Page 16 of Smoke

If I hadn’t been so afraid of the two of them working together, I would’ve laughed.

“Those plans are no concern of mine.” I spun on my heel and marched out of the room, slamming the door open with enough force to send it crashing into the wall beside it.

I didn’t so much as flinch at the noise as I stormed down the hall. I wasn’t afraid anymore. I was furious. That son of a bitch thought he could control me the way a puppeteer maneuvered the strings. I was no puppet. I wouldn’t dance for him.

“Alina.” Bradley ran behind me.

He could run all the way to hell as far as I was concerned. I didn’t slow my pace or do anything to show that I heard him coming. It wasn’t until he took me by the arm and yanked hard enough to send bolts of pain racing up through my shoulder that I stopped.

“You’re hurting me!” I gasped as I tried to pull away.

When I looked in his eyes, what I saw there was enough to freeze my blood. He wasn’t sorry that I was hurting. He was glad—even more so when he twisted my arm up behind my back and pulled me against him hard enough to knock the wind out of me.

“I think you and I need to come to an understanding.”

There was an alcove nearby, and he nearly carried me there before pinning me to the wall.

I froze solid, afraid to move in case I enraged him even further. My arm was still behind me, still in his grasp. I whimpered when he inched it a little closer to my shoulder blade. I was never so scared in all my life.

“Wh—what do you want?” I stuttered, teeth chattering.

I could feel the monster he truly was behind the mask he put up to the world. That snarling, bloodthirsty monster was just under the surface, begging for a reason to unleash itself on me.

I never felt that way with Smoke. Thinking about him brought fresh tears to my eyes, tears which Bradley assumed were for him.

He sneered, triumphant. “I want you to understand that nobody asked whether or not you want to get married. Whether or not you want to get married is the least of my concerns at this moment—and the least of your uncle’s, too. So you’d better get that through your empty little head before I have to knock some sense into you. Got it?”

“Yes. Yes, Bradley.”

He leaned in even closer, his breath hot and reeking of liquor.

I tried to turn my head away, but he caught my face with his other hand and turned it back, then held me steady. I would have bruises, I was sure of it.

“Here’s something else you need to know.” His eyes were ice as they stared into mine. “It matters to me not one little bit what you do with your time once we’re married. You can live up in that tower—in fact, I would prefer it that way. And when I want you…” He slid his body against mine until I shuddered in revulsion. “Oh, yes. I’ll want you.”

“Please, stop…”

He thrust his hips forward, and I felt something hard press against my stomach. “I’ll want this body, all right,” he growled, dipping his head so he could smell my neck.

Bile rose in my throat as a single tear rolled down my cheek and onto his hand.

“I’ll come for you when I want you, and I’ll take you when I want. How I want. For as long as I want. I’ll put a few babies in you, I suppose.”

He lifted his head and stared into my eyes again. “But that’s as far as it’ll go. If you think this is a marriage or a partnership or any other bullshit, you’re sadly mistaken. This is a business transaction. And you’re the silent partner. Get it?”

His fingers dug into my cheeks and arm harder, hard enough to make me see stars. Tears flowed fast and hot.

“Got it,” I whispered. I would say anything, so long as it would all be over. I had to get back to my room. I had to get back there and never come out again.

He smiled.

It reminded me of the way a snake would smile if it were able to.

“Good girl. I think I might even be able to have a little fun with you.” One more thrust of his hips—he was still hard, probably even more so because he knew how he was hurting me—before he let go.

I sank against the wall, holding my arm still for fear of what would happen if I tried to move it.

“I’ll see you again soon,” he promised with a wink before striding away.

I waited until I couldn’t hear his footsteps anymore before leaving the alcove and stumbling down the long hall in the direction of my tower.

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