The Kiss of the Beast
TW: Drugging, forced marriage, threats involving a firearm.
LILIANA
I’m startled awake by a loud, insistent pounding on the door. The sound only intensifies the already awful headache that tortures me the moment I open my eyes.
Blinking, I wonder why my room is this awfully bright—I never forget to close the blackout curtains. Except, when I sit up on the uncomfortable bed, which turns out not to be my bed, but a worn-out sofa, I realize I’m not in my room.
“What the—” I whisper as I look around and try to understand where I am.
“Liliana, are you awake yet? Stop playing your stupid games and get your ass off that sofa!” My father’s voice calls over the pounding, still just as aggressive.
I turn my head to look at the door and instantly regret doing it as another sharp jolt of pain stabs at my temples.
“If you don’t move your ass right this moment, I’m coming inside, regardless of whether you want it or not! This is not the time for you to be an absolute brat again!” He growls and bangs his fist against the wood so hard, the sound echoes in my head.
Unable to take more, I force myself to my feet, stumble to the door and open it right as he raises his fist. “I’m awake!” I hiss and grip the wood until my fingers feel like they’re about to cramp up. “What on Earth is going on? Where am I?”
In a matter of seconds, the muscles in his face relax and the deep scowl is replaced with a bright, almost genuine smile I’ve never seen him show. “Finally, I was starting to get worried.”
Worried? No, that doesn’t sound like my father at all. Annoyed and angry, yes, that’s him, but never worried. Who is this man and what did he do to my father?
Suddenly, his hand reaches out for me and grabs my upper arm so tightly, I’m sure I’ll see bruises in the form of his fingers all over my skin tomorrow. “You look decent enough, we have no time to waste, everyone’s waiting,” he says and yanks me out of the room.
Every question I ask is left unanswered as he drags me through the halls and finally stops at a massive, very old-looking double door.
“Where are we? What’s going on?” I whisper, a little worried that whoever is waiting for us might overhear my voice.
Father chuckles and turns to face me before he adjusts the straps of my dress... Wait, why am I wearing a floor length dress? Why is it white?
“You’re beautiful, Liliana. Let’s hope you’re beautiful enough for his taste,” he mutters as he completely dismisses my questions.
“Wait, what?” I blurt out in panic just as father stands next to me and takes a deep breath. “Who’s taste are you talking about? I don’t understand, what’s going on? Dad, what have you done?”
His hand wraps around my arm again and grips it painfully. Just as my face twists in pain and a quiet hiss leaves my lips, the double doors open, revealing... Fuck, it’s an aisle.
There are rows of seats at each side of it, all of them taken by people I don’t know and at the end of the aisle, there’s an altar.
My eyes dart around frantically, first taking in the people present— all wearing designer, grinning from ear to ear as they rise from their seats when my father starts dragging me forward.
Someone whispers “look at the bride, isn’t she beautiful,” and those words hit me so hard, my knees almost give out from under me.
Bride...
The word rings in my mind on repeat as I grasp at the straws of anything just to make this mess make sense.
He’s marrying me off.
Against my will.
I’m finding out about his plan when it’s already too late.
And... I’m getting married to whoever stands at that altar with his back turned to me, surrounded by men that look like they belong in hell, not chapel.
Father yanks at my arm roughly, tightening his hold on me and starts walking faster, as if he can sense that I’m already plotting how to escape this mess.
And then, just as we approach the altar, the man turns around and my heart stops beating in my chest. Adriano Vassaro. My father wants me to marry none other than the man who’s known as the Beast of the criminal world.
There’s a good reason why everyone addresses him as the Beast, too. Not only is he notoriously known for his ruthless nature, his almost inhuman ability to kill without so much as blinking and the power he holds across too many states, Adriano is also a literal beast because of his looks.
From what I’ve heard, his late father bred him to ensure the man who takes over the organization is just as big of a monster as himself.
Not only has he been trained his entire life to take the place he’s gripping with an iron fist today, but also, he was beaten into the role—literally beaten and tortured.
Adriano looks more like a monster than he does a human—his entire face is covered with scars upon scars and some people say his body doesn’t look any better.
My hands start shaking as my father shoves me at Adriano. To my surprise, while I don’t see a single muscle on his face as much as twitch, Adriano catches me easily, his hold on me surprisingly gentle as he ensures I don’t fall.
“Pretty enough for you?” My father suddenly asks, sounding both smug and scared at the same time.
Adriano takes me in slowly, his dark eyes scan my face, then his gaze locks with mine. My breath hitches from the intensity behind those brown orbs that seem to stare straight into my soul.
I don’t know how to react. Men of Adriano’s caliber care about bodies more than they do about faces, but he’s looking at me like he actually wants to figure something out. Plus, he’s still holding me so gently, it’s almost as if he’s scared one wrong move might break me.
“More than pretty,” Adriano finally speaks, not taking his eyes off me.
From the corner of my eye, I watch relief flood over my father’s features and a smile spread across his lips. He slaps Adriano’s shoulder and laughs, “all yours, my boy, enjoy yourself.”
Tears well up in my eyes and my heart breaks a little at the causal tone my father is using. He’s literally giving me away to a complete stranger, for whatever gain he’ll get, and he looks happy about it.
“Get your hand off me,” Adriano commands my father, his voice low but still powerful, eyes never leaving mine. “And I’m not your boy.”
Father pulls his hand away from Adriano like he’s been burned, grumbles something about ungrateful, bratty kids and walks off to take a seat among the rest of the guests.
We stand in complete silence, all eyes on us, Adriano’s arms still wrapped around me. The moment drags out so long, I assume he’ll break the silence and announce he’s changed his mind. Instead, Adriano clears his throat and almost growls, “I do.”
My eyes widen. The priest didn’t say a word and he’s already jumping to nearly the end of the supposed ceremony?
Adriano’s grip tightens on my waist as he leans in closer to whisper in my ear, “say ‘I do’, amore.”
Despite my throat feeling like someone’s shoving sandpaper down it, I swallow and speak loudly. “I do.”
Adriano pulls back and flashes me a barely there smile before he turns his head to look at the priest, who looks downright terrified. “Pronounce us husband and wife. Now.”
The priest opens his mouth and closes it. I can see the defiance in his eyes, and can almost feel the incoming protest about proper protocol, but all that dies on his tongue as Adriano reaches under his suit jacket and pulls out a gun.
A gasp leaves my lips just as some of the guests scream in the background. Adriano presses the muzzle of the gun against the priest’s forehead and growls, “are you hard of hearing, father? I told you to pronounce us husband and wife. Now.”
It looks like his entire life flashes before his eyes as the priest grips the book in his hands and stutters, “I hereby pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.”
Adriano turns to me and tightens his hold on me so much, I struggle to breathe. As he grins, Adriano’s scarred face doesn’t seem as scary anymore, especially since he looks down at me with nothing but reverence. In fact, right now, he looks rather handsome.
Oh God, am I falling for the Beast?
“Mrs Vassaro,” Adriano whispers and leans in, giving me plenty of time to pull away if I wish to. But instead, I remain almost frozen in time if not for my lips parting like I’ve been waiting for this moment my entire life.
This absolute clusterfuck of a shotgun wedding is nowhere near what I’ve imagined my wedding to be, but when Adriano’s lips capture mine, I can’t think about anything but how right it feels to kiss him back.
And when his mind catches up with the fact that I’m willingly kissing him, a loud groan leaves him before Adriano deepens the kiss. His tongue traces the seam of my lips, then slips past them. There’s no rush to the kiss and the lazy rhythm only makes it that much more passionate.
He isn’t just kissing me to seal the deal—the Beast is literally claiming me as his wife in all ways that seem to matter.
The guests cheer in the background, but Adriano doesn’t react to them at all, his focus is on the kiss and kiss alone.
When he finally pulls back, there’s a satisfied little smirk on his lips. The moment feels almost magical, but of course, my father chooses this exact moment to appear next to us like a bad omen.
Suddenly, Adriano releases his hold on me.
For a split second, I think he’s about to break the spell and tell the guests that he was just fucking with everyone and the marriage isn’t what he wanted.
But instead, he catches me completely off guard and pushes me behind his large body, shielding me from my father’s view.
His men move fast, surrounding me so no one can catch a glimpse of me. I’m looking around frantically, trying to understand what’s happening when the sharp click of a safety being released cuts through the air.
I can’t see anything, only hear the gasps and more screams, followed by Adriano’s deep, powerful voice. “Touch my wife again and I’ll paint the walls with your blood.”