The Marriage Debt (Underworld Kings)

“There’s going to be a new business dinner Saturday night. Baas will be there,” my mother adds, throwing me a stern look. “Bring her.”

She slams the door shut and leaves me to my own thoughts.

My own emotions that I’ve tried hard to keep buried.

I thought I could use Jill as a toy, but it turns out she’s going to have to perform her wifely duties in more ways than just with her mouth and pussy.

And something tells me she won’t be willing to play the good wife.

Chapter 15

Jill

* * *

I’ve been locked in this room for days on end. I don’t know how long because there is no clock anywhere, and my phone was taken from me the second I ended up in Luca’s clutches.

There’s nothing but a small television to keep me company. Looking out the window is equally dreadful. All the people down there on the streets are blissfully going about their lives while I’m stuck up here in this ivory tower, hoping I’ll someday get the chance to escape … and to tear this goddamn collar off my neck.

But then there’s that voice in my head whispering to me again.

You chose this.

If only I hadn’t done what I did three years ago.

I never should’ve dragged Liam away from Luca and into my car.

If I hadn’t, he would have won the fight and would still be alive.

Things would’ve been much different now.

I could’ve married him.

I sigh to myself and shove the curtain aside to look outside at the bustling streets below. Even if this is the backside of the building, it still has that kind of view you can only buy with a ton of cash.

Tap, tap!

Two knocks on the door make me flick my head sideways. The only visitor I’ve had since Luca last came in was Lita with her delicious food, and it always brings a smile to my face when she comes. But she never knocks.

“Who is it?”

“Me.”

My skin prickles at the sound of his voice.

Luca.

Of course it’s him.

I don’t respond, but he comes in anyway, and the moment our eyes lock, that same smirk forms on his lips again. “How are you feeling?”

I frown. “Since when do you care?”

He closes the door and leans against it, running his fingers through his black hair. “I never stopped caring.”

I snort. “Yeah, right, says the dude keeping me locked up in here.”

He pushes himself off the door and steps closer. “You know you give me no choice.”

I cringe. “Wow, so now you try to pin your guilt on me? No thanks, I’m not here to be your scapegoat.”

He stops halfway through the room and narrows his eyes at me, fists clenched. “Don’t ever forget you were the one who killed my brother. You deserve every bit of punishment.”

Our eyes connect, and a fire almost combusts between us. “He would’ve lived if you hadn’t started that fight with him.”

Luca marches toward me and grabs me by my collar. “That fight wouldn’t have started if you hadn’t kissed him.”

Oh, please. “You’re using me as an excuse. You already hated his guts because your parents chose him to be the successor instead of you.”

His nostrils flare as he’s so close I can almost feel his breath on my skin. “I saw the face you made after you kissed him. What was it again—oh, right—disgust.” He grabs a strand of my hair and tucks it behind my ear, the soft touch making me shiver. “Something you never felt when I touched you …” He leans in farther until he’s right below my chin, and when I suck in a breath, he plants a kiss on my neck right above the collar. “When I kissed you like this.”

“Keep going, and I’ll fucking look at you like that,” I hiss.

He slowly pulls away and gazes at me from underneath his eyelashes with contempt. The air is thick with tension as we stare each other down from mere inches away.

“You lied. You always lie. Why?” he asks, but it sounds more like a growl. “What are you trying to protect? Your heart?” He plants a hand on the window beside my head. “Because, make no mistake, I will make it mine, and I don’t care how long it fucking takes.”

I swallow down the lump in my throat. “Over my dead body.”

“Is that how far you’re willing to take this?”

“I only said I’d be your wife. I didn’t say I’d love you,” I reply.

“What use is a loveless marriage?” he quips.

“That’s your problem, not mine,” I say. “You wanted to see me punished for your brother’s death? This is it.”

Guess he didn’t expect it to be his punishment, too.

His eyes twitch, and he grabs my arm and shoves me against the window so hard I’m afraid it might crack. “You chose to marry me.”

“Did I? You could’ve married my sister, the easy-going girl who was happy to fulfill her family obligations. Yet you decided to go against your father’s wishes to kill me when I crashed the wedding … and then picked me instead.” I fold my arms. “Sounds like you were the one who desperately wanted me.”