That is, until he instructs us to kiss.
My entire body goes rigid. Dominic’s does too. I glance around the room and meet Viktor’s gaze. He’s glaring at me, urging me to proceed.
Dominic leans in, grabbing my attention.
My eyes widen.
The air is lost in my throat.
I barely get an exhale out before his lips touch mine.
They stay there, unmoving, for three seconds. Three long seconds.
Then he pulls back.
His eyes are dark and annoyed.
He rakes his eyes over me one last time and curls his nose.
Then he drags me down the aisle by my hand, out the door.
All of it in silence.
It’s worse than I anticipated. I don’t know what I expected, but a wedding kiss from a man who’s disgusted by me isn’t it.
By the time we get into the limousine, my hands are shaking in rage.
How dare he humiliate me in such a manner? In front of my father, my people? How dare he treat me like this?
After a long stretch of silence in the limo, I finally crack.
“What? You can’t even look at me?” I demand, furious that his apathy is getting to me.
He slowly rakes his eyes towards me, but unlike other times, there’s interest in them.
“I didn’t know the doll could speak with such fire,” he muses. He arches a brow in intrigue.
“Don’t fucking call me a doll!” I seethe. How dare he! It’s fucking worse than ‘princess.’ At least with ‘princess,” I can pretend to be royalty. He’s referring to me as an inanimate object. It’s demeaning.
“I’ll call you whatever I want. Don’t forget who you’re marrying.” His smirk is victorious, and my palm itches to slap him. I barely refrain, and only because I don’t want to show up to my reception with a black eye.
“I know what I married. A man who can only get a wife by buying her!” I throw back at him.
I realize my mistake the moment his grin drops, and his impossibly black orbs darken.
But I stand my ground. I don’t shrink back or flinch, even though I’m expecting a punch.
I’ll take it like a woman. A badass woman. I’m not starting this marriage as the weak woman who takes beatings.
But instead of hitting me, he leans forward, so close that I can feel his breath on my lips.
“Let’s make one thing clear, doll. I didn’t buy you. In fact, I have no interest in you. You were merely a means to an end. A way to obtain peace. After tonight, I have no more use for you. You can go live your spoiled little life funded by my hard work on your end of my house, and I’ll lead my men on my side.” He chuckles darkly, then pushes a strand of my hair behind my ear. “I mean, look at you. Why would I ever buy a porcelain doll?”
I raise my hand and swing. But the fucking bastard catches my wrist before I can make contact.
“Aghh!” I scream in frustration.
“Nice try, doll. But you’ll have to be faster than that to get me.” He drops my hand and moves back to his seat as if nothing happened.
