Page 11 of Wicked Angel

"Why me?" I demanded, fixing him with a confused and frustrated look. Frankly, I didn't understand this whole thing. It truly didn’t make any sense. Jackie was the one most suited for the life of a mob wife. She was intelligent. Cunning. Beautiful. But no, for some reason, this man had chosenme. My father had offered me even knowing that I wanted to leave. I didn’t want to throw Jackie into what I was currently facing, but shewantedthis life. If the way she’d responded to him the first time she met him was anything to go by, she would’ve been happy to be his wife.

“I’m not sure I understand your question,” Gaven replied.

"I’m inexperienced,” I pointed out, lifting my glass of water to my lips.

“That’s not necessarily a bad thing,” Gaven said. “If anything, it’s good. There will be no question whose children you’ll bear.”

Children?I choked and sputtered on my water, setting the glass back down with a hard thump. “I’m eighteen,” I reminded him. Far too young to be considering children.

“Your father told me that you’ll be nineteen soon.”

“How old are you?”

Gaven leaned forward and steepled his fingers together, resting his elbows on the edge of the table as he considered me. “Far older than you, Angel,” he said. “Although you shouldn’t worry, I won’t let you be completely deprived of your freedom. Once you’ve got my son in your belly, you’ll be free to make your own choices. You can even attend college if you want to. Your father told me that’s what you were planning before he made his offer. Though, I recommend you do so from the comfort and safety of our home.”

A mixture of horror and an unwanted tightness in my stomach rolled through me. Not only was this man planning to marry me against my will, but he also wanted to impregnate me. “No.”

Gaven shrugged. “Suit yourself.” He leaned away from the table and reached for the glass of red wine the waiter had set before him. Something that I couldn’t drink because I wasn’t even twenty-one yet. Too young to drink, only not too young to have his child, apparently.

“I’m not going to have a child,” I snapped.

Gaven carefully sipped his wine and waited until he’d savored the singular gulp he’d taken before he replied. “You will.” Those two words were spoken so boldly, so matter-of-factly.

How the fuck could he say something so awful?

“Why not Jackie?” I asked. Despite my earlier thought that I didn’t want to throw my sister onto this path, the words spilled out. She was far more agreeable and knowledgeable. She was made for this role. I was not. Perhaps my father hadn’t offered Jackie …No, even as the thought occurred to me, I knew the truth. This man had definitely chosen me on purpose. It was there in his heated gaze, in the way he stalked me with his eyes. The look he gave me sent chills down my spine.

Gaven eyed me, his cool deep blue gaze analyzing me from my head down to where my lower half disappeared beneath the table. All at once, I felt pinned in place. As if a giant predator had found me and was debating on whether to devour me whole or piece by piece.

“You’re a beautiful prize, Angel,” he said quietly. “You need not fear the things I can give you. Your future is secured with me. I assure you, I will never hurt you.”

“You are hurting me,” I snapped back. “You’re destroying my future, not securing it. Why the hell would you choose me?” Fear surfaces. It washes over me, a tiny whispering thrill weaving through my body. I swallowed nervously as Gaven leaned forward, one elbow resting on the table as he lifted his hand toward my face.

I held perfectly still as that hand of his neared closer and closer. When his fingers touched my cheek, grazing down to my jawline, it felt like a bolt of electricity had shot through me. Awareness, keen and so very fucking there, lifted me out of the fog of confusion and catapulted me straight into unfamiliar territory.Fuck. No. I cannot be attracted to this man. It isn’t possible. He’s the enemy.As if making fun of my thoughts, the place between my legs throbbed. My thighs clenched, and my chest swelled as I unintentionally leaned into his touch.

“Normally, in a situation such as this, I’d simply tell you that the why doesn’t matter,” Gaven said, his voice low and deep. “The fact is, you are my fiancée, and you will be my wife.” His hand shifted as he stood, leaning more fully across the tiny table.Why is the table so fucking small?He practically dwarfed it, hovering over both it and me. His hand clenched briefly before grasping my throat and pulling me forward until my face was tilted to meet his impenetrable gaze. My heart thudded rapidly, my pulse speeding up under his palm.

“It doesn’t matter to me if you’re inexperienced,” he said, his voice dropping another octave. Whatever frequency he was speaking seemed to have a direct link to my core. The lower his voice went, the more I couldn’t help but feel a wetness forming inside my panties. When I’d told him I was inexperienced, I meant that I was a virgin. I’d touched myself before, and I’d watched porn, sure. About as much as I’d read it, however I’d never even been this close to a man who was looking at me as though he wanted to eat me alive. Their focus had always been on my sister. I blended into the background, forgettable. Exactly where I’d hoped to stay until my wishes came crashing down. “In fact,” he continued, “that makes this easier.”

“E-easier?” I repeated.

“Yes,” he said as his thumb stroked over my thumping pulse. “Because it means I can teach you, shape you, mold you to my specifications and my desires.”

That rankled. “What aboutmydesires?”

His close-lipped smile widened, parting his lips as he leaned even closer until I could smell the mint on his breath. “Oh, I promise you, my soon-to-be wife, your desires will be well cared for, but if you’re worried, perhaps a demonstration is in order.”

Demonstration?“No.” I shook my head, pulling my face away from his grasp.

“No?” Gaven chuckled. “Then perhaps a bet?”

I froze at that. “A bet?” I repeated. “What kind of bet?”

“If you can resist me, then perhaps I’ll free you from our deal.” Gaven’s words were all I wanted to hear, although the underlying reality warned me that this was too good to be true and he was, after all, a criminal. Could he really be trusted?

Even as I acknowledged that, I couldn’t help but respond. “What are the terms?”

Picking up the chair, Gaven set it next to me so that our thighs would be touching when he sat down again. “The terms are simple,” he replied. “I ask a question, you answer. You ask a question, I answer. If we can’t or won’t answer, then we’ll receive a penalty chosen by the other person.”

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