Page 29 of Devil Mine

“What?” She exclaims, bewildered. “To whom?”

“To me,amor.”

I’d made my decision the moment she’d told me the senior citizen who’d danced with her thought he was going to marry her. That was the last time another man was going to touch her.

Outrage twists the features of Tess’s face when she sees my satisfied smile. She looks more horrified than she did standing next to Angelo Leone’s dead body.

She looks away from me, promptly dismissing me to focus her attention back on her father.

My eyelid twitches in response.

I’ll make her pay for that.

“You can’t be serious.”

He stares emotionlessly back at her, saying nothing. Shock makes her voice raise an octave.

“I don’t understand. Why? You said I had ayear! It’s only been a month; Tristan isn’t even coming back until the summer. Why did you change your mind?” When he doesn’t answer, focusing back on his papers instead, she continues, words spilling out of her mouth a mile a minute. “I have a job, I have projects, I haveplans. You can’t just make this decision without talking to me first!”

I stand quietly aside, watching this all unfold. Noble doesn’t even deign to lift his head and look at her.

When he still doesn’t speak, she rushes towards the desk and slams her hands on the surface to get his attention.

“You can’t do this to me! This is mylife.”

“You’re my daughter, which means your life is mine,” he says detachedly. “I decide what to do with it.”

“Please don’t do this,” she begs, changing tactics. “Please.”

Her voice wobbles. If she was asking for anything other than not marrying me, I’d have moved heaven and earth to make it happen for her.

“It’s already done.”

A sob crawls up her throat but she swallows it before any tears fall, much to my chagrin. I want her tears. I want her anger. I want her smiles and her laughter.

I want it all. That’s why I’m taking it all.

Understanding dawns on her face as she seems to grasp the finality of her situation. Still, she refuses to accept it.

“If you’re intent on marrying me off this quickly then please,please, pick someone else.Anybodyelse. Not him.”

She doesn’t even look at me when she says it. My mood blackens in an instant like a rolling storm thundering through my body and mind.

“He’s a criminal!” Looking at her profile, I can see how panicked her eyes are. They touch on his arm, still wrapped up in a sling. “I-I know what he did to you, Father. I know it wasn’t an accident, that he actually attacked you. I saw him kill a man last week. He’s amurdererand you want me to marry him? Do you not care about me at all?”

I hate how small and brittle her voice sounds. He better not answer her question honestly, even if the answer is painfully obvious – Alex Noble cares only about himself.

I take a step forward and glare at him when his mouth opens to respond. He flinches and looks down at the contract Arturo had drawn up. He signs it and looks back at his daughter.

“If you know that, then you know this tantrum you’re throwing will only lead to unsavory consequences for you. Word of advice? I suggest you do whatever he wants.”

“I suggest you refrain from giving her any advice,” I snap. She's no longer his to worry about, if he ever did.

Her eyes follow his uninjured hand as he picks up the contract and extends it towards me. Desperation mars her beautiful eyes. She deflates when I take it and smile at the large signature decorating the bottom of the page.

But her fight is back just as swiftly. She shakes her head. “I don’t care what agreement you’ve made or what paperwork you’ve signed. I won’t do it.”

With that, she turns on her heels and stalks out of the office.

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