53. Arianna
CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE
ARIANNA
I woke up feeling slightly groggy, my thoughts a jumbled mess.
My skin prickled and the feeling of being watched stabbed me in the chest. I forced my eyes open and lifted my heavy head. I paused as the world shifted and waited for the blurriness to cease.
Then my eyes locked with my sister’s fiancé’s and my lips parted. For a moment, all I could do was stare. Those haunting eyes that appeared in every dream, swallowing me. The same ones that had no business looking at me with so much… possessiveness.
“I’m so glad you’re finally up, Sleeping Beauty.”
Then I remembered. Him showing up in my hotel room, us arguing… A gun pointed at me.
“Wh-what have you done?” I asked, blinking and trying desperately to orient myself, realizing we weren’t in the hotel suite.
“I kidnapped you.”
His deep baritone was calm, doing things to me once again.
“That’s illegal.”
“So is shooting your boyfriend.” I flinched, the coldness that coated his voice like a slap in my face.
“You’ve lost your goddamn mind, Matteo,” I breathed, sitting up.
“You have no fucking idea.”
I lowered my gaze, realizing I was no longer in my sweatpants. “Did you… Did you change me?”
“Yes. That wardrobe really wasn’t you.”
Although his voice was calm, unnerving, his expression was cold, with a sinister edge to it.
“You had me naked while unconscious?”
“I’ve seen you naked before, but don’t worry, I kept it strictly… PG-13.”
My temper flared, but my limbs trembled as I stared at the eyes that used to watch me with so much warmth, but now were full with callousness.
Something about it didn’t sit well with me. Maybe the fact that I was the cause of it. Or maybe that my ex-lover now wanted—no, demanded revenge.
“Where have you taken me?” I said, my tone composed. “And when my dad finds out about this…”
I didn’t finish the statement, but unfortunately it didn’t have the effect I’d hoped for because the man who stared at me had determination and cruelty radiating off him.
“It will be too late by then.”
My brows furrowed. “Too late?”
“Can you get up?”
I shifted around, letting my feet touch the ground while I let my gaze stray in search of an escape. There was only one, and Matteo was blocking it.
“What is this place?” I asked, standing up and feigning to study the room while fishing for information. It was simple and had little furniture—a bed, desk, and a bookshelf. Dark wooden beams curved above us at an angle, almost in a slanted, church-type roof.
“It’s my place.”
“Okay,” I said slowly. “Where are we?”
“Rural village of Lahinch.”
Thankfully, we hadn’t made it far. I could still escape him and get to the train station.
A dark shadow came over me and I looked up, realizing he’d closed the distance between us. His hand wrapped around my throat and he gently squeezed, demanding my attention.
“You have no idea what you’ve done, Ari.”
My nails dug into his wrist. “I’ve done nothing, Matteo.”
Except for shooting him and refusing him. But what choice did I have?
“You’ve created a monster.” His fingers stroked my throat, right where my pulse throbbed. “I’m going to need you to read something for me.”
My brows furrowed in confusion. “Read?”
“Yes. Can you do that for me?”
I pursed my lips. “If I do, will you leave?”
The moment stretched into eternity. “Yes.”
Just because she’s a good girl doesn’t mean she isn’t a bad bitch .
He reached into his pocket and handed me a crumpled piece of paper. “Read that.”
His hand was still on my throat, but he allowed a bit of distance. I looked at the words, my eyes darting over the handwriting that dripped with confidence.
“What is this?” I asked, staring at the words that made no sense. Yes, I understood them, but they had no relevance here.
“Please read them out loud.”
I looked back at the paper and sighed, my hand twitching with the urge to pinch the bridge of my nose.
“In the presence of God, I take this man to be my husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or worse, until death do us part.” I shook my head. “Matteo, this is?—”
“I take this woman to be my wife, promising to care for her, love her, and protect her until the end of time.”
I blinked up at him. “Seriously, Matteo. Maybe you should see a psychiatrist, because this is getting out of hand.”
He completely ignored me and looked over his shoulder, just as a man wearing a cassock stepped into my line of vision.
“Does that work, Father?” Matteo asked, tension rolling off his body in waves.
“It does.” The man smiled as his gaze flitted to me, full of guilt or pity, I wasn’t sure, and as he turned, disappearing from view, I heard his words. “Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Vitale.”
Did he just?—
No, it couldn’t be.
In stunned silence, my heart smashed into pieces all around me. Yet, a part of me still refused to believe the boy I’d known almost my whole life would do something like this.
“What did you do?” I breathed.
Matteo didn’t give me a chance to ask again before he crashed his lips against mine, devouring me while his hand around my neck kept me in place. Not that I fought him.
Time paused. The universe stopped turning. Every thought dispersed as Matteo’s mouth ravaged mine. He thrust his tongue inside, his grip on my neck tightening, and soon, I was kissing him with the same desperation.
Clash of teeth. Twist of tongues. Moans and groans.
He was claiming me, reminding me I’d always belonged to him. And I just couldn’t fight him. He kissed me hard, feasting on me like a starved man.
My hips rolled against his hard muscles, my pussy aching. I needed to touch his skin and feel his warmth under my fingertips. I reached for his tie, my hands fumbling with it and tugging on it desperately.
“You and I… We were always meant to be,” he growled, breathing heavily. “There’s nobody else for me.”
It was exactly the reminder I needed.
Planting both palms on his chest, I pushed him away, his hand falling down the side of his body.
“No. This—whatever that was”—I waved my hand in the direction of the long-gone priest—“is not legal. It’s not real.”
He smiled harshly. “I assure you. It’s very real, wife.”
My mouth opened, closed, and opened again, yet I couldn’t find the words.
“Our marriage will be announced in every paper and website around the world,” he finally said. His eyes found mine as he fixed the tie I had so shamelessly tugged on mere moments ago. “Now, it’s time for our honeymoon.”