Page 36 of His Forced Bride

"You bastard!"

"Perhaps. But I'm a bastard who keeps his promises."

He leans closer, his voice dropping to a dangerous volume.

"Marry me tomorrow, and your company survives. Your employees keep their jobs. Your dreams stay alive. Refuse, and I'll make sure you have nothing left but regret."

"Why do you even want the company?"

He could find a dozen other places to do his dirty business.

"It's all about you."

The admission comes out raw and filthy, like he's confessing to a crime no one knows he committed but that he's proud of accomplishing.

"It's about having something beautiful that belongs to me completely."

The words send another unwanted thrill through my body.

I should be disgusted by his possessiveness, by the way he talks about ownership rather than partnership.

Instead, I feel a dark flutter of attraction that makes me hate myself.

"I'm not a possession," I mutter, but somehow, I find myself desiring to be possessed so fully, I can't think.

Just not by this man…

"Tomorrow, you'll be my wife. That makes you exactly what I say you are."

He rises and moves around the table until he's standing directly in front of me, close enough that I can smell his cologne and the underlying scent of danger that always clings to him.

When he reaches for me, I stand frozen as his hand cups my face.

"Your future lies with me, Inessa. Whether you accept that willingly or I convince you through other means is your choice."

"Other means?"

His thumb traces across my cheekbone so lightly, I almost don't feel it.

"I can be patient when necessary. But patience has limits, especially when dealing with stubborn brides."

For a moment, the only sound in the room is my pulse thudding in my ears.

"The wedding is at ten tomorrow morning," he continues.

"Rosa will help you prepare. Your dress has been delivered. I will have it cleaned."

My wedding dress.

The ivory silk stained with my father's blood…

"Don't you fucking touch that dress," I hiss, and he chuckles.

"As you wish. But red isn't your color, dear."

The smirk on his lips is beguiling, making me hate him and yet attracting me to him in the same breath.

That devilish smile, the glint in his eyes.