I shot a glance at him. “Easy for you to say. You’re not the one in my shoes.”
He chuckled. “What if you have a change of heart when you finally see her? What if she’s gorgeous?”
I dragged on my cigarette. “I don’t care what she looks like. I don’t like her now, and I most certainly will not like her in person.”
“Did you know that Pakhan Artem thought the same thing about his wife years ago?” he teased. “Now, look at them: a lovely couple.”
I faced him squarely. “If you wanna trade places so badly, I’m more than willing to oblige.”
“I’m just saying….” He shrugged his shoulders and took a step closer, a smirk playing on his lips. “…this might not be as terrible as you think.”
I paused for a second, letting out a puff of smoke. “Again, I don’t care. I’m only doing this for the brotherhood,” I said, sounding as nonchalant as I could. “The deal will be signed, the alliance will be made, and she’ll stay in her lane.”
He watched me in silence.
“I’ll make sure she knows her place, and she never crosses her boundaries,” I added. “This union is nothing but a contract,paperwork designed to benefit both our families.” My fingers combed through my hair. “It’s temporary. Once the alliance is sealed and strong enough to stand without our union, we’ll both go our separate ways.”
He hesitated before answering. “Hmm. You seem to have it all figured out, huh?”
“Matter of fact, I do.”
He looked me straight in the eyes and said in a low voice. “I hope it works out as you plan.”
I didn’t know why, but I had a feeling he didn’t believe my plan would work. He had this look on his face that clearly stated that he’d be around to see how it ended.
He believed that what happened to Pakhan Artem would happen to me, that love would arrest me. He was wrong. Pakhan Artem and I were built differently. He let himself fall in love. I wasn’t going to make that mistake.
And considering how much I hated this union, I was certain that whoever this girl was, she wouldn’t be good enough for me.
She had no idea what she was getting herself into. Now, I was no woman-beater, but I was going to frustrate her before she frustrated me. I’d make her life a living hell until she chose to file for a divorce.
Chapter 3 – Emika
They say never make a deal with the devil because you never know what he’ll ask.
Well, inmycase, the man who was supposed to be my grandfather was the devil I had no choice but to make a deal with. His condition was simple; he wanted me to marry a man of his choice. However, that something was simple didn’t mean it was easy.
This man practically asked me to sell my life away, to trade my future for my mother’s medical bills. He was the devil incarnate, a selfish prick who cared about nothing but himself.
I was taught to respect my elders. But at this point, Richard Beaumont was deserving of my hatred. Not my respect. I couldn’t understand why a human being could be so cold and heartless toward his own flesh and blood.
In all honesty, if I didn’t know better, I’d have doubted the fact that he was actually her father.
It had been a week since I met with him at his estate. He gave me four days to think about my decision, then called me three days ago to ask whether I was still in on the plan.
I didn’t have a choice; I couldn’t bring myself to let my mother’s condition worsen just because I was trying to save my future. She’d sacrificed a lot for me, and now it was time to do the same for her. She might hate me when she found out what I did to save her life.
But I’d rather she did that than give up the ghost. Not onmywatch. So, I told him that I was ready to play his game. His tone didn’t shift: no hint of excitement, relief, or any other emotion at all.
The man was too fuckin’ cold for his old age.
He told me I was going to meet my mysterious fiancé today. He warned me not to be late because, according to him, the man I was engaged to hated it when people wasted his time.
I could already tell that I wasn’t going to enjoy this meeting. And quite frankly, I loathed the man without even knowing who he was or what he looked like. The fact that he was friends with, or a business partner of, my grandfather meant they were cut from the same cloth.
Richard Beaumont was marrying me off to yet another monster like him. How cruel did a man need to be to contest for the position of the most wicked man on the planet?
These days, with each passing second, I understand better why my mother stayed away from him. He was evil and would do anything to get what he wanted.
