Page 28 of Wicked King

I pick up the pace, desperate to get away from this man who isn’t half as horrible as I need him to be. “But I had no say in it! Don’t you understand?”

“Dio, you are infuriating,” he growls, his hand wrapping around my arm. He jerks me to a stop and pins me in that dark gaze of his. “This is happening, Jia, and the sooner you accept it, the better for everyone.”

I glare up at him, and even standing on my tiptoes, I still have to look up. But that doesn’t deter me. “I won’t accept it. You’ll have to drag me down that aisle kicking and screaming.”

“Don’t tempt me, spitfire. I’ll throw you over my fucking shoulder if I have to.”

“Fuck you.” I shoot him the middle finger and take off faster down the busy street. I must get out of this somehow. I refuse to marry this man and spend the rest of my days as his trophy.

CHAPTER 14

THE LITTLE SPITFIRE

Marco

Cazzo, this woman will be the death of me. I march after Jia, keeping a few yards between us. The last thing I need is for the little spitfire to start running. In the chaos of the morning commute, I could lose her—or worse, be forced to make a scene and actually throw her over my shoulder.

My stupid cock twitches at the thought.

He’s deluded enough to think he has a chance with her.

I’ve been on my damned best behavior, but still, she wants nothing to do with me. Now, I’ll be forced into a lifetime of monogamy with a woman who despises me? Fuck that. I did not sign up for this shit.

My angry footsteps eat up block after block and by the time we reach Jia’s boutique, I’m fucking furious. Jimmy is stationed just up the street, the limo double-parked and blocking traffic, but I couldn’t care less. “Jia, wait!” I shout as her petite hand wraps around the handle of the front door.

She spins around, her dark eyes tapered at the edges. “What?”

“We’re not finished.”

“Oh, yes, we are.”

I step into her, pinning her against the glass door of her boutique and a faint gasp is expelled through those full ruby lips. Caging her in with my palms to the glass on either side of her head, I glare down at my future wife. Not a hint of fear flashes across those midnight orbs. Instead, she glares right back at me, her jaw clenched tight. Her lips pucker and a light sheen from the sprint across town makes her skin shimmer beneath the sun’s brilliant rays. Dio, she’s beautiful when she’s pissed.

Fuck, what was I going to say?

“We’re finished when I say we are,” I growl, but some of the fire has already dribbled out of me. Merda, what is this sorcery?

“You expect me to cower at your feet, Marco Rossi?” Her chest heaves against my own, her perky breasts spilling over the low cut of her blouse. “You are nothing but a weak little lamb compared to my father. I will not bow down to you, not today and not ever.” The venom in her eyes is so potent I wonder what the hell her sire did to her to inspire such hatred, because this cannot solely be about me.

“I never asked you to cower,” I hiss.

“You never asked me anything. That’s exactly the point. You powerful men are all the same, you just take and take. You think that because you carry a gun and a loaded bank account, you can get away with anything. Well, I promise you, it won’t be that easy with me, Mr. Rossi.”

“I have no doubt about that,” I grumble, leaning back an inch so that her damn peaked nipples don’t rub my chest again. My cock is already so hard it’s wedged against my zipper, and it’s only exacerbating my foul temper.

Jia’s hand moves so fast it’s a blur as she slips her slender fingers beneath my waistband and jerks out my gun.

She twirls it around her index finger, the sleek black muzzle flashing like a beacon. “Now I’m one the one with the gun, Mr. Rossi… so does that mean I have all the power? Will you get down on your knees for me?”

“Jia, put that down!”

She cocks the Glock, and I stare at her completely unbelieving. Would this crazy-ass woman really shoot me in broad daylight with Jimmy in the car ten feet away and her grandfather likely just upstairs? Not to mention the dozens of bystanders littering the streets of the Meatpacking District.

The click of a car door opening sends my heart shooting up into my throat.

“Jia, what are you doing?” Wei Guo’s voice is sharper than glass.

Guess he never made it up to Jia’s studio after all.

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