Page 26 of The Villain's Beloved (The Villain's Duet 2)

I smiled at his choice of words, my heart feeling like it would break free from my chest as the love I felt for this man became utterly profound and unmistakable. He was right. I had to stop entertaining thoughts society had programmed us to think.

This is wrong.

This is twisted.

This is madness.

How can this be love when it hurts?

Well, it could. It could be love and hurt at the same time. It could be utter madness yet the sanest thing I had ever done. And it could be the biggest mistake of my life, or the best decision I ever made.

“Yes,” I whispered, finally allowing my heart to drown out my thoughts. “I’ll marry you.”

9

A wise manonce told me that there was only one way any man could find peace, and that was by finding the woman who held his heart. Until then, a man merely drifted aimlessly through life not knowing the meaning of the word “home.”

That was her.

Charlotte was my home. It was in her arms that I found peace from the memories that tempted the bloodlust—a hunger sated by the pull of a trigger, witnessing another man’s last breath. But with her…I experienced peace. A kind of comfort I had never known yet yearned for in the deepest corner of the humanity I’d forgotten I had.

My heart swelled inside my chest with a warmth that filled all the empty spaces inside my soul—every crevice, every hole, every corner that laid dormant and dark for so fucking long. It was as if I had never lived before this very moment—but only existed, waiting for her.

I rushed toward her, my arms wrapping around her body like a vise, pulling her close and kissing her hard and desperate—as if she was the cure to the disease that had festered inside me all these years.

Her subtle moan fused with our kiss, and I wanted to stop time. I wanted this moment of complete serenity and delectation to last forever and a day. This woman had become my life, which was why I had to take this chance. Bring her here and convince her that she belonged with me, forever…until death us do part. And now that she had said yes, I wouldn’t let another hour pass without her being mine—in heart, body, soul, and by law.

I leaned back, letting out a groan as our lips parted. Without taking my eyes off her, I called over my shoulder, “You can come out now.”

Saint and his wife appeared, Milana wiping a tear from her cheek. “That was beautiful. Your talent is beyond amazing.”

“I have to agree with my wife here,” Saint chimed in. “It’s been a while since I heard someone play the cello as flawlessly as you did just now.”

Charlotte’s cheeks turned flaming red, her eyes wide as she cut her gaze from them to me. I merely nodded, knowing she was dumbfounded and probably horrified that they had been listening to her. Gently, I touched her chin, brushing a tender finger along her jaw. “The world needs to hear your music, Charlotte.”

Father Gillian, a local priest, walked up behind Saint, and I nodded toward him in acknowledgment. He had owed me a favor since I had taken care of a problem he had five years ago. A problem I made disappear without question. And today, I called in on that favor.

Charlotte frowned. “What’s going on?”

“You agreed to marry me.”

“Yes,” she replied slowly.

I brushed a curl that had escaped her elegant updo behind her ear. “And that’s what we’re going to do. Right now.”

“What?” She stared at me in question before cutting her gaze toward our guests. “Now? Here?”

“Yes, now. Right here.” I took her hands in mine. “You’re mine, Charlotte. There’s no need to delay the inevitable. Whether you marry me now, or next week. You’re going to marry me. I just choose now rather than next week.”

“But…but,” her cheeks blushed the most beautiful shade of pink, “I don’t…we don’t—”

I pulled her close and placed a palm against the side of her neck, brushing a thumb across her lips. “You can’t think of one single reason for us not to get married right now…can you?”

“Well…um.” She placed a palm on her forehead, glancing at Father Gillian. “Well, no. But—”

“But nothing. I’m not waiting another day before making you my wife. I love you, Charlotte. That won’t change, so there’s no use in waiting.”

She bit her lip, her eyes alert and confused. But there was a shimmer of excitement in her crystal blue irises.

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