Chapter 1: You're Going to Be My Wife

Leah's POV

"Get in!"

I was shoved roughly into a presidential suite on one of the hotel's upper floors. A man with a cold, stern face sat on the sofa, and on the screen in front of him, an explicit video was playing.

"...Elias...faster...harder...listen to this — this is the kind of pleasure that sweet little girl you're marrying tomorrow could never give you!"

"Why bring her up? She's nowhere near as wild as you."

The man's voice was low and rough, laced with a kind of degraded excitement.

"Elias?"

I looked at the screen in disbelief. The two pale bodies tangled together — the man was unmistakably my fiancé, Elias Aitch, the man I was supposed to marry tomorrow. With every thrust from Elias, the woman's moans climbed higher and higher. I stood there frozen, unable to believe my own eyes.

The man on the sofa suddenly stood up, grabbed my jaw, and dragged me a few steps closer to the screen. "See it clearly now? Your boyfriend is in bed with my woman."

My head was spinning.

On the screen, Elias kept going, kissing her all over, top to bottom.

"No. This is edited." I forced the words out through the pain in my jaw. "It's fake!"

Elias and I had been together for three years. We'd never once had a fight. He was gentlemanly, measured — there was no way he would do something like this, especially not the night before we were supposed to get our marriage license.

"You don't believe me? Too bad. That's a live feed."

"How would a hotel room have surveillance cameras?"

The man let go of my jaw and said to the person beside him, "Take her to see for herself."

The man next to him grabbed me immediately and dragged me to another door down the hall, then kicked it open.

Elias spun around. His hand was still on the woman's breast.

Our eyes met. Time seemed to stop.

"Leah? What are you doing here?"

He grabbed the blanket in a panic and pulled it over the woman first, then looked at me with a furrowed brow.

So it was all real.

I don't know where the strength came from. I stormed forward and slapped Elias hard across the face.

"Leah! What the fuck — you actually hit me?"

Elias pressed a hand to his face and glared at me. "I'm a man. Isn't this kind of thing perfectly normal? Besides, you're the one who said no sex before marriage. If you hadn't, I wouldn't have needed to find someone else."

We had agreed to no premarital sex to protect both of us. Now he was using it as his excuse for cheating.

"Do you still want to get married tomorrow?" I asked, my voice sharp with contempt.

"Of course I do." Elias showed not a trace of guilt. "We've been together three years. How could we not get married?"

I spat at him. "You piece of trash. You don't deserve to marry me."

"Leah." Elias said my name again, his tone turning serious. "You should know — the reason I'm marrying you is because you're pretty, you're easy to manage, and you look good on my arm. My parents love a sweet, obedient girl like you."

Then his voice softened. "Don't worry. Everything I promised you, you'll still get. Not a single thing less."

"That's pathetic."

I let out a short, scornful laugh. "After what you've done, what makes you think I would still marry you?"

"Your family's little company is on the verge of collapse and waiting on my investment," Elias said, watching me with calm confidence, certain I would back down for the sake of it. "No marriage, no money. You'll go under."

"You're disgusting."

I shook my head. I didn't know whether to be relieved I'd found out, or furious at myself for not seeing what kind of person he was until now. Our family's company was truly on the edge of bankruptcy — but that was not a weakness he got to use against me.

"If you really think this is unfair, you can pick someone here too," Elias said, gesturing around the room. "We can all go together. Think of it as compensation."

Only then did I notice — beyond the two of them, there were men standing in every corner of the room. Big, muscular men, staring at me like wolves.

I stepped back two paces, putting distance between myself and Elias. "Keep your disgusting offer to yourself."

"What's disgusting about it? I think it sounds great."

The woman on the bed spoke up then, her smile seductive, her words chilling. "A good girl like you — I bet you're completely inexperienced in bed. I love watching a woman like you get taken care of by a man. Don't worry, these four are all my bodyguards. Top-tier stamina, top-tier skill. They'll fuck you until you're out of your mind with pleasure. Just pick one."

Without waiting for me to respond, she signaled to the men around the room. "What are you waiting for? Go take care of her."

They closed in on me immediately. I spun toward the door, but one of them was already blocking the way.

"Looks like the good girl isn't cooperating," the woman said, her eyes bright with excitement. She kicked Elias. He snapped back to attention, buried his face in her chest, and started sucking her nipples. She moaned with pleasure, eyes falling shut, and called out to the men without missing a beat: "Hurry up. Fuck her good. Teach her how to properly please a man in bed."

"Get off me!"

I shoved away the hand grabbing at my wrist, but another man immediately seized me from behind and yanked me backward.

It was over.

All four of them were closing in and I couldn't break free at all. They dragged me to the edge of the bed and started tearing at my skirt.

Bang!

A gunshot, enormous and sudden.

Every man holding me threw himself to the floor. The room went dead silent.

I opened my eyes. The man from the sofa was striding in from outside, his expression dark and menacing, his gaze locked on the woman.

"Matto Moretti?"

The woman laughed softly. "You're finally angry? I thought no matter what I did, you'd just keep swallowing it."

The name was familiar — I knew I'd heard it somewhere, but I couldn't place it.

Before I could think it through, Matto let out a cold snort, grabbed me and pulled me to my feet, and looked at me. "Seen enough?"

The woman, ignored, stared at him with irritation. "Matto, I'm with you because you're good-looking. Did you really think a governor's daughter would date a small-time criminal for any other reason?"

"The governor's daughter?"

I was stunned — but before I could react, Matto raised his gun without a word and fired a shot at the bed.

"Anna!"

Elias shoved Anna out of the way and took the bullet square in the chest.

Anna screamed and passed out from shock.

The smell of blood spread through the room.

I stared at what had just happened, unable to believe it. I tried to back away and run, but my legs had gone completely soft, and Matto still had my wrist — I couldn't move an inch.

What the hell does this killer want with me?

"I didn't see anything," I said, on the verge of tears. "Let me go. I promise I won't say a word."

Matto slowly put the gun away. He pulled me firmly into the crook of his arm, grabbed my chin, and forced my head up. He looked at me with an expression somewhere between a smile and not. "Let you go?"

I nodded. "Yes."

"Sure."

I looked at him, heart hammering so hard it felt ready to burst out of my throat.

He spoke slowly. "Then marry me. Your fiancé slept with my woman. You marry me — consider it compensation."

My eyes went wide.

The amusement in his eyes deepened. "Don't worry. Everything that spineless bastard could give you, I can give you too. And everything he couldn't?" He paused. "I can give you that as well."