Chapter 19 – Luka
S he looks good in my shirt. So good.
I shifted in my seat. The leather was warm and supple. The ’69 Nova purred up the road, all those horses racing in the engine as they carried us toward certain trouble.
Because there was nothing else waiting for us up north.
I shot a glance to the bedraggled, fuming woman next to me. “I said I would get you out of this.”
“Why would you help me?” she cut back.
She might be half drowned and covered in river mud, but she sparkled. Fucking glowed. That fire couldn’t be squashed.
“Aren’t I the solution to your big deal?” she added.
My fingers flexed and tightened on the steering wheel. “You are. But you have a side in this story too.”
Her laughter was rough. “Who wants to hear about the rich heiress, the celebrated law school grad, who was called combative, unreliable, and run out of town? Oh, but here’s the kicker! I’m the problem. It was my fault.”
“Vivian.”
“He’ll lock me up, Luka. Until I agree to marry him. And then? He’ll call me unfit and be granted conservatorship of my trust and control over the family estates, not just executorship. Markem will make what happened to Britney Spears look like child’s play.”
She’ll never see the light of day again. A long breath escaped my lungs. I couldn’t let that happen. Not when she was the first person I’d met that I felt something more for. It didn’t matter how long I’d known her; she fascinated me. If we were a normal boy and girl, I would have taken my time. Shown her what a woman like her deserved—the world, and then some.
There wasn’t time for that.
Granted, her continued stunts put significant delays in our plan. But I was grateful for that now. There was no way in hell I was delivering her to a fate worse than death.
“I’m going to save you,” I started.
Her mocking laughter filled the car. It was a tinkling, sardonic chime.
There were no shoulders on this stretch of highway. I took a sharp right onto a county road, slammed on the brakes, and turned to her.
“Laugh all you want, but I’m your only hope. You want your freedom?” I pinned her with an unwavering stare.
Vivian didn’t flinch away. “I don’t trust you.”
“Take trust out of the equation,” I said, thinking on my feet. “You respond to logic, to reason. Well, here are the facts, and they are undisputed.”
She arched a brow but settled back into her seat. “Alright, mister, let’s hear your awesome plan.”
That shouldn’t have bothered me. But it did. Not the words so much. It was the mocking tone behind them. Her absolute certainty that I was dumb for what I was about to do.
Maybe I was.
But I had to try.
“You know I can kill.” She didn’t even blink. There was no tell on her stoney face that my words affected her. “I can protect you, Vivian,” I continued, pleading with any saint listening to help me. “I can keep Markem from touching you.”
“The verbiage of my trust fund, the wealth and privilege, is blocked. There are legal bounds put on it, so even if you keep me from being locked up, I’m no better than a maid.” Bitterness filled her voice.
“I have money.”
She shook her head. “It’s not about the money. It’s the theft. Life as I knew it was stolen from me, piece by piece. I’m nothing, and he made it that way.”
Her hands trembled. I doubted it was with fear, but I had to fist my own to keep from reaching for her.
“There has to be a workaround,” I insisted.
She laughed hoarsely. “Kill him? I tried to hire you to do just that, but you shot me down.”
The bitterness in her voice was a knife to the gut. She had asked, more than once. Focused on myself and this mission, I tuned out the plea. If I could flog myself for not at least hearing her out, I would have.
Clearing my throat, I said, “A valid choice. But let’s try the less predictable one. Isn’t there another workaround?”
Killing the sonofabitch would take more finesse. It could never be viewed as transactional, and the repercussions would darken Vivian’s doorstep. Besides, if this lawyer was tied up in any paperwork, we needed that dealt with first.
“Not with my career or my family’s estates. My legacy is all but squashed. The one loophole is my marital status, but that is only in regard to my trust,” Vivian said matter-of-factly.
My heart stopped beating. That was it. That was how I could help her. The skin of my fourth finger burned.
“I wasn’t going to sell myself to someone, especially since Markem could manipulate them into handing my inheritance over.” Vivian drummed her fingers against her thighs. “There’s no other loophole. He’s bashed me all over town. No one will touch the case, or if they did have a look, they wouldn’t take him on in the courts. My law degree is useless. My family’s estate is tied up. If I get married, I can access my trust. But that’s it.”
“Marry me.” Never had two words made my chest lighten, and yet sent a tornado of nausea churning in my gut.
Vivian rolled her head to the side. “No.”
The engine shifted, the roar softening as the aftermarket AC kicked over. The late afternoon sun beat through the windshield. It steamed on portions of us, intense enough to tempt a burn. Dust and various fluids created an old smell. I couldn’t even tell which song played on the playlist.
I was going to make it so Vivian was under my protection anyhow, this detail just made good sense. She would be shielded by the bratva, by my family…by me.
There wasn’t time to sort through my emotions and dissect how my heart, mind, and soul would respond to this. There was only action.
“Marry… me .” Lightning struck my chest. “I can save you, Vivian.”
Her face twisted in disdain. “Why the hell would you help me?”
That was a loaded question that I hadn’t fully dissected, so there wasn’t a chance I would tell her. “Because….” I paused before giving her a blistering smirk. “I can.”
That was probably the wrong thing to say. Vivian’s lips thinned.
But things were crystal clear, and I knew I had the winning argument in my arsenal.
“This seems to be your only option, darlin. You will marry me, first, for protection. I was going to protect you anyhow, but this binds us and ties up any loose ends. And second, because it will help you on whatever legal hill you’re about to make your stand on.”
That curly mane shook. “No, no! ”
“Oh, yes, you know I’m right.”
Vivian glared up at me without lifting her head. The effect was bone-chilling. Something from a fantasy novel, like a violent witch queen. It was perfection, the most beautiful image, and it seared in my mind.
I would take that picture to my grave.
“I hate you,” she sniped.
“Irrelevant.” I waved my hand. “Choose, Vivian. Marry me—now. Today. Or I deliver you as scheduled in a matter of hours.”
Her lips parted. My gaze dropped to it. A hunger surged in my veins to taste.
“And what if I shoot you?” she countered. “I’ve almost escaped you already.”
She hadn’t realized she had a soft spot for me. She didn’t let me drown. It was worth the gamble to jump when I couldn’t swim well and discover that little secret. I kept my devious grin under iron control.
“If what you’ve said is true, Markem won’t stop. I’m your only option.” I took my eyes off her, but not my attention. Flipping through my phone, I pulled up information on wedding chapels in Nashville, which we were forty minutes from the heart of.
Bingo! The Rhinestone Wedding Chapel did elopements.
We needed an appointment, but cash would buy us a slot.
Vivian leaned over to look, and I let her. “Absolutely not.”
“Then sit tight. We’ll be in Chicago after midnight.”
Faced with the ultimatum, Vivian broke. “I can’t, Luka. I can’t marry you.”
“Why?” I pulled onto the highway. “I’m a catch.”
Her voice turned cold. “Does your ego know no bounds?”
“Nope.”
The Nova roared as she sped up the road. I was already going to the wedding chapel, but it was going to take every mile to convince Vivian this was the right thing to do. She had no option but me. We’d been thrown together, and we were going to sink or swim as destiny willed it.