Chapter 9
Bella
He just gazes at me. My stupid fiancé or whatever. He’s not fazed at all.
“You will marry me. You don’t have a choice.”
“Is that what gets you hard?” I ask. “Forcing young women into marriage?”
“No. I don’t want anyone else. I want you.”
That gives me pause. “Because you want an alliance with my father. He’s your prisoner.”
“He’s our ally. He will be treated with respect.”
“But not me.” I rub my arms, suddenly feeling like a prisoner in my own home. “They just left me here with you.”
“You have nothing to fear from me,” he says it so gently, I want to believe him.
But look at him. He’s huge. Covered in tattoos. He’s mafia muscle. I knew with one glance that he was dangerous. He’s the sort of guy they send to shakedown the scary mofos, because he’s the scariest one of all.
I wonder how many people he’s killed?
“What if we do the ceremony, and then just live in different houses?”
“The marriage needs to be real.”
I snort. “No, it doesn’t. You’re just making up random rules.”
“We have a contract.”
“Fine. We could just get married and then divorce.”
“This marriage will be for life. Like the alliance. It ends with death—yours or mine.”
Goosebumps break out over my skin. So it is a matter of life or death.
Preferably his.
“We’re not consummating the marriage.” But even as I say it, I lick my lips.
His gaze falls to my mouth.
“Oh, we’ll be consummating it.” His voice is rough, and my core clenches in response.
I’ve got to get out of here.
“I want some privacy. And some space. I can’t think about this right now.” I need to get away from him so I can make a plan.
“Stay in the house,” he orders. Because apparently, he can order me around now.
“I’m going to the greenhouse. Is that acceptable, my liege?” I give him a mock curtsy.
His eyes heat. I’m being silly, but he’s not playing a game.
“Yes, little bride,” he says.
“I’m not your bride.”
“Not yet. It’s only a matter of time.”
Nope, nope, nope. I rush to the door. I cannot deal.
“I’ll know if you try to run, Belladonna,” he calls after me. “Remember, I’m watching.”
Full body shiver!
No, I will not be turned on! I don’t like this anymore.
I escape to the greenhouse, my happy place. I turn on some opera music for the plants, pull on my favorite pair of gardening gloves, and putter around. Gardening usually makes everything better.
Except… it doesn’t help right now. All I can think about is how I’m alone in this huge house… with him. Kaiser. A man I just met. A man I’m supposed to marry and remain married to until death do us part.
Fucking what?
He’s been following me. For months! I thought I was so clever, confronting him in the poison garden and again in the diner. Now I feel uneasy. What does he already know about me? What has he seen?
Did he know this was coming?
He seems to be looking forward to the marriage. Fuck my life. That means I’ll have to kill him.
But if I kill him, it probably won’t be the end of it. Fraternitas has my father. Killing one of them won’t do any good. They’d probably just assign someone else to marry me. And make me, or my father, pay a blood debt.
Maybe I can make it look like an accident.
That means not activating the poison gas in the sprinkler system. I need to figure out if my father disabled it, anyway.
The thought of my father makes my stomach hurt all over again. Why would Papa hand me over to a bunch of thugs? Do they have something over him?
I need answers.
My head is spinning. I turn off the Wagner because it’s too intense for me right now, so I stand in the silence and dig my hands in the soil, trying to focus on my chores.
Usually, the greenhouse relaxes me, but all I can think about is Kaiser.
How to kill him. How to outmaneuver him. How to control him.
“Breathe,” he calls, and I almost drop the sapling I’m repotting.
He’s snuck up on me. Of course, the bastard followed me. He moves too quietly. Like a panther. Sleek coiled muscle. Except he also looks like he’s taken something to beef up those muscles. Nothing natural.
“Stop telling me what to do.”
He looks me up and down. I’m still in the schoolgirl outfit. Does he think I’m cute? He’s been handsy, and there’s definitely a charge of attraction between us. But I seem to be more affected than him. He’s older and more experienced, dammit.
I need a plan. But I can’t think. I can only glower at my new fiancé.
“You’re not welcome here.”
He says nothing as he paces between the rows of plants, studying them. He has no idea what he’s looking at.
In the shaded space under the racks, I’ve set up some woodchip beds for mushroom colonies. He takes particular interest in one bright orange cluster.
“Careful,” I call. “Those are poisonous.”
He backs away, and I roll my eyes. Am I really betrothed to a man who can’t tell the difference between a false chanterelle and a real one?
I finish planting the manchineel sapling. “You’re so beautiful,” I croon to it. “You’re doing so well. You’re going to grow big and produce some lovely poison apples for me, yes, you are.”
“Poison apples?” My intended is right behind me. I glare at him. I’m not ashamed to be caught talking to my plants, but I don’t want him here, killing the vibe. If he insults my babies, I’ll put poison ivy in his underwear.
Unfortunately, he’s standing in a patch of sunlight, and his blond hair blazes like a crown. It’s down around his shoulders, looking silky and a little curly from the humidity.
He looks like a work of art, dammit.
“This is the most poisonous tree in the world. Every part of it will kill you. If you try to kill it with fire, the smoke will destroy your eyes. Once it’s grown, I’m going to see if I can use the fruit to make jam. For Winter Solstice.” I give him a sappy smile. “Doesn’t that sound nice?”
No reaction. He might as well be a statue. An obnoxiously well-sculpted statue.
Ugh. “Just assume everything in here will kill you,” I tell him in a monotone voice. “It’ll save time.”
“Why would you even want to plant something so deadly?” He’s moved closer to the sapling. I just told him it would kill him, and here he is, looking even more enthralled.
I understand the feeling.
I sidle sideways, keeping the tree between us.
I study him through the spindly branches.
“You’re like everyone,” I scoff. “You want the power these plants give you. You want to use them, but you don’t respect them.
You want control of the poison inside them, but deep down, you know you can never own them.
At any point, they can be used against you.
It drives you crazy.” I brush my hand over the leaves, caressing them. Inviting him to do the same.
He doesn’t make a move to touch the tree. Or me. He’s too smart for that.
But I didn’t really think that poisoning him would be that easy.
“You crave the danger. The high it gives you. And if you’d only take a moment and the trouble to appreciate the beauty in front of you…
” I brush my lips over the leaves, then take a branch and lick the sap.
My skin begins to burn, but it quickly fades to a pleasant tingle.
“You could know the sweet taste of oblivion.”
I lick the peppery afterburn off my lips. “Come and kiss me, lover.” I flick my tongue at him. “It might hurt, but… it’ll be worth it.”
His eyes darken, a storm brewing over the ocean.
He’s tempted to prove he’s strong enough to master me. But he’s still planning how to do it. He makes no move.
“What, are you scared? Too afraid to touch me?” I laugh in his face.
Still, he doesn’t react. Most men his size would lose it if a woman taunted him like this. But he’s still patiently waiting, watching, studying me. Interesting.
I turn away, determined to act indifferent even if my skin prickles under his stare. I grab a broom to clean up. “I’m not marrying you.”
“You’ll do as you’re told.”
“Why marriage?”
“It’s how things are done. It’s a clear sign of an alliance between Fraternitas and the Poisoner. Your father.”
I flush a little under my clothes. He’s only doing this out of obligation. I’m a pawn on the board, and he’s the knight who’s captured me. Nothing personal, it’s all part of the game.
I guess a part of me hoped he wanted me. A sad, pathetic part that I need to cull, if I’m going to become as powerful as I want to be.
Kaiser doesn’t want me for me. I’m a job he’s been assigned to complete. I should’ve nipped my crush in the bud.
“Everyone will look at our union and assume my father is under Fraternitas control. Why else would he give up his beloved heir?” I think out loud, proving that I understand the stakes.
“And in a way, he is under your control. Because if he betrays you, you will hurt me. I’m a hostage.
” I’m not asking if this is true; I already know it.
“You understand. It’s nothing personal.”
“Okay, Curly.”
He doesn’t react to my nickname.
I can’t get a rise out of him, and now I know why. He doesn’t think of me as a real player.
I don’t have to prune the hopeful part of me. My girlish crush is already withering on the vine.
“You really don’t have a last name?”
“Nope.”
“Everyone has a last name. What was your family called?”
“Fraternitas is my family.”
Ugh, spare me from mafia men and their stupid gang loyalty.
I finish sweeping up and lean the broom against one of the racks. Outside the greenhouse, the sun is sinking. The day is getting dark, and the light slanting across the racks of plants is a rich gold.
I crouch down and pull out a rack of mushrooms, setting it on the floor between us.
“There’s one thing you and your overgrown frat bros didn’t think about.”
“And what’s that?”
I fuss over the mushrooms, waiting until he’s moved closer. I’ll teach him he’s not welcome here.
His shadow slants over me, and I smile up at him. “I won’t be so easy to control.” I rise and stomp on the mushrooms, releasing a cloud of spores into the air.
Kaiser
Brown-gray dust blooms between me and Bella. I throw up a hand, shielding my face. My future wife just told me everything in here is poisonous, and even though she’s not trustworthy, I’m not about to risk my life to test if she’s telling the truth.
Sure enough, my throat muscles squeeze and I choke on air. I’m having some sort of reaction to the spores. My eyes feel gritty, and I squeeze them shut, backing up and turning away.
Only to spin back around when I hear the sound of the greenhouse door opening and banging shut.
My bride is running away.
I have two choices. Let her escape, or hunt her down and bring her to heel.
And I’ll have to run through the mushroom cloud to do it.
No pain, no gain. I’ve beaten worse odds against opponents much bigger than the sexy little psycho in a schoolgirl skirt and cute blonde braids.
I charge forward, knocking into a rack of plants. I open my eyes long enough to catch the rack and set it carefully back in place. Don’t want to destroy anything.
It’s not the plant's fault that their gardener is both my dream girl and my nightmare.
The mushroom dust coats me. The past few weeks, I’ve been feeling things more and more, and the dust is uncomfortable enough to register.
When I focus, I can feel the desperation to scrub it from my skin, but it’s nothing I can’t power through, and I have years of practice in powering through.
I race to the door and out into the fresh air.
Outside, dusk has fallen, but there’s enough light to showcase the vast acreage of the backyard in all its glory. Papa Bosco must have spent a fortune on this place. It’s more of a park out here, the long green lawn bordered by forest. You’d think we were in the middle of nowhere, versus in a city.
I can hear Bella cackling in the distance. She’s paused on the edge of the woods, unable to resist hovering to see if I’ll chase her.
Her curiosity will be her downfall. I almost feel sorry for her that she’s never faced a true opponent.
When I catch her, she’ll learn.
I stride into the open field so she’ll see me. The sunlight blazes on my hair. Even at a distance, I can tell her expression goes from glee to shock, and then to horror.
I break into a run, charging like a bull toward her.
She’s frozen, staring at me long enough that I can see her eyes light with wild excitement.
Then she whirls and disappears into the trees.
Bella
He’s hot on my heels.
Getting closer.
I run, careening through the thick underbrush, and weave through poison ivy-covered pine trees. It would be a shame if Kaiser crashed into one.
I can’t stop the laughter bubbling out of my throat. I sound crazy. Maybe I am.
But this is the most fun I’ve ever had.
The sight of him, racing across the field toward me, sent a thrill through my nethers.
Am I scared or horny? Or an awesome, fizzy combination of both? Sc-orny!
I’m one hundred percent sc-orny for him.
It’s partially my fault. I primed the wrong neural pathways by picturing his face when I orgasmed.
I knew fantasizing about being murdered by him was a bad idea!
Now I hide behind an old oak, pressing into the poison ivy. My pulse pounds in my throat.
I hear a twig snap as he stomps after me. I wait, but he doesn’t appear.
He’s gone quiet.
Is he coming? Holding my breath, I peek out from my hiding place, feeling like the sacrificial blonde in a horror movie.
And there he is, staring back at me. “Boo.”
“YOLO!” I scream with delight and sprint in the opposite direction, straight into a bramble patch, but I’m small enough to duck and wriggle through a foxhole.
Kaiser tries to follow and bellows when the thorns tear his skin.
I drop to my belly and crawl the rest of the way. The back of our land ends with an overgrown orchard. Beyond that, there’s a long-forgotten graveyard bathed in evening light.
I’ve explored back here already. I looked up the history of the land, and apparently, it’s University property. I need to tell Honey; her advisor has her doing a huge project about the history of Unitas.
If Kaiser doesn’t kill me first.
My little obstacle course hasn’t deterred him at all. And instead of losing his temper, he’s even calmer and controlled. Makes me wonder what it would be like to let him catch me.
NO! BAD BELLA! Do not let him win!
He survived the gauntlet of the forest, and now he’s pushing through a patch of hogweed.
Bad call. That stuff will cause second-degree burns if he’s not careful.
I’ll be sure to tell him... Once I’m safely out of reach.