Page 19 of Forced Innocent Bratva Bride

Fuck!I yelled inside me, my pulse quickening as I clenched my jaw.

I managed to steady my heavy breathing and racing heart while retaining a blank expression.

“But why?” I asked, my voice calm and collected despite the turmoil raging within me.

“Business,” he replied keenly, slumping back into his chair. “You see, Lorena,” Alexei began, holding my gaze, “this marriage will benefit both families in more ways than one. The Campbell Enterprise will be back on its feet, and the Tarasov Bratva will have and enjoy all the political privileges that follow the Campbell family.” As he explained, his eyes never left mine. “Consider it a marriage of convenience….”

Convenient for you and my dad, I thought, fuming.

He continued, “…a long-term contract between two powerful families.”

Okay, it was time to switch to plan B.

Maybe if I gave him more than a couple of reasons to despise me, he'd call it off; it was a silly idea, but it was worth the shot.

“You can't marry me, Alexei,” I said, shrugging my shoulders while trying to sound as confident as I could.

“And why is that?” He squinted, brows furrowing in curiosity.

“Because….” My head went blank. It was as though all the reasons I'd cooked up had evaporated from my brain.

His gaze intensified, brows arching as if to say he was waiting for my response.

I discreetly scratched the back of my head like that would make me remember what I had planned on saying. “I…I had plastic surgery.” I cleared my throat. My voice was laced with uncertainty at first, but by the end of the sentence, it was drilled with conviction.

“Plastic surgery?” His brows rose in disbelief, his gaze still lingering on me.

Oh, my God. Maybe he bought it.

A wave of anticipation spread across my body.

He snickered, eyes roaming over my torso. “That's the best you could come up with?”

Dang it.

“Ididhave plastic surgery, and if we ever have children, they won't look this good.” My hands gestured at my body, and I leaned forward to whisper, “Because what you're seeing is not even real.”

“My genes are pretty strong. So, don't worry your puny mind about having ugly kids,” he said, his voice laced with conviction and arrogance. His lips flashed that annoying grin of his.

He did not just call my mind puny.

A scowl settled on my face, causing my jaw to clench.

“Anything else?” he asked, his tone hinting that there was nothing I could say that would cause him to change his mind.

Well, I still had a few more tricks up my sleeves.

“Yes, actually. There is,” came my sharp response.

He gave me a look that said, “Let's have it.”

“I like having multiple men in my life.” My voice dropped to a husky whisper. “Multiple sex partners, if you know what I mean.”

In my head, I was so embarrassed at the words I'd used to describe myself. Those were all lies. I'd never even had sex before, let alone have multiple partners.

“It’s not ideal to have a slutty woman as a wife, and this free bird doesn't like to be caged.” I wore a fake sad face, like I was mocking his poor choice of choosing a good wife.

I hated painting such an illicit picture of myself, but I so desperately needed his rejection. It was better for him to see me as a wild woman and call off the wedding than to have him see me as a good woman and go through with it.

---