Page 9

I never thought I’d be a married man, but in all honesty, nothing felt different.

As far as I was concerned, I was still myself, and she was still herself with a name change. It was an odd feeling to know an outsider now shared our name, but at the same time, there was something strangely…intriguing about it.

But either way, I didn’t let myself think too deeply about my new marital status. Instead, we had work to do—the very work everything had been leading up to, and there was no time to waste.

The car ride to the warehouse was stiff, with Aria silently stewing to herself all the while. Regardless of the way that anger was laced within her features, something about her side profile warranted a few extra looks in her direction from me. I didn’t want to admit it, but after her comment about not giving her a real wedding, my mind betrayed me entirely.

I couldn’t help but think about how she might’ve looked in a wedding dress, surrounded by the usual, annoying frill of a typical ceremony. I wasn’t one to bother with all that extra crap, but for half a moment, something inside of me stirred at that mental image.

Of course, those thoughts were pointless, and I was quick to dispel them.

She was gorgeous, sure, and I might’ve spent more time looking at her through the cameras than I should’ve, but there was no point in letting any kind of emotions get in the way or mess with business.

Our arrangement was only that—business.

It was my way of keeping her close enough to have my eyes on her at all times, and to take what I wanted of hers so that she and her men could be an asset rather than a problem.

That was it.

Her looks were just a bonus, even if it didn’t serve any purpose other than to pique my curiosity.

When we arrived at the warehouse, I kept a closer eye on her as she got out and followed along, looking a little more apprehensive than usual given the territory. Still, I could tell she was trying to put on a brave face, likely to spite me.

“This is one of our main warehouses,” I found myself explaining while we walked inside, Alex striding alongside us. I narrowed my eyes at her in warning. “And don’t touch anything.”

Aria glared back at me and scoffed, not saying anything while she continued beside me, looking a bit more intimidated when she saw more of the inside and our men walking around, focused on their tasks.

“What are we doing here?” she eventually asked, sounding almost reluctant to voice the question despite herself.

“As I said, we’re doing business,” I replied, not giving her the full answer she wanted. “We’re having a meeting.”

“With whom?”

“The family.”

Another wave of apprehension moved through her features at the mention of my brothers, and for a moment, she looked more like a prey animal rather than the predator she was surely used to being on her own turf.

I couldn’t help the faint smirk that pulled at my lips at her reaction, and our small group moved up the stairs and towards the back rooms.

The moment we stepped through those doors, the rest of our brothers waiting around the big table, Aria looked completely out of her element. She was out of place—the newcomer forced to mingle with the enemy.

At once, the twins grinned at the sight of us.

“If it isn’t the newlyweds,” Val goaded while he leaned back in his chair.

“Finally, we get to meet the little Italian for ourselves,” Yuri added, not even trying to be more professional.

Damien sighed and kept his focus on his phone, likely busy talking to Sky. “No discretion needed today, it seems…”

“Yes, yes,” I murmured, not too invested in the introductions as I gestured to my brothers. “This is Damien and the twins, Val and Yuri.”

Aria and I were both equally surprised when the latter got up from his chair and took her hand in his with an almost theatrical air. Annoyingly, he kissed the back of her hand with a glimmer of mischief in his eyes.

“My brother here is as warm as a brick wall, but myself, less so…”

Her brows went up, seemingly speechless at the display, which caused him to chuckle.

Growing more irritated with him, I gave his shoulder a push. “Just sit down already.”

He laughed more heartily at my annoyance while Val snorted to himself. Even Alex grinned while he took his seat.

Stiffly, looking mostly uncomfortable about it all, Aria sat beside me while I subconsciously made sure to put some distance between her and Yuri. He was a hopeless flirt, and while I was used to it, it frustrated me more at the moment than usual.

“Now that we’re all here, it’s time we ironed out the details of this…arrangement,” Alex began, glancing between me and Aria.

While sitting at the table, there was no mistaking the subtle tension in the room. Not only did I find myself in the strange circumstance of getting married to a rival, but said rival-turned-wife was also attending one of our meetings—something that would never happen unless we were trying to lay down the groundwork for a mutually beneficial deal or send a threat.

In our case, we were sitting somewhere in the middle.

Aria was certainly the tensest of us all, but regardless of how unorthodox it seemed, my brothers looked more amused by it than anything else.

A small part of me wanted them to take it more seriously, but at the same time, I couldn’t say much. Not while I mostly married her for the sake of garnering a sense of satisfaction and entertainment knowing Aria was suffering because of the arrangement.

Mostly.

“Since the two of you are now legally married, we’re getting started transferring assets right away, both formally and informally. We’re going to need thorough records of everything you have, Aria…from men to weapons, properties, everything,” Alex said, getting right to it. “Since we’ll be working together, we need to take stock of it all.”

I watched in real time as the words sank in, and the gravity of the situation seemed to settle over her. Aria’s brows pinched together in the way they always seemed to…something in me was starting to enjoy that subtle, subconscious reflex of hers.

“Working together,” she murmured, almost incredulously as she looked at Alex. Her apprehension seemed to simmer away the moment the topic of her empire was touched. “Is that really what this is? Or are you just trying to take what’s mine?”

While I could understand the edge to her words, despite gaining some satisfaction from it, she should’ve expected as much. It shouldn’t have come as any kind of surprise to her.

“How did you assume this would work?” Alex asked her, sounding surprisingly patient.

The disbelief remained in her features while she paused to articulate herself. “I agreed to an alliance by marriage—to a truce and a partnership between the two businesses. I never said I would hand everything over.”

“Perhaps you should’ve read more into what you were agreeing to, then.”

From faint twitch in her eye, I thought she was about to blow a fuse, but she maintained a steady tone. “Regardless of my last name changing, I’m still the leader of my family’s empire. I still plan on maintaining my position, even if Daniil refuses to let me communicate with my people.”

I bristled faintly at her words, even if I had no intention of keeping her away from them forever.

“Did you not read over the paperwork you signed?”

A note of hesitation lingered in Aria’s eyes, then she tried to keep her chin lifted. “The basics were explained to me…”

Alex seemed surprised and almost dumbfounded by this before he reached for the small stack of papers in front of him, pulling out the copy she signed. He placed it in front of her and pointed to a specific line. “…if you read through it, you’d know exactly what was expected of you. According to this line, in simple terms, you have agreed to forfeit your assets at Daniil’s discretion. And given your signature here, you’re now obligated to comply.”

Immediately, all color drained from her face.

It was true in every way…she had every opportunity to ask for clarification. She could’ve taken the time to sift through it herself, but she never did. She had been too preoccupied getting the moment over with that she failed to do her due diligence.

At Aria’s shocked silence, Alex sighed and rubbed a hand down his face while he kept his eyes on her. “You’re still the boss of your side, but what’s yours is also now Daniil’s by law, and the Novikovs’ by extension. Either way, regardless of your hand in it all, we are entitled to what’s yours.”

There was no mistaking the raw, pure rage on her face.

Aria may have prided herself on thinking and operating differently from her father and brother, but it seemed she still had a long way to go when it came to negotiations and getting what she wanted out of every deal. Not to mention, how to prevent herself from being completely walked over.

I could tell she was ready to snap, yet Aria managed to contain the tumultuous feelings she was struggling to keep under wraps. Even if she didn’t want to admit it, Alex was right.

She willingly signed those papers, and in doing so, she granted me access to everything. There was nothing equal about it.

With it all said and done, her men were technically ours. Two birds, one stone—they couldn’t cause trouble without being punished, and our numbers would be bolstered. Plus, Aria would be in my sightline…regardless of just how much I allowed her to be involved in it all.

It was a satisfying feeling knowing I had a reason to keep her close. To torment her in small ways while also being able to keep an eye on her.

When Aria knew she couldn’t find a way out, she eventually cooperated and continued with the meeting, while that quiet pleasure of mine set in fully.

While in the car on the way home, Aria was silent at first, but I could feel the rage that radiated from her. Away from the warehouse but still on the outskirts of the city, she finally blew.

“What the hell was that?” she snapped at me, turning to face me completely.

Glancing at her, I couldn’t miss the burning fire in her eyes. The way she couldn’t keep a lid on that anger anymore.

“You know exactly what it was…you should’ve known that was coming. You should’ve paid better attention.”

“Our arrangement was supposed to be a partnership, an alliance. Not a hostile takeover!” she fired back, barely able to stay in her seat.

“Maybe you should’ve thought of that before deciding to marry me.”

Aria’s rage seemed to have no bounds, regardless of us being stuck in the car together. “You completely misled me, and you did it on purpose. You never wanted me to work alongside you…you just wanted to take everything I had.”

The fire in her accusations, while not incorrectly placed, ate away at my resolve anyway. Growing irritated at the way she shouted at me so confidently, I couldn’t help flaring up myself.

“Maybe if you hadn’t interfered with our business then you wouldn’t be in this position,” I returned, fingers flexing against the wheel while I continued to drive.

I caught as her eyes narrowed at me incredulously. “I already told you, I had nothing to do with that move! I wanted to make amends, but someone obviously worked behind my back, and I was trying to get to the bottom of it before you pushed yourself into the middle of it all. If you’d let me do what I needed to do, I could already have the rat flushed out by now, and we could’ve found a proper way to reach an agreement without you forcing me out of anything.”

Something about her conviction irritated me further, forcing me to huff out a breath as I turned onto a different road, getting off the highway to somewhere more isolated. More than the way she spoke to me, I hated how she was right. How my scheming hadn’t really been about the hijacked trade anymore.

As much as I didn’t want to admit it to myself, it was more about her than any stolen weapons. I had the sneaking suspicion it had been ever since I laid eyes on her.

Aria looked vaguely surprised when I parked on the isolated road, but she schooled her expression and continued, “Even when I tried to negotiate with you, you wouldn’t hear it. From the jump, you left no room for me to safeguard myself or my side of things. You weren’t reasonable about any of this for even a moment. Instead, you chose to be a complete asshole!”

“Watch yourself,” I muttered back, growing more irritated with every word that came out of her mouth. Without meaning to, I found myself leaning closer, hoping she could see the warning in my eyes.

But it didn’t deter her for even a moment.

“What, are you going to control what I can and can’t say next? Are you going to control when and how I breathe while you’re at it?”

My jaw tightened at her words. “I warned you of exactly the kind of man I am…but you insisted on this arrangement anyway. You can’t act all innocent in this when you should’ve known full well what you were getting into.”

“I didn’t know what I was getting into!”

I couldn’t tell if it was the way she yelled back at me with such unrestrained force, or if it was the heat in her eyes while she did it, but everything about Aria in that moment stirred something in me. I couldn’t pull my gaze away, despite how I tried.

“You still should’ve known…you should’ve known being my wife wouldn’t be easy,” I muttered, feeling my chest tighten at that word.

Wife .

It had seemed so insignificant and meaningless before, but at that moment, with her ready to throw everything in my face, it felt different.

Regardless of what it meant to either of us, she was bound to me. She couldn’t run, and she was legally mine.

I couldn’t deny how that thought alone was enough to stoke something in me.

“There’s a difference between a difficult transition and choosing to be uncooperative.”

With a final thread snapping inside me, I reached forward and grabbed her chin between my thumb and forefinger, pulling her a bit closer while I moved in, gaze locked on her stupidly beautiful features. “And there’s also not knowing when to give up.”

The sudden closeness took her breath away while those brown eyes searched me for any kind of answer, any kind of explanation for my behavior. And for a moment, her resolve seemed to waver.

“You just want me to give up?” she asked, her voice much quieter as she spoke against my lips.

An involuntary shiver moved through me then, and I couldn’t fight the longing that suddenly pulled at me. I was more in her face than ever before, yet neither of us pulled away. “I want you to submit to me.”

I didn’t miss the hard swallow that traveled the length of her tan throat as the words seemingly got trapped there, dying before they could slip out. Whether it was out of her control or not, Aria’s rage simmered down to nothing.

Given the opportunity when the car fell silent, I gave in to the temptation and slowly moved my thumb along her jaw, picking up on every slight reaction it drew from her.

The moment her breath hitched, there was no stopping me from moving in and cutting that space.

My lips were on hers in an instant, claiming her mouth for the first time.

She stiffened beneath me initially, likely registering what I had done before the tension ebbed away from her body, and the gentle pressure of her kissing me back sent a rush of warmth through my system.

My hand moved to the back of her head while I angled slightly and deepened the kiss, further fanning the flames of how badly I needed her.

I had been trying so hard to ignore that desire in me since the moment I was in the same room as her, but with the taste of her lips tempting me to an almost painful extent, I couldn’t pull back.

I wanted her more than anything in that moment.

And I wasn’t going to stop myself.