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“No,” he says with a bitter laugh. “You were already a mob wife once. You will be a crime lord’s wife now, which is much more dangerous. You will sit on top of a throne of blood and money unlike anything you’ve ever imagined, and if you want to stay alive long enough to solve your ex-husband problem, you need to listen to me.”
I slowly sink down into a chair. “You make it sound like there are people waiting in the shadows with knives, ready to stab me in the back for wearing the wrong dress.”
“That’s more or less accurate.”
I laugh sharply, but he’s not smiling. “I’m going to get killed then. You’ve met me, right? Do I seem like the kind of girl that can hold her tongue and say all the right things? I don’t know anything about—” I gesture around me at the wealth and beauty just in this room alone.
He tilts his head, frowning. “No, you don’t.”
“Exactly. I’m the kind of girl that gets herself in trouble. I speak my mind, wear old sneakers, and absolutely hate being told what to do.” I hesitate and glance in the direction of his bedroom. “Although I do like all the pretty dresses.”
His smile is exhausted. “I hoped you might.”
“I’m not going to fit in here,” I say quietly, feeling a sudden weight in my chest. “If you need a woman that understands how to navigate all this, you’re talking to the wrong person.”
He comes around toward me. I stare at him as he stops and slowly kneels down in front of me. My heart starts racing—I know this position all too well—but he doesn’t come closer.
“I will help you,” he says. “You will learn how to please me and how to please my family.” He holds up a hand before I can launch into a tirade about how I couldn’t carelessabout pleasing him or anyone else. “All you need to do is try to listen. I demand perfection, Camille, but I offer a lot in return.”
“Money and wealth in exchange for my soul.”
“Money, wealth, andsafetyin exchange for your obedience for a short time.”
“How short?” I ask, feeling desperate and afraid. “What’ll happen when we end this fake marriage thing? Won’t your family be even more pissed at you?”
“That is my problem to handle.”
“Just like you’re handling all the other problems.”
“Enough,” he says sharply, sounding like he’s at the end of his patience, and I sit back, surprised. “Just take this damn thing.” And he thrusts another box in my direction.
But this time, it’s smaller and black and velvet. The perfect size for a ring.
“Uh,” I say. “Did you find that in the garbage truck too?”
“I hope not, considering how much it costs.” He flips open the lid and I suck in a shocked breath.
It’s an engagement ring. The central diamond looks big enough to crack a walnut in half. It’s oval shaped, with smaller stones haloed around it, set into a platinum band.
“What?” I manage to sputter. “What the heck isthatthing? Are you—are you proposing right now? You just saidtake this damn thingand that was your freaking proposal?”
“Put it on,” he growls and takes my hand.
“Evander—”
“Wear my ring, asteraki mu. Ineedyou to wear my ring.” He stares at me with fire in his eyes and a shiver runs down my spine. He’s looking at me like he can’t see anything else and it’s intoxicating. His attention is a drug, a luscious drug I want to wrap around my body and get lost inside of. He’s a velvet rope around my throat, and I don’t mind if he keeps on tightening.
Until I choke.
All I have to do is wear his ring.
Heneedsit. He doesn’t want it, he doesn’t think it’s a smart idea.
Heneedsme to wear his ring.
My chest twists and I feel a tingle run up my core.
Evander on his knees with a ring worth more money than I’ve ever dreamed of in my life.
