I chose you. All you should focus on is choosing what kind of future you’ll have once I walk out that door.”
Every hair on my body rises, and he leans down, his warm breath skidding along my cheek. “Will I walk out of your fucked-up little apartment while you stay behind and drown in self-pity every miserable day of your life?” He slants his head to the side and holds my gaze with an intensity that burns my insides. “Or will you leave with me, taking the first step toward living a life most women can’t even fucking dream of?”
The low thrum of his voice is both alluring and menacing at the same time. It crawls along my skin, heat seeping through my pores only to chill my insides.
He’s not asking me what I want to do, whether I want to stay or leave. He already knows because he holds all the power in the palm of his hand, and I have none. If I refuse and choose to stay behind, I continue to exist without living. The only difference will be that I’ll suffocate at the thought of knowing I had a chance to change everything but didn’t take it.
Alexius doesn’t back down, keeping a mere breath of distance between us. I can feel heat radiate from him, how his ultimate power wraps around my throat like a rope, tightening with each passing second. And like a predator, he’s waiting for my next move, already anticipating every outcome no matter which direction I choose to go.
For a moment, I’m paralyzed, my heart pounding while my head spins with the promise of a better life. But at what cost?
“I have no incentive for trusting you.”
“You have my word.”
I lick my lips. “I have no idea who you are apart from the rumors I’ve heard.”
“You should never listen to rumors.”
“Something tells me I should.”
His gaze drifts from mine, all the way down the side of my neck. “You will come to no harm while married to me.”
“And after?”
Once again, his eyes are fixed on mine. “As I said, you will have the Del Rossa name, which means you’ll have our protection as well.”
“Again, I have no reason to trust you.”
He takes a welcome step back, finally giving me space to breathe. “I give you my word, and that is all the incentive you need. A man’s word is his bond.”
I tuck a curl behind my ear, touching my scar, the urge to scratch it overwhelming. “What would my duties be?” I look up at him. “As your wife?”
Something dark flashes in his iridescent eyes, the corner of his full lips curving upward. Suddenly, I’m hyperaware of how he dominates the room simply by standing there, silently staring at me. I feel like a peasant in the company of royalty, knowing I don’t belong in the same room as him. It’s like somehow the stars crossed, and now the natural order of things has gone mad.
He touches his bottom lip with his thumb before saying, “As my wife, your only duty will be to act the part and do what’s expected of you while in the company of others.”
“And my duty doesn’t extend to behind doors?”
“If you’re asking if you’ll have to have sex with me, Miss Dinali, the answer is no. Your virtue will be intact when you leave my house.”
My heart thunders inside my chest. “My virtue? How do you—”
“Do you think I would make you such an offer without knowing everything there is to know about you?” He crosses his arms. “This is a serious matter, Leandra. One I do not take lightly. I’m offering to pay you a fortune, to take care of you for the rest of your life—not because I want to fuck you or have you suck my dick.”
His brash words burn my cheeks, heat spreading down my neck.
“All you have to do is act as my loving, doting wife until my father takes his last breath.”
“Your father can live for years.”
“Not with a brain tumor, he can’t.”
I press my lips together with a sudden rush of sympathy and stare at him. “Oh. I’m sorry about—”
“He has no more than six months to live. Then you’ll be free to go and do whatever the hell you want. But during the time we’re married, you’ll obey my four golden rules.”
“Rules?”
“You will be subservient to me. You will respect me and never question me in front of others. You will not fuck other men or compromise our marriage in any way. And you will never forget the sole reason you walk at my side.”
“And that is?”
“To look fucking pretty. That’s it. Nothing more. Nothing less.”
There’s a rush of adrenaline filling my stomach at the thought of him thinking I’m pretty. Pretty enough to be his wife, even if it’s just for show. But there’s still a sense of discomfort settled in my limbs, a warning that chimes in the back of my mind.
“What is your answer, Miss Dinali?” he presses, clasping his fists together in front of him as he widens his stance.
Suddenly I’m incapable of speaking a single word, my every muscle coiled in a thousand knots. It’s quite the mind-shift to go from thinking he wants me on his payroll as a stripper, to he wants my name next to his on a marriage certificate. Somewhere between falling on my ass and pressing myself hard against a wall, I got sucked through a giant wormhole only to get spat out in this alternate universe where I’m about to step into a world that’s so far from my own it’s impossible to imagine myself in it.
Without thinking, I clear my throat and dig my nail into the skin behind my ear. “If I agree, when do we…um…when do we get married?”
“Three days,” he answers without a single moment of hesitation.
“And where would I live?”
“You’ll be my wife, Leandra. Obviously, you’ll be living with me, and go where I go unless I say otherwise.”
“And you will not expect me to sleep with you?”
He scoffs. “Clearly, these rumors you’ve heard of me are quite…tainted since you’re so worried I’ll end up between those legs of yours.”
“A girl can’t be too careful, especially when the man who owns a sex club like Myth proposes marriage.” My words weren’t meant to sound like a challenge, but somehow they did, and I regret it the moment I shut my mouth.
Alexius’ expression turns to stone as he stomps toward me, this time forcing me to flatten my back against the wall. “I don’t like repeating myself, but since you’re new, I’ll humor you.” Pinning me with burning sapphires, he leans down, reaching out and placing a palm against the wall, lowering his face mere inches from mine. The warmth of his breath dances across my cheeks, his scent of spice and sandalwood wrapping around me. There’s a tug at my core, a pull that draws me closer, and it’s so strong I can barely breathe.
Leaning his head to the side, dark strands frame his face. “I will not fuck you, Leandra.” Every word rolling from his sensual lips drips with something dark and enticing, and I find myself desperate to taste it. “I will not spread your legs. I will not make you cry out as I tear through that thin barrier of your virginity. And I won’t make you bleed while I fuck your innocence out of you,” he leans closer, “one hard thrust after…the other.” Gently, he touches my jaw, making me shiver with anticipation as my pussy clenches. “Does that set you at ease, Miss Dinali?”
Hardly.
He inches back and buttons his suit jacket, the spot on my jaw burning from the aftermath of his touch. “What will it be? Yes, or no?”
“I don’t know.”
“Yes or no, Miss Dinali. It’s not a trick question.”
“This is not an easy decision to make.” I pull my fingers through my hair. “You literally come out of nowhere and then ask me to be your wife for six months. Can I have five minutes to think about this?”
Dark brows curve downward, his eyes that burned mere moments ago now dark and ice cold. Alexius rubs his chin before turning his back on me and walking toward Maximo, taking his trench coat from him and slipping it on. “We’re done here.”
“Excuse me?” I narrow my eyes.
He straightens the collar of his coat. “I said we’re done. My offer just expired.”
“You can’t do that, drop something like this on me and then expect me to give you an answer within ten goddamn minutes.”
Fear slams against my spine as Alexius rushes forward, instantly closing the distance between us, once again forcing me against the damn wall like I’m one of the fading flowers on the goddamn wallpaper. “You will do well remembering that there is nothing I can’t do. Absolutely fucking nothing.” His top lip curls with a snarl. “Last chance, Miss Dinali. Yes or fucking no?”
I swallow hard, and even though warning is knocking at my skull, his eyes alone evoking the fear of hell in me, there’s this soft little voice that echoes inside my head.
“Yes.”
