The Marriage Debt (Underworld Kings)

People like us … we don’t make mistakes.

We can’t afford to.

And if she decides to run … she knows what’ll happen.

To her.

To her family.

To everyone she ever cared about.

And that’s exactly the thing she wants me to know, the thing she’ll use against me. Because it proves that she is my captive, my unwilling bride, and that I’m merely using her as a toy to play with.

She’s not wrong.

But that doesn’t make it any less rage-inducing, especially when she has this smug look on her face. I made it difficult for myself by picking her.

Sighing, I get into the car after her and shut the door, then make sure it’s locked. I don’t want her escaping while we’re on the highway even though she knows how fucking dangerous that is. It’s just the kind of thing she’d do to make a point.

I shake my head and look out the window.

“You lied to me,” she says.

Not even one second of rest. How does she keep doing it?

I turn my head, and she continues, “You asked me what I wanted the most, and when I said freedom, you said ‘let’s go.’ You lied to me.”

“I didn’t lie.” My brow rises. “We’re going somewhere.”

She makes a face and leans in to slap me, but I grasp her wrist midway in the air.

“I thought I told you to play nice tonight. Or do you want us to turn back around?” I lean in. “Do you want me to lock you up in that room again? Or should I make you sleep hanging from the ceiling? Because I can, and I will.”

She gulps and shakes her head, so I release her wrist. She starts staring out the window like she’s trying to forget she’s even here. As though she’s imagining herself out there between the common people, doing some relaxed shopping and living a normal, happy life. The look on her face is a mixture between melancholy and jealousy, like she wants nothing more than to disappear.

I envy that.

I envy her ability to turn her back on everything because I can’t ever imagine anything other than this life.

In this world, we are the killers, the bad guys, the criminals.

And I’m the prince more than willing to inherit it all.

My fist clenches, but I release it when she looks at me, her eyes full of disdain.

I fucking hate it.

When did I suddenly decide to care? I don’t.

Fuck.

Stop.

I grunt to myself and look away again.

When the car finally stops at the restaurant, I blow out a sigh of relief. My driver unlocks the doors, and I quickly open mine, holding out my hand to her.

She reluctantly takes it, but only after throwing me another glare.

Of course, she’d never pass up a moment to show me just how much she despises me.

She steps out and hits one of her heels on the sidewalk, collapsing straight into me. I manage to catch her in my arms. “Careful there.”

“Don’t act like you care all of a sudden,” she hisses, and she shoves herself off me.

I quickly grasp her waist and pull her close. “I never said I didn’t.”

“Yet you still seem to want to punish me every second of the day,” she hisses.

I nod and wink. “An appropriate punishment for murdering someone, don’t you think?”

“Murder?” She frowns, jerking herself free from my grip. “I didn’t murder anyone. It was an accident, and you know it.”

“But I don’t, do I?” My eyes narrow. “I wasn’t there, remember?”

Her nostrils flare. “Exactly. But I was there. And I almost died that day too. But you seem to forget that, just like everyone else.”

“Shouldn’t have driven off in that car with him,” I quip.

“I never wanted anything bad to happen to Liam.” She points at my chest. “You shouldn’t have threatened him.”

“Our fight was nothing but brotherly rivalry over the company. My business, not yours,” I retort.

She only gets more and more in my face, and I don’t know if I hate it or love it. “You made it my business when you climbed into my window and told me I was supposed to marry him.”

“Yeah …” I scoff.

I remember it all too well.

The night I gave her that mind-blowing orgasm.

After I had my way with her, I told her why I’d come to her room in the first place.

That my parents had chosen my brother instead of me to be the next heir.

Her fucking dream come true.

“That was the biggest mistake of my life.” I step back a little to calm myself before I lose it. “Just like you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” she asks, but I’ve already turned around to walk toward the restaurant.

“Hello?” She starts chasing me across the pavement. “Answer me.”

I walk off toward the restaurant alone to collect my thoughts. “No.”

“Why not?” I like how she follows me out of her own damn free will just out of curiosity. “You can’t just drop something like that without an explanation.”