Page 6 of Scream (Duchess & Devils #1)

The word alerts me, but I understand I’m no longer privy to all her secrets like I once was. I’ll have to earn her trust back and I don’t mind waiting. She deserves that. I can do that for her.

She peers over at him again and I can see all the love they have for each other in the mere way they look at each other.

Devotion .

They’re set in stone.

A pang of longing and envy hits me but it’s not malevolent. I want this for her, she deserves it. I just selfishly wanted it for myself, too.

Raven turns to face me and taps on my ring finger.

“Oh, New Year’s Eve. He hasn’t told me when or where exactly but, the ring has been sized to fit my sausage fingers.”

Her smile drops at my self-deprecation.

“But I do have a picture of it,” I reply, ignoring her scowl, pulling my phone out from my clutch beside me and I show her the picture of my ring to which she nods with a broad smile.

Before I can show her more, there’s a knock at the door and when Jonas opens it, he almost gets his handsome face punched in.

“Whoa, man, what the fuck?”

“Where is my woman?” I hear a familiar growl.

I lean toward Raven. “Do you see what I mean? An absolute neanderthal. Daddy couldn’t find me a nice submissive man.

He had to find me a brute that solely communicates in grunts and growls.

” I sigh. “I’m over here… Maksim .” I call out, still finding it difficult not to call him Mr. Giordano but with mixed company, I can settle for Maksim.

He steps around Jonas and spots me on Raven’s bed, her hands in mine and tears in my eyes.

I’m sure my makeup is ruined. I must look a sight.

God, the massive human bear sucks out all the air from the room.

He's too massive. Tall as fuck and broad shouldered. There’s just no other way to describe my future husband.

“What did they do to you?” he practically bellows. Christ, he can’t just speak like a normal human being.

“What?”

“You’re all… puffy.”

The absolute gall of this arsehole. He steps closer but Raven shoots up to her feet, her entire five-foot-four self looks ridiculously tiny compared to Maksim, but I appreciate her (literally) standing up for me.

I get to my feet and wipe away whatever I can from my face.

“Nothing, darling , we were just catching up.”

“I thought you said she couldn’t speak.”

“Doesn’t mean her ears are broken, you overbearing oaf.”

He quirks a dark brow over his dark eyes, unamused, or maybe he is, and I simply don’t care.

Goddamn, he’s handsome. There’s stubble on his jaw from having worked all day and then taking a flight to meet me here for Sofia’s Holiday party.

His hair is also longer than when we first met, curling at the ends, but disheveled in a way that lets me know he’s run his fingers through it one too many times.

I can’t help but wonder if he’d like it if I ran my fingers through it? “I’m an oaf now?”

I’d call him a cockwomble but oaf fits. “Absolutely. You can’t just barge in here like that, what if she had been naked?”

“And you’re allowed to see her naked?” he questions but there’s amusement in his tone.

“Nobody’s allowed to see my girl naked except me,” Jonas growls, stepping between all of us, and yanking Raven out from between us which is when I realize Maksim was towering over her to lean down to me.

But she steps between us again and does her best to shove him.

He doesn’t move even a millimeter and smirks down at her cruelly, which causes Jonas to grab her again and shove him behind her.

“I’ll be right down. She’s agreed to be my maid of honor and you’re ruining a happy moment for me,” I argue.

“ I’m ruining it?” Something flashes in those dark eyes of his and my belly swoops. “You disappeared and I find you upstairs with some guy-“

“My name is Jonas.”

“-and you expect me to be fine with finding my future wife in a room alone with him?”

“He was just here with her. I wasn’t alone with him. Let me say goodbye. They’re already leaving.” I defend myself.

“Say your goodbyes. We’re networking downstairs and I can’t exactly be introduced without you there now, can I?”

I sigh, turning to my best friend and pulling her in for a hug. “I’ll text you with more details?”

She nods and kisses my cheek, Jonas takes her from me, and they leave us in her room, the door clicking shut behind them .

“So her, you can touch?” He questions me, that fierce look still on his stupid handsome face. Why are his lips so perfect and look so soft and… inviting?

I scrunch my eyebrows together and my mouth drops open. “What are you going on about?”

“Every single date we’ve been on, every lame, mandatory outing you’ve forced me to attend, the most I get is a gloved hand to hold or your arm in the creases of my elbow, but her… you pulled her in for a hug and a kiss.”

“You are being barbaric, Mr. Giordano!” He’s not. He’s right.

“Oh, there you go with that shit again.” He stands to his full height, hand scrubbing down his face and stepping away from me, then turning to face me, putting a hand on his hip.

God he’s freakishly tall. And his fingers are so long and thick. And his nose… even though you can tell it’s been broken once or twice, it’s so… prominent and strong. Nothing on this man is unattractive. God, he even smells delicious.

I shake my head, not letting myself be distracted and gesture between us. “Have you not noticed this is the longest conversation we’ve had since the day we signed our contract? God fucking forbid me to keep my space when I don’t fucking know you!”

He rolls his eyes. “You don’t want to get to know me.”

“You’re right! I don’t ! I don’t want to get to know the man who can barely force out a grunt when he speaks to me.

” I grunt at him, “ Argh, argh, argh, ” he rolls his eyes at me again because I know I’m being fucking ridiculous, “And if you’re jealous that my best friend kissed my cheek , well then you’ve forgotten there will be one day I’ll be forced to kiss you as well! ”

He tenses at this, my neck hurting from having to look up at his extensive height.

Something akin to curiosity makes its way across his rogue face and his beauty pisses me off even more.

God, why am I like this? Why can’t I just be old, wild Sabrina and take my soon-to-be fiancé for a test ride in my best friend's childhood bedroom?

“Oh?”

“Our wedding day. Nothing more, nothing less. Terms you agreed to, Mr. Giordano. I’ll see you downstairs.” I try to storm off but then he grabs me by my arm, swinging me around to face him and where the old, wild Sabrina would kiss him or slap him, I freeze.

“Let go of me now, Mr. Giordano,” I order, but his arms grip me tighter, the palm of his hand so warm against mine and my throat clogs up.

“Now, please,” I say with a hoarse voice as calmly as I can manage.

Dark eyes with hints of green search mine but when he sees I’m not giving more, he releases his hold with a frustrated grunt, and I can breathe again.

“Thank you.” I inhale sharply, exhaling deeply.

“Fix your face. I’ll wait for you here and we’ll go down together.”

Without another word I find myself in Raven’s bathroom, still feeling the burn of his palm on my skin, reliving the way it felt like a jolt of electricity shooting up and down my arm.

I fix whatever I can with makeup Raven left behind, glad we’re still the same complexion, her with her aversion to the sun, and me with a freak compulsion to always wear sunscreen and limit any swims in my pool to nighttime.

I open the bathroom door, finding Maksim sitting on her bed, elbows propped on his knees, with his head bowed, and I plaster that smile on my face when he turns to me. Striking. Handsome. Dangerous.

I can’t help but compare how he looks like a ticking time bomb, and I feel like one.

“Ready?” I ask, as if I didn’t almost just have a breakdown fifteen minutes ago when he simply touched my arm. For a second, I let myself relive it. I let myself remember the way the warmth of him seemed to seep through my skin. It didn’t feel malicious. It felt like more .

Too much more.

He stands, buttoning his suit jacket tailor-made to fit what I’m sure is a very chiseled body beneath it.

I mean the man just screams ‘ I’ll fuck you so hard you’ll forget both our names .

’ But I’m not worried about that. I’ll never be worried about that.

No matter if every time I have to be near him, I get those feelings in my clit.

You know, the need to have it licked and nibbled on.

Because even if I want it, I'm scared to close my eyes and see Kane’ face instead.

I’m scared Maksim’s touching me will make me have a full meltdown and I’ll be thrown into Lorne Wood.

I can’t have that.

I’ve just about perfected the strawberry-lemon cupcake recipe I’ve been working on for weeks .

New Years Eve

We didn’t exchange gifts for the holiday.

I spent it in Chelsea with Mama and Derek, only texting Maksim not to forget to pick up my ring from the jeweler .

Maksim proposes at a high-end restaurant with large windows so we can see the fireworks popping off at midnight. He bends the knee, holds out my ring in the velvet box and I excitedly squeal a yes , as tears bleed through my eye sockets.

They aren’t fake, either.

It’s a goodbye to my quiet peaceful life. All I’ve been able to think about, is the proper ingredients for that goddamned strawberry-lemon cupcake. The strawberry to lemon ratio is grating my nerves… oh, and my cousin Simon's funeral we need to attend on Saturday.

Maksim is officially my betrothed, which means he’ll need to be seen with me more frequently. It’s a death, really, to my former self. But haven’t I mourned me already?

Haven’t I said goodbye to the last of me?

Thank God I’ve already put the venue on hold since the ink dried on our contract. No way in hell I’d marry the Devil of New York in a chapel.

“Your glove,” he murmurs.

I slip it off reluctantly.

He slides my ring onto my finger, careful not to touch me and I sigh happily at how marvelous she looks, ignoring the sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach.

He’s towering over me and when I look up, he looks…

expectant? I almost snap at him to ask him what he wants but I remember we’re in a public place and there are people cheering us on.

He wraps his arms around me and a shiver scatters all over my spine, straightening.

“What are you doing?” I whisper, trying to calm my nerves, eyes bouncing from chocolate eye to chocolate eye, but I swear they darken even more as he bends lower, face only inches from mine.

“Everyone is watching, Amore . You should probably kiss me now.”

I hold my breath, watching his rugged face coming even closer to mine and when his firm but soft lips touch mine, I place my hands on his biceps.

I pretend to let myself relax into the kiss, but when he licks the seam of my lips I pull away.

I’m sure Mr. Giordano is a phenomenal kisser but all I can do is swallow down the bile.

I jump up and down excitedly and point to my finger, knowing there’s a photographer in the restaurant catching this amazing moment for us because I set it up that way.

Because none of this is real.

Except the ring on my finger and the bile I’ve swallowed down.