Chapter 6
I strained my eyes open, the early morning sunlight streaming through the heavy curtains. My head was pounding, but I guessed that was from the effects of a good night out. Well, until that prick ruined it. I stretched my arms out, the black sheets enveloping my body.
Wait a minute… These weren’t my sheets… Were these…
Bastard!
“Lorenzo fucking Ricci!” I snapped, sitting bolt upright, the thumping in my head now gone. “I’m going to kill you, you son of a bitch!” Of course, he was nowhere to be seen.
I climbed out of bed and exited his room, finding my bag outside of mine with a small note attached to it.
Next time you want to drink that much, don’t forget your damn purse. Oh, and by the way, the lock has now been removed. - Lorenzo
I snatched my purse off the floor and debated finding him and gutting the bastard, but I prioritised taking a shower first and washing all the shit from yesterday away.
After changing into a pair of ripped jeans and an oversized knit, I felt fresh and ready to face my so-called husband. I debated putting my wedding ring on, but honestly, why the hell should I? It wasn’t like this was a real marriage filled with love and loyalty, so why bother?
I followed the voices I heard as I neared a room with a closed door. Not bothering to knock, I barged into what I guessed was his office. Seven or eight pairs of eyes landed on me the second I almost took the door off its hinges.
“You bastard!” I yelled, not caring who was watching.
“Team, say good morning to my wife,” he teased, looking incredibly pleased with himself.
They all smiled in unison and muttered out, “Good morning.”
“Now, get out,” he ordered.
“I’m not done, so no, I won’t get out.” I folded my arms across my chest, standing my ground.
“I didn’t mean you, la mia bella ragazza .” He settled back in his chair, calling me something in Italian that I’d need to search the meaning of later. “Don’t keep jumping to conclusions.” He chuckled, sending the team out with a flick of his wrist.
“What the fuck did you do?!”
He grinned, his eyes twinkling with self-satisfaction, as he recounted the evening. “I put my intoxicated wife to bed.” He said, his voice dripping with smugness.
“I know that, but you put me in the wrong one!” I threw my hands up in the air, clearly getting nowhere with his sarcastic ass.
“Well, if you hadn't locked your door, got drunk, and fell asleep in the car then I would have been able to put you in the right one.”
“You could have woken me up!” I sighed, my blood boiling.
“Oh, trust me, I tried but you even slept through a damn gunshot. There was no waking you up.” Lorenzo rose from his chair as he spoke, his eyes never leaving mine.
“You stay over there. You’ve already done enough.” I reached behind my back, putting my hand on the handle of the door, readying my escape.
“What you did last night was incredibly stupid and reckless.” He stopped before me, gripping my wrist as I held on to the metal.
“You’re married to me . You’re the daughter of a Fedorov.
You have countless targets on your back, and you swan around without a care in the world.
” His jaw clenched and his eyes narrowed, the lines on his forehead deepening as the smug grin he had worn moments before vanished.
His lips pressed into a tight line, and he let out a sharp breath through his nose, exuding a palpable wave of frustration.
“I can protect myself. I don’t need you or anyone else watching my every move.” I scoffed as he pressed my body against the door, slowly suffocating me.
“That’s where you're wrong. You’re my wife, and you will do as you’re told, when you’re told.” He grabbed my face with one hand, holding me to his body with the other. “Where is your ring, Anastacia?” he demanded, his gaze dropping to my bare finger, just as they did the night before.
“Where it belongs.”
“Well, it clearly isn’t. I already told you if you didn’t wear it, I’d glue it to your finger.” He craned his neck, bringing his lips an inch from mine, the warmth of his breath teasing my skin. “Would you rather I tattooed my name on you instead?”
“I’d rather not be married to you in general.” I thrashed my head, wanting to get the hell away from him but it only made him tighten his hold on me.
“Well, we can’t always get what we want.” His eyes darkened with each word he said. “Now, be a good girl and do as you’re told.”
I slapped his face with such force that my hand went numb, a tingling sensation spreading up my arm. "Don’t tell me what to do!" I demanded, my voice shaking as anger spilled out of me like a torrent of water bursting through a dam.
I expected him to retaliate, but he just stood there with a smile. One that unsettled me.
His eyes searched mine for a split second.
I had no idea what he was looking for but then I realised.
He was hoping for the smallest hint of approval.
I didn’t get the chance to answer because his lips collided with mine in a ferocious crash, a violent clash of heat and fury.
There was nothing loving about it. It was as though we were fighting a war with mouths instead of fists, the pair of us so desperate to come out on top.
His anger and frustration poured into me like lava, dangerous and destructive.
My body began to betray my mind as I kissed him back with the exact same venom.
I couldn’t see or feel anything other than us.
Not that there would ever be an us. I vowed to myself that I’d never lose my power to him, never give him what he wanted. Yet here I was, doing the opposite.
He fisted my hair tighter, wrapping one braid around his hand and possessing me with every stroke of his tongue.
And although I felt nothing but hate for this man, desire crept through the cracks in my invisible amour.
I tried to drown out any unwanted thoughts that played on my mind but the way he controlled me was making it so hard.
He teased my lower lip between his teeth, breaking the skin. All I could taste was my own blood, metallic and warm. He was draining the power from me second by second, and I couldn’t let that happen.
“You keep surprising me, Ana,” he growled, my blood painting his lips too.
“What were you expecting? A timid princess who was trained by her family to be the perfect housewife?” I whispered. “I’m not my mother, Lorenzo. You don’t get perfect.”
“Perfect is overrated.” He sucked my lip into his mouth before devouring me again. His lips moved to my neck, roughly sucking on my skin as I let out an unexpected moan. “You’ll never escape me, wife. You are mine until I say otherwise.”
“Your say is irrelevant to me.” I scoffed.
“My say is everything. I chose you, and you’re going to obey me. No matter how long it takes, you’ll obey your husband.”
“You’re deluded if you think that will ever happen,” I snapped back, my breathing rugged. My words were thick with hate and cut through the air like a whip.
He yanked my face back to his, his lips colliding with mine before I had a chance to say anything else.
As he overpowered me, I kissed him back with every ounce of resentment I was holding onto and the bastard knew it.
He kissed me with more aggression and force than before as I felt the heat of his body seep into mine.
My body pulsed with anger, there was no grace, no gentleness, just us fighting for dominance.
I dug my nails into his back with as much force as I could. The sound of the hiss leaving his lips filled me with satisfaction.
“Stay away from me.” My chest heaved as his eyes dropped to my breasts.
“Whatever that was will never happen again.”I whispered, as I found the strength to shove him away.
I couldn’t give in to him. I couldn’t let him think kissing me would be as easy as this or that it would change anything. It changed nothing.
“Put your ring on,” he said, making it clear he was still wearing his own by lifting his hand and twisting it around his finger with his thumb.
“ Idi poigray v probke, chertov zasranets .” I smiled, knowing he had no clue what I just said. “ Ya zastavlyu tebya podavit'sya etim kol'tsom .”
I yanked the door open, coming face to face with the men who Lorenzo sent out not that long ago.
“He’s all yours.” I smiled sweetly as I left the team in my wake.
That man had another thing coming if he thought I’d obey him.
I didn’t even know the meaning of the word.