Page 20 of Bound in Possession

I turn back to Dmitri, my expression cold and unyielding. "She'll survive it. And don’t forget to call the wedding planner."

We’ve only just arrived back from the planner’s store about an hour ago, after spending hours going over all the boring, tedious wedding arrangements. I fight back a smile when I remember how Camilla had looked ready to tear her hair out over flower arrangements and fabric swatches.

The planner thought she had two full weeks to prepare everything, but now that it’s down to three days, she better fucking hire a magician to help her work things out.

There’s nothing else I can do about it. The reality of our world is brutal. I need to marry Camilla and bind our families together before Viktor gets the upper hand, and if I have to drag her to the altar to keep her safe, that is exactly what I will do.

"Do you have what I asked?" I ask Dmitri, holding out my hand.

"Yes." He walks across the room to my desk, pulls back the bottom drawer, and takes out a sleek, premium smartphone.

It’s brand new, but it’s already been completely fortified with our encrypted communication software and tracking chips. I had Dmitri get it for Camilla as a peace offering. Especially after witnessing the horrific way her father treated her at lunch, I finally understand why she is so desperate to contact her sisters. She needs them. They are her only anchor.

To make sure the gift actually hits home, I also had Dmitri reach out to Massimo and request Camilla's sisters' contact numbers, pre-saving them onto the new device.

I hope at least this makes her happy.

I frown down at the phone in my hand, a sudden, unsettling realization hitting me like a physical blow. That is exactly why I did it. To make her happy. To see her smile. I haven’t seen her smile a genuine smile since she got here—not once. Only those sharp, sarcastic smirks she uses to guard herself.

For some reason, the thought of earning a real one from her makes my chest tighten.

Dismissing Dmitri with a sharp nod, I leave the office and head down the long hallway toward my bedroom. I should go prepare for the gala tonight; the clock is ticking and my suit is already laid out.

But I have to see Camilla first.

I head into the bedroom to see her curled up on the bed, her head buried in a book. The sight instantly reminds me of Nastya, and how she used to always have her nose in a novel.

"There's a new arrangement," I say, closing the door behind me and stepping into the room.

She narrows her eyes, a cynical edge immediately returning to her beautiful features. She sets the book down on her lap. "Let me guess. You've decided to move up the wedding? I wouldn't be surprised at this point."

Well, damn.

"The wedding has been moved to three days from now," I state flatly, watching her face closely. "Your father has already been alerted."

Camilla blows up.

She leaps off the bed, the book tumbling to the floor as she glares at me with pure, unadulterated fury. "Three days?!" she whispers, unable to believe it as she advances toward me.

"Maksim, this is getting too much, too quickly. You can’t just rearrange my entire life every time you have a sudden whim!"

She stops right in front of me, her chest heaving as she points a trembling finger at my chest. " I haven't even processed the fact that I was sold at an auction, and now you're forcing me down an aisle before the week is over? I don't get a choice in who I marry, when I marry, or how I live my life anymore.”

"It is not a whim," I say, my voice dropping, low and dangerous, as I step into her space. "Viktor is after us. The attack this afternoon proves that he is tracking our movements. We cannot delay. A public alliance strips him of his leverage and forces the other families to fall in line."

"Then let me go!" she says back, her eyes flashing with a mix of defiance and desperation. "Viktor is after you because you have me! If I'm such a liability, let me out of your life! Let me go!"

I feel a sharp frisson of annoyance rip through my chest. I am trying to be gentle with her. I am trying to provide a fortress, an elite security detail, a brand new fortified phone just so she can hear her sisters' voices—and she is standing here pushing my absolute limits, demanding to plunge headfirst into a meat grinder.

"So you want to be with Viktor? Is that it?" I snap, the brutal edge in me taking the wheel as I close the remaining distance between us.

I tower over her, my shadow swallowing her whole. "Because princess, let’s be entirely clear about the reality of your situation: it is either one of us. You know that. It’s either me, or it is Viktor. If you are so desperate to be hitched to a monster, maybe it’s time I stop treating you like a fucking gentleman and start treating you like the monster you think I am. Huh? How about that?"

The venom in my voice echoes off the walls, heavy and suffocating.

She stops. The angry words die on her lips and she just stares up at me. The fiery defiance in her eyes suddenly flickers, caught between the lingering heat of her rage and the sudden, chilling reminder of exactly whose bedroom she is standing in.

“Don’t fucking push me, Camilla," I growl, leaning down until we are practically breathing the same air. "You see I’ve been gentle with you, and that’s not who I am. If you think I’m going to let you go, then maybe it’s time I stop pretending and let you in on who I really am.”