Chapter 3
Chapter Three
Kira
My father is understandably angry when I return home but since it’s five in the morning now, he tells me to just go to my room so he can get some rest since he was up all night worrying about me.
I can’t stop thinking about Enzo’s face and how he saved me from that man. But why? Enzo made it clear he doesn’t want me. Apparently I’m not good enough for him.
Whatever. I’m a catch and everyone knows it.
After getting some sleep and waking back up at noon, I stroll into the kitchen where Sally serves me a sandwich, grumbling under her breath about how late I slept in and how bad it is for me. I’m in the middle of eating it when my father rushes into the room.
“Kira, I have news.”
Slowly, I set my sandwich down. “What news?”
“Enzo has changed his mind. He wants to marry you. He agreed to it. He called Nikolai and told him that’s what he wants. Nikolai just told me.”
“What… but why?”
“I have no idea why but this ass—,” he stops himself from saying the full word as if my ears can’t handle it. “I have no idea why he’s playing us like this but I’ll put a stop to it. I won’t have you married to a man who plays games.”
“But Dad, won’t we go to war with him if you refuse to marry me to Enzo?
Isn’t this a good thing?” Not that I want to be married to Enzo.
I can’t stand his stupidly handsome face and the way he thinks I’m a whore.
But I also don’t want my brother to get shot again. I don’t want a war on my doorstep.
Gregor sighs. “It is a good thing that Enzo has agreed to make peace. But I don’t trust him and I don’t want you married to him.”
“Do you have a choice? Do I? It seems like something Nikolai has decided. And he’s your boss.”
Suddenly, before my very eyes, my father sinks into the chair across from me and begins to cry. I have never seen my father cry in my entire life. “I can’t lose you, Kira,” he sobs.
I have no idea what to do. My dad is someone who’s never needed comfort before. “I don’t want to marry Enzo but…”
“But we don’t have a choice. And I hate that. I don’t want to lose you to him.”
“Is there any way out of this?” I’ll fight tooth and nail if there is but my gut is telling me there’s no chance.
“No.” He wipes his tears and sits up straight. “Nikolai wants this. He told me so. He said it was final. He said that we’ll need to start planning the wedding soon. That you and Enzo will be married by the end of the month.”
My heart skips a beat. Married to that asshole? I want to shudder but I hold it back for my father’s sake. All I want to do is ask Enzo why he agreed to marry me after he said he didn’t want me. None of it makes sense and it makes me trust him even less.
“I have to marry Enzo?” I whisper.
“You have to marry Enzo,” he says in a defeated tone.
Then if that’s my fate, I will make Enzo regret ever messing with me.
I’m forced to plan the wedding. I realize this when my father plops a wedding magazine down in front of me and tells me to get started.
“But I have no clue how to plan a wedding.”
“Nikolai said it was your duty to do this. You have no choice, Kira. We need peace and to do that, we need this wedding. So get started.”
“What about Enzo? He’s a part of this too, is he not? Shouldn’t he help me plan?”
“That’s like asking a tiger to hold a baby.
It’s never going to happen. Enzo agreed to the marriage.
I am fighting everything inside of myself to not find him and kill him for playing games with us.
But he agreed and this means peace. We all have to give something up to achieve it. I have to give you up and you…”
“I’ll have to give up my safety. I don’t trust Enzo.”
My father’s eyes darken. “Neither do I.” He walks away without another word.
With a sigh, I flip through the wedding magazine, only to be filled with an intense anger.
Who does Enzo think he is? Saying he’ll agree to marry me one day and then the next day say he wants nothing to do with me only to change his mind the following day.
It makes no sense. And why should I have to plan this wedding when I don’t want this marriage?
He clearly wants it since he agreed to marry me.
When I leave the house, Jason doesn’t try to stop me again since he knows it’s pointless. Nothing can stop me.
I drive to Enzo’s club, which is dead in the middle of the day. But the guard out front lets me in when I say who I am.
The club is empty except for a few women dancing on poles. In skimpy outfits, I notice. And Enzo has the audacity to imply I’m a whore when he employs women to dance practically naked.
Enzo is at the bar, mulling over paperwork.
I slam the wedding magazine down onto his pile, forcing him to look at me. “Why should I have to plan this all myself when I don’t want this marriage?”
He picks the magazine up and sets it down on the bar without showing any emotion. It’s infuriating. “Because you’re a woman and I’m a man. That’s how this is done.”
“Well it’s stupid and sexist and I won’t plan a wedding I don’t want.”
“I agreed to peace with your family. You should be happy.”
“Happy to marry a man who clearly doesn’t know what he wants? You want to marry me and then you don’t and then you do. What is it? Why did you change your mind?”
Enzo looks into my eyes with a steady gaze that is hard for me to hold. He has an intensity I’ve never dealt with in a man before. “I thought you were reckless wild woman, and while I still think that, I saw a different side of you last night. When that man tried to hurt you.”
“What do you mean?”
“You looked scared.”
I wait for more but when he doesn’t give it, I scoff. “That’s why you want to marry me now? Because I looked scared? What kind of man are you?”
“The one that doesn’t appreciate insults so I suggest you stop doing it.”
“Yet, you have no problem insulting me. You think I’m a slut.”
“I never called you a slut.”
“No, but you thought it. You implied it. Because I like to go out and drink and dance.”
“I like a docile woman for a wife, I’ll admit.”
“But I’m not docile.”
His eyes flick over my body in a way that makes me want to blush. “Clearly not.”
“I am no whore but I can be if you want me to be.”
“What are you talking about?”
I motion at the bartender, who comes over warily. “Hey,” I say to him, batting my eyes. “Give me a drink.”
“Don’t give her anything,” Enzo says in a hard tone.
I run my hand over the bartender’s arm. “You’re handsome. I’ll let you kiss me if you give me a drink.”
“Allen, go,” Enzo says. “Don’t entertain her.”
Allen pulls away from me without a word. I pout. That did not go how I wanted it to.
“What game are you playing?” Enzo asks me.
“What game are you playing?”
“I agreed to make peace. I did my part. Now you do yours.” He pushes the bridal magazine towards me. “And don’t flirt with other men. If you do that when we’re married, I’ll have to kill any man you do that with.”
My stomach drops to my feet. “Are you… serious?”
He looks me dead in the eyes as he answers. “I am serious. I am not a man to be messed with, Kira. You’re trouble. But I don’t think that’s all you are. Which is why I agreed to marry you again. But don’t make me regret it.”
“That’s exactly what I want to do.”
“You want me to shoot your brother again? Because that’s what will happen if our families go to war.”
A shiver overtakes me. The last thing I want is for my family to get hurt and if marrying Enzo keeps the peace, then I’ll do it. I have to be smart about this.
“No,” I finally answer after a long moment.
“Good. That’s what I thought. Now, plan the wedding.”
I clench the magazine between my hands. “I am not a slut, you know.”
“Then why did you flirt with Allen right before my very eyes?”
“To get under your skin because you’re annoying. And I am not a slut. Not even close.”
Enzo gazes at me until I have no choice but to look away. “I never thought you were a slut, Kira. Just trouble. There’s a difference. I don’t mind some trouble. But I can be trouble to and you won’t like it if that side of me comes out.”
“And I don’t want to marry a man who threatens me.”
“We can’t all get what we want, now can we?”
“I hate you,” I hiss.
“I’m not exactly fond of you either. But you are entertaining, I’ll give you that.”
I could slap him with the magazine but then that wouldn’t go over well.
With a huff, I storm out of his club, feeling weak in the knees. Enzo is going to be the death of me, I just know it.