Chapter 3
ONYX
Was this what people called karma? I had always thought it was such an idiotic concept; people didn't get what they deserved. Good or bad, we were all shoved out into the shit of the world, and the only way to balance the scales was to do it yourself.
Now, as I stood in front of a room full of people with a psycho clutching my hand in his huge paw, wrapped in a silky dress I might have admired under different circumstances, I was starting to think I was stupidly and completely wrong.
There was certainly such a thing as karma, and I was staring it in the face.
I only take out the ones that deserve it. This can't really be my fate, can it?
My stomach rolled as Lucero started walking and tugged me along with him.
I stumbled, my composure slipping as I looked around the room.
There was no way this group of strangers was going to let me marry this man, right?
After all, they didn't know me. I had a sneaking suspicion Lucero really knew me, but the rest of them were completely out of the loop.
Or were they all clued in and I was the only one dazed and confused?
Keep it together, Onyx. Don't ever let anyone see you crack.
When the big idiot had picked me up in the park, my phone had dropped to the sidewalk and was quickly forgotten.
Now, I wished I had it. Cara was my eyes in the sky, but fuck, even she could call the goddamn police!
I swallowed thickly as the altar approached, my blood running cold at the sight of the priest.
No. Fuck no. This can't be happening. Did that asshole kill me the other night and this is hell? It has to be.
I dug my heels in. Lucero stopped, turned, and tilted his head at me. I could feel the sweat on my brow, feel the way my chest constricted. I hated weddings. Hated being married. All of it. I went through with it when it was necessary, but being here made my skin itch.
"I need to go to the bathroom," I said, my mouth entirely too dry.
"Now?" Lucero asked. "But we're almost there. Can it wait for five minutes? That's all I need."
I stared at him. "I'm going to puke."
He frowned and rubbed my back. "You're sick? Why didn't you tell me? I would have gotten you some medicine."
The feeling of his hand on me made me want to stab him in both eyes, rip them out, and eat them in front of his family. I gazed up at him, giving him the sweetest doe eyes that I could.
"Just five minutes. I swear. I don't want to make a scene," I whispered.
"So don't." The man with the gun earlier stood not far away from us. "Get it over with."
Get it over with?
I narrowed my eyes at him, and he glared right back. Like I was the problem! Shit, I was the one that had been kidnapped, stuffed into a dress, and forced to walk down a goddamn aisle! Underneath my calm facade, I fumed. He was next on my list. The entire family was at this point.
"Stop making that face at him," Lucero growled. "We don't need help."
I do! I'll be good. I'll go to church again. Hey, I'll even pray. Are you listening, you big asshole? Can't you help me out just this once?
I was never big on God or religion, but right now I would do it if it meant I could get away from this pedo and his family.
Speaking of, what the fuck did he want with me?
Sure, I looked young, but not that young.
Why did he want me when his interests lied elsewhere?
Was this a way to distract people from finding out the truth about him? My stomach turned all over again.
"Get moving," the man said to Lucero. "We don't have all day."
Lucero's face split into a wide, lopsided grin.
He tugged and I went with him. What the hell else could I do?
There had to be more of them, with more weapons, and I only had my knife on me.
My hypodermic had been confiscated by this thug.
Now I wished I had brought two. Hell, I wish I'd brought five because I was sure one would be a love bite to this moron.
"Ah, this is your fiancé, Onyx, right?" the priest asked.
My eyes darkened. "I'm not his anything. He just kidnapped me. Pretty sure I'll be shot if I say no."
The priest cleared his throat. "Oh, I, uh?—"
"He's just joking." Lucero chuckled. "We're in love."
"We?" I intoned. "Jésus, tue-moi maintenant."
The man cleared his throat. "Welcome, Marino family. We are gathered today to…"
As the priest's words droned on, I simply stared, in shock. He was really going to go through with this. Then again, I guessed he was bought. Money could pay for anything in this world; I knew that better than anyone.
"Do you have the rings?"
Lucero frowned as he ran his hands over his body.
The frown deepened as he realized he, in fact, did not have any rings.
I blew out a sigh of relief until someone cleared their throat.
One of the slender twins—they had to be, they looked exactly alike—tapped him on his arm.
They handed over two boxes and smiled as they stepped back out of the way.
"Goddamn it," I muttered.
The priest glanced at me, and I wanted to run all over again. I hated every part of this. My skin wouldn't stop crawling. I wanted to make a run for it, but there was no way I was stepping foot out of this church without a few new holes. And I was kinky, but that was too extreme, even for me.
"Lucero, the ring."
His big, meaty fingers had trouble taking the dainty ring out of the box. The diamond was so big it looked like it would blind someone in the sun. I stared as he finally took it out triumphantly and slid it onto my finger. Somehow, I wasn't surprised it was a perfect fit.
This man knows way too much about me. I definitely have to kill him.
"Onyx, take your ring."
I took the ring, but as the priest mumbled whatever nonsense he wanted, I kept my jaw locked tight.
The words he wanted me to repeat were ridiculous.
I didn't know this man, didn't love him, and was definitely going to put him in an early grave.
I shoved the ring on hard. Lucero chuckled and admired it, his face lit up like the Fourth of July.
"Just get on with it," I hissed at the priest.
He warily continued. "You may kiss Onyx."
As soon as Lucero tried, I placed a hand on his mouth. No way in hell was I kissing a pedophile. It didn't matter how much this mission confused the hell out of me, my sources were reliable, and I wasn't about to let some freak put his mouth on me. Besides, I didn't kiss.
"It's okay, I know you don't enjoy kissing," Lucero "whispered" at full volume. "We don't have to." He placed a kiss on my hand instead. "We're married!"
The hesitant sound of applause filled the church. All I could do was stare up at the mountain of a man that looked like he was about to jump and punch the air at any moment. My stomach rolled.
“Sign the license,” the priest said.
Lucero happily signed. I did so after, much more reluctantly. When I was done, it was whisked away by one of the twins, and I stared in abject horror.
Seriously, what the hell just happened?
Lucero scooped me up in his arms. I couldn't do anything but stare at him. When he met my gaze, he lit up all over again. Were... were those tears in his eyes? I bristled.
Yeah, I'm pretty sure I just found someone even crazier than me.
***
"Where are we going?" I asked as Lucero wrapped thick duct tape around my wrists, and then my ankles. I laid in the backseat of his car, fighting for my life against the tulle nightmare that was the dress he'd picked out for me. "Lucero!"
"Sorry!" he said, mumbling before he ripped off more tape. "I thought we'd go to a hotel, really get to know each other, but that would be a problem because of… you know."
"The fact that you kidnapped me?" I asked plainly.
"It's not really a kidnapping. Just a meeting. Besides, we're married now. You can't kidnap your husband."
I growled. "You most certainly can kidnap a spouse, you slack-jawed Neanderthal!"
He grabbed my heeled feet as I tried to kick him. "This is why I have to tie you down. I don't want you to get hurt. You could have died earlier."
"I wish I had," I groaned.
"Don't say that!" Lucero snapped. Suddenly, his face had turned dark. I instinctively tried to move away but he yanked me back toward him by my ankle. "Don't ever say that again."
I licked my lips. Right, I was in the presence of crazy. I needed to tap into my other side, the one that was demure, sweet, and seductive. Finally, I mustered up a little smile, but it felt weak on my lips.
"Sorry. This is a stressful day. You understand that, right?"
Lucero's face turned right back into sunshine and rainbows. "Weddings are hard. I’ve heard that." He rubbed at one of the many bruises I'd given him. "But we'll get some rest. I found the perfect place for us."
My stomach rolled. The perfect place? I wanted to ask just where the hell that was, but I was truly terrified to ask.
Wherever he took me, it probably wouldn't be somewhere in the public eye.
And while I didn't think Lucero cared if people saw me like this, or even thought about it, I was pretty sure those men from earlier had helped him in some way or form.
"Are you sure about this?" The one with the gun came to the car, a frown on his face.
"Damian, it's fine," Lucero said. "It's already too late anyway. We're married. Divorce is a sin, you know?"
That's the only part of this he finds to be a sin??
Damien sighed. "All right. Clearly, I can't talk you out of this, but I don't want it interfering in your work. Figure your shit out."
"I will."
Damian looked at me, shook his head, and walked back to the rest of his family. I was left to lie there, looking insane in a wedding dress, duct taped, and quite frankly? Exhausted.
As Lucero climbed into the car, it dipped beneath his weight. I stared at the back of his head as he drove, imagining all the ways I would make his brain escape his empty head. His eyes went to the rearview mirror at the same time mine did, and he smiled.
"You're thinking about how much you want to kill me, aren't you?"
I stiffened. "No."
He chuckled. "Yeah, you are. I can see it in your eyes." I licked my lips. "How would you do it? What were you planning to do? Quick and easy? Or slow and painful?"
"Tu es vraiment un monstre," I muttered.
Lucero didn't understand, I could tell. Well, if that's what it took for him to be quiet, I'd speak in French until his head exploded. I turned away from him. He didn't deserve to look at me. Besides, I needed to concentrate.
Lucero Marino would die, and I would be the one that took his life. After that church stunt, I was even more determined to take him out.