chapter 16
Iselyn
I think kissing does change something. Like now, I’m finding him handsome when he laughs, his head tilted back, his throat flexing. He is looking… hot.
I gulp, looking away. What’s wrong with me? I can’t find Matleon hot. This must be some aftereffect of kissing. My mind is still not clear, and every time I recall that moment, it spins. I don’t even know how I’m able to stand still.
“I never kissed any other woman.”
My head snaps back at him. How’s that possible?
“Why?” Damn me. Another question showing my interest in him. No. I just want to know. It’s simple curiosity, anyone could have it, right?
He smirks. “Two reasons. First, I’ve got high standards. It takes an angel from heaven to make me feel attraction, and my Angel was 5,620 miles away. So who would I have kissed?” My heart skips at least ten beats.
He gets up. I instinctively take a few steps back, but he stops. A flicker of disappointment crosses me. He slips his hands into his trouser pockets, I’ve seen him do this during his gentleman mornings. Now I wonder why.
“And second, my mother taught me that fucking around doesn’t make a man better. A man should only have physical relations with a woman he genuinely wants to take care of. And again, that woman was 5,620 miles away from me.”
I kind of knew about it, but hearing these words from his mouth feels entirely different than hearing them from Kaz. The feeling is like something warm pressing against me in the biting cold.
There have been countless rumors about him on social media. I try not to care, but I can’t stop myself. One day, I finally ask Kaz about it, and he says Matleon doesn’t do casual.
He takes a step closer. This time, I don’t move back. His hands stay in his pockets as he leans slightly, bringing his face in line with mine. A smile spreads across his lips—a beautiful, dangerous smile.
“I was waiting for you, Angel.”
My heart goes still again. Is it not life-threatening to have your heart stop so many times in such a short span? Matleon is absolutely not good for my health.
My phone rings in my coat pocket, and I realize why I’ve been feeling so hot. With my coat on, there’s no way I wouldn’t feel warm inside the house; it has nothing to do with this man.
I pull my phone out and see Papa is calling me. I look up at Matleon. “You should leave my room.”
He smirks. “How about I keep you company?”
I purse my lips. “Kindly get lost.”
He chuckles, then turns and leaves the room, closing the door behind him. I take a few deep breaths before calling my dad back. I spoke with him just a few hours ago—something must be important for him to call me again.
He picks up instantly.
“So, is it a yes?” Mom asks happily.
I sit on my bed, removing my jacket. “For what, Mom?”
A silence, then Papa speaks. “Didn’t Matleon propose to you?”
My mouth hangs open. “How do you know?”
“Everyone knows, Kroshka.”
“What?! Since when?” My brows pinch together.
“Alessio proposed this idea to your dad four days ago. He told us that Matleon likes you a lot and wants to marry you, that he is courting you.”
Wait. What is going on? Matleon’s dad talked with my dad about our marriage. Why does everything feel like it’s tilting around me?
“From the photo we just got, it looks like you said yes,” Mom chuckles.
“What photo?” I ask almost silently.
A photo pops up on my phone. It’s from today, Matleon is holding my face, his forehead pressed against mine, and I’m standing straight with my eyes closed. I close it immediately.
“I didn’t say yes. And I have no plan of saying that.” I’m going to have a serious talk with Matleon about what he did. He even involved our parents in it. He isn’t playing fair. He’s converted this whole setup into a well-organized arranged marriage plan.
After a long silence, Papa speaks. “You’re just mad at him, Kroshka. Matleon likes you and takes care of you. He’s a very competent man, so it’s a yes from my side. I’m not letting go of such a man just because you’re mad at him right now.”
“Papa, you can’t force me to marry him,” I say, hurt.
His voice softens. “I don’t want to force you, little one. But at the same time, I want you to marry a man who can keep you happy and safe. And Matleon is that man.”
“I am not happy with Matleon, Papa.”
“But you are safe with him. He has proven this very clearly. And Kroshka, I know about your problem with him, you liked him back then, and then after your sixteenth birthday, your behavior changed. He must have done something to hurt you, but now he has changed. Everyone deserves a second chance.”
My eyes start burning at his words, memories of that time flooding back. “How do you know about that?” I ask in a shaky voice.
“I’m your father. I can see when my daughter is happy and when she is not. He was always the first choice as my son-in-law before he hurt you. And now, after what he has done in the past month, I want to give him another chance, and I want you to do the same.”
I wipe a stray tear from my cheek.
“Your life is very precious to us, dear. You don’t know how indebted we feel to him,” Mom says softly. “We will always be at peace knowing you married someone who can always keep you safe. And he does so much to make you happy.”
“It was all acting, Mom.”
“Why would he do that, sweetheart? Let’s say he was acting caring, why would he need to do that? It’s not like he can’t find another girl,” Mom says calmly.
“I… I don’t know. I’ll talk with you later. Bye.”
I cut the call and hold my head in my hands. If only he hadn’t saved me that night in the restaurant, my parents wouldn’t have been so insistent.
I look up. If only we hadn’t been attacked that night. I could have convinced my parents if he had saved me only once.
A thought strikes my mind. My eyes widen at the possibility of it being true.
Dex said someone gave his stepbrother and stepmother false information, someone told them I was his girlfriend.
His stepbrother wanted to kill me to make Dex suffer, and then his stepmother wanted revenge on both of us because her son was killed because of me.
Could it be possible that the person behind spreading this misinformation is Matleon? I shake my head. Matleon can’t be this much of an asshole.
No… he can be.
Matleon can be as much of an asshole as he wants to be. This man has no shame.
I get off the bed, stride toward the door, yank it open, and storm outside. I look around the living room and kitchen, he’s not there. I climb the stairs and reach his room, breathing heavily from anger and the run.
I knock on his door. He doesn’t open it. I knock again, harder this time. My fists are hurting, but I keep knocking, until the door finally opens.
Matleon stands in front of me, dripping wet, with only a towel around his waist. Water slides down his hair as he runs his fingers through it. I don’t give my brain a moment to awe at his wet look, his massive body, flexing biceps, and taut abs. I step inside.
“You told Dex’s stepbrother and mother that I’m his girlfriend?”
His brows rise, and then he smiles, looking impressed.
I grit my teeth and lunge forward, grabbing his wet neck as hard as I can. But it’s not even close to choking him.
“If you do it a few more times, I’ll start thinking you’re into a choking kink,” he teases.
“You fucking bastard! You put my life in danger just to play knight!” I shout.
He grabs my waist and pulls me into him, my hands lose their grip. “Your life was not in danger. You were safe. I was still afraid, though, but I had everything planned perfectly.”
“You are sick, Matleon. You don’t give a shit about my life or about me. You only care about satisfying your own obstinacy. You’re a selfish, sick bastard. I hate you so much. I never want to see you again in my life. Just fucking leave me alone.”
I’m shouting, crying, hitting him, my fists landing uselessly against his chest.
The amusement drains from his face, his mouth pressing into a hard line. His grip tightens, tight enough to leave bruises. A sharp ache spreads across my waist and chest, evenly searing through me.
He grips my face with his other hand. “Not going to happen, Angel. You can hate me all you want. But I’m not leaving you. Not today. Not tomorrow. Never. You are mine.”
“I’m not going to marry you. You can do whatever you want,” I say, pushing weakly against his chest.
His grip tightens further. His face darkens, something cold and terrifying settling into his expression.
“You complained that because of me, you and your friend were attacked.”
He smiles.
No. He can’t do this.
Fear floods my veins.
“You think I’m sick. That I don’t care about your life or your feelings.” His smile widens, more dangerous than the one he wore that night.
“And you don’t want to marry me.” He chuckles softly.
My body starts shaking. I know the next words will change everything. They will rip away every choice I thought I had.
“So, Angel—yes. I’m sick. I’m selfish.” He tilts his head, smiling.
“And you will marry me… or I’ll kill every single person you love.” He leans closer, his voice almost gentle. “And I’m going to start with your good friend, Dexter Walker.”
“I’ll tell my parents everything,” I say in a hollow voice.
He laughs, letting me go. “And they will believe you?” He shakes his head.
“You are so innocent, Angel. It will take me no effort to make your friend’s death look like an accident, and it will take you forever to prove that I’m the villain.
” He smirks. “I’m a hero who saved their daughter twice.
Your father’s man saw everything with his own eyes.
There is no backing for your cute theories. ”
I should have recorded this conversation. He’s right. He has planned everything so perfectly that no one is going to trust me. They’ll think I’m just making theories to avoid this wedding.
“I hate you, Matleon. You could force me to marry you, but you will never get me. I will always hate you.”
Matleon
She’s hurt and angry. And I don’t like it. I don’t like her looking at me like this. No matter what she thinks, the truth is I care about her feelings and her life. God damn it, how can she even think that I don’t care about her life?
That plan was tightly knit together, with no room for anything to go wrong. She wasn’t even supposed to get a single scratch. And that’s exactly what happened. Still, I was scared shitless for a week. I knew I wouldn’t fail, but I was afraid. And she thinks her life doesn’t matter to me.
If I hadn’t done that, her parents wouldn’t have agreed to this arranged marriage proposal so smoothly. And if she had refused, they would have refused instantly. Her feelings, if I hadn’t cared about them, I could have blackmailed her long ago. There was no need to do all this.
She turns to leave, but I grab her arm and spin her around. Her eyes are puffy and red from crying, her face flushed with anger. Her beautiful face is screaming her hatred for me, and I fucking hate it.
“Let…” I silence her with my mouth.
Her warm, sweet mouth.
She tries to push me away, but I don’t let her. I need to feel that she doesn’t fucking hate me the way she claims.
Iselyn
I protest, trying to push him away, but he’s not letting me go. I’m pressed tightly against his still-wet body, and he’s sucking my lips, biting them. I stop struggling.
If Matleon can be so selfish, why can’t I?
I like kissing him. I like the way he kisses me as if he needs it to live, as if stopping would kill him.
He takes what he wants, then why can’t I?
What will I gain by stubbornly denying him?
It’s not like he will become less of an asshole, nor will he stop taking what he desires.
Then why would I? I will also take what I want from him.
I kiss him back. My hands move into his wet hair, grabbing it to pull him closer. I hate you, Matleon. And I will always hate you.
I bite his lips, copying what he does. He groans into my mouth and pulls me even closer against him. I move my tongue into his mouth, he sucks on it, another groan vibrating in his throat.
I go breathless again in a ridiculously short time, so I push him. He lets me go, watching me with a heated look and a ruptured lip. I bite his lip hard enough to draw blood. He licks the corner with his tongue, a dark smirk tilting at the same corner of his mouth.
“I hate you,” I spit, wiping my mouth.
His smirk widens. “I can do excellent with this hate.”
I turn and leave his room, my heart still racing wildly from a mix of anger and arousal. I hate Matleon, but I love his mouth. I love the feel of his big hands on my face and waist.
From now on, I’m not stopping, I’m going to take everything from him that I want and will never give him my heart. And I’m pretty sure he doesn’t give a shit about it anyway, the way he’s forcing me to marry him is enough proof.