Page 9 of Obsession

“And then what do you think of me?”

She doesn’t speak for a long moment, instead her eyes drop to my feet and rise slowly back up my body to my face. “Are we still getting married?”

There’s very little that can stop me from getting what I want. And what I want right now is Madalena Ricci. I didn’t intend to ask for her hand in marriage; my original plan was only to gain Marcus’s trust through my legal services. And then she was in front of me, bright blue hair and a failed marriage proposal. Maybe I have a hero complex, wanting to come to her rescue before her brother choked the life out of her. Or maybe I adjusted the plan because I thought marrying her gave me a better in with her family. Regardless, the outcome is the same. Tomorrow, she’ll walk down the church aisle in a white dress and promise herself to me.

Princess or not, she’s mine.

I wet my lips before I answer. “Yes.”

“Then you're a monster too.” She turns quickly on her heel, but I catch her, spinning her and pushing her back against the wall so I can cage her in again.

I want to tell her to stop running from me, that no matter where she goes, I’ll find her. That I would hunt to the ends of the earth if it meant keeping her. Maybe that makes me crazy, maybe that makes me unhinged, but I don’t care much.

“Oh, but I’myourmonster, princess.”

“Don’t call me that.” She frowns.

“No? What would you prefer?”

“How about my name, asshole.”

I can’t help the smirk that rises on my lips. I like when she’s a brat; it makes me want to punish her smart mouth. Maybe not tonight…but soon.

“Nah.” I shake my head with a grin. “I like princess better.”

She rolls her eyes, hands poised on her hips. “Are you going to let me go to bed or not?”

“Anything you want,princess.”I gesture for her to move, but when she does, I grab her one last time, pulling her back until her spine hits my chest. “One last thing.” I run the tip of my nose from the crook of her neck up to her ear, breathing softly. “You will marry me, Madi. You’ll walk down the aisle with a smile on your face, and afterward you’ll thank all our guests for coming and then you’ll come home with me. There’s no out. No alternative. That ring on your finger makes you mine. Understood?”

“You’re a psycho!” she hisses.

“No, princess, I’m yourhusband.”

Madi looks at me with fury in her eyes. “If you choose to marry me,” she says, low and dripping with a warning, “I will make it my life's mission to make you miserable every. Single. Day. You take my life, I’ll take yours.”

“Is that a threat?” I ask, tamping down my growing smile. I can’t deny that I like her like this. My dick is hardened just at the thought of taming her, punishing her for every little threat she tries until she realizes that she belongs to me.

Her tongue darts out, wetting those perfect pink lips. “No, it’s a promise.”

Madi goesto sleep in my spare bedroom, and I find myself itching to join her, annoyed that she’s across the hall instead of curled up next to me.

Not that she’d come to this room willingly.

The girl hates me, after all.

I wanted to tell her there was only one bed in this house, force her into the spot next to me. But some old wives’ tale hangs over me, making me believe I can’t spend the night with her yet. Not until she’s my wife.

That word radiates beneath my skin, warmth flooding me. She doesn’t want to marry me; she’s made that abundantly clear, and yet, here I am forcing her down the aisle.

Before her brother died, I would've told you I was doing it to save her from an even worse marriage. Marcus wanted to marry her off to whoever offered him the best deal, which to him, meant the most money. He didn’t care what happened to his sister as long as his pockets were filled. So in some way, me marrying her is in her best interest.

But he’s gone now.

What reason do I have to keep her, other than the fact thatI want her?

Seeing her at the bar tonight with that douchebag's hands on her body only made my desire for her stronger. I don't want to see anybody else touch her. Don't want to see anybody else's hands roaming her skin. Madi belongs to me.

I have no right to her, and she has no reason to believe I’m one of the good guys when all of my actions have proved contrary. And still, I’m going to keep her like a bird in a gilded cage because everything in me wants to.

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