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Chapter 1
Willow
Today will end in either marriage or murder.
My preference is murder.
“It’s bad luck for a bride to cry on her wedding day, you know,” Claire, my cousin three times removed, says with a scowl as she dabs at my running mascara. She’s only making things worse. “You should count yourself lucky. Just think of it, a Christmastime wedding!”
It took the makeup artist almost two hours to get me ready, and an hour still of fighting with Claire as she shoved me into my dress. She scratched me one too many times with those acrylic claws for it to be an accident.
My cousin clicks her tongue for the sixth time in two minutes before sighing in resignation. “This is your duty, Willow. Suck it up.”
I grind my teeth so hard my molars squeak. “You’re not the one being married off to that son of a—”
“Quiet!” she hisses, throwing a frantic look over her shoulder.
One of Esteban’s men stands in the doorway, deliberately putting his hands on his hips so the front of his suit jacket pulls back to reveal the cold, hard metal of the gun in his shoulder holster.He says nothing. He doesn’t have to.
I know besmirching my fiancé’s ‘good’ name is a punishable offense. Maybe that’s why I’m so adamant about pushing him. If I’m lucky, he might put me out of my misery.
“Don’t give me that look,” I grumble at him.
“The ceremony is in twenty minutes,” the guard states flatly, coldly.
I’m convinced the men who follow Esteban’s every word aren’t human. They’re not even dogs, because at least dogs can feel. No, my future husband and head of the Becerra Cartel only hires robots. They comply with his orders without hesitation. They break, they threaten…
They kill.
Claire shoos him away. “She’ll be ready by then. Hurry and pull the car around.”
The guard nods once. “Yes, ma’am.”
“And trip down the stairs while you’re at it!” I shout after him.
My cousin smacks my shoulder. “What’s wrong with you? Do you really want a bullet between your eyes?”
“Yes,” I lie.
My answer couldn’t be further from the truth. I’m just tired of Esteban and my father believing they can step all over me. I’m tired of them controlling every aspect of my life, treating me like a prized possession instead of a human being.
All my life, I’ve dreamed of leaving. Unfortunately, my father has an iron grip on my financial situation. I’ve been forbidden from going to college. I’m not allowed to get a job. Without an education or money of my own, my father ensured my entrapment. Reliant. And in twenty minutes, when I’m forced to walk down the aisle, I’ll inevitably be reliant on Esteban, too.
That’s what they think, anyway.
Because in twenty minutes, I’m going to be long gone.
I gently grasp Claire by the hand and give her fingers a light squeeze. “I’ll fix my own makeup,” I tell her. “Head on down without me. I… need a few moments to collect myself.”
Claire presses her lips into a thin line, squinting as she scrutinizes me from head to toe. “Okay,” she finally mumbles. She doesn’t leave immediately. Instead, she quickly wraps her arms around me in a tight hug and whispers in my ear, “You’re doing the right thing, Willow. Marrying Esteban will absolve all your father’s debts. It’s honorable.”
I force a smile.
Honorable my peachy behind.
I learned a long time ago that my father is a hypocrite. He may be good at controlling my wallet, but he certainly has no control over his own. I won’t pretend to know what sort of business he gets up to for the cartel. All I know is that it’s illegal and incredibly volatile work. The only consistent thing about my father’s dealings is he owes a percentage of it to Esteban Beccerra. Business hasn’t been kind to him in recent years.
Hence getting married against my will.
