The Wedding Debt (Underworld Kings)

“What?” I lean in so I can look into his eyes.

“Nothing,” he says, smiling. “It’s fine. I know my responsibilities.”

“You feel like you’re missing out,” I fill in for him.

“Right,” he replies. “That’s just it. I wanted so much more. I wanted to travel. See the world. Experience things. But now that our parents have decided, it means we’ll be steamrolled into the business so we can take it over one day.”

“But it doesn’t make sense to me why they would pick me,” I reply. “Jasmine has always shown more interest in the business side of things. All I wanted to do was—”

“Escape,” Liam interjects with a smile on his face, and it makes me blush.

We both laugh a little and look away for a second. But after a few seconds, his hand threads through mine, and it feels so good that it feels like my heart was lit on fire.

“I guess we have no choice then,” I say.

I don’t want to appear like I’m okay with our parents forcing this on us, but at the same time, this has always been my dream. I always wanted to marry Liam.

But when I look at him now, his eyes show nothing but solemnness, and it twists at my insides.

“They just pick whoever they prefer. No choice for us whatsoever,” he mutters.

I can’t help but feel overwhelmed with all of this.

I knew it was coming for a long time … but I never imagined our parents would pick him and me. That I’d be the one to marry Liam. Even though he wants nothing more than to run away.

And he’s right. Running away would solve all our problems. We wouldn’t have to be forced to marry, and Liam would be able to see the world. And maybe, just maybe, if I went with him, he’d finally fall for me. For real. Not in a forced way.

“We could run away,” I say.

He snorts. “What, for real?”

“Why not?” I shrug.

“Our parents would never let that happen,” he replies. “Like you said, we have no choice.”

I place my head on his shoulder, sighing. “Would you have wanted one?”

“Of course. Everybody does.”

“Who would you have picked?”

I close my eyes, knowing I’m not ready for the answer.

Because deep down, I know what he really wants.

Who he’d really choose.

And it isn’t me.

“Hey,” Liam says, and he turns to me.

I lean up again and blink away a single tear from my eye. He grabs my face and makes me look at him.

“Just because we had different ideas or wants doesn’t mean it can’t still work out,” he says.

“You want Jas—”

He places a finger on my lips.

He closes the gap between us. His face is so close, and my heart begins to race.

“Let me try something,” he murmurs, still clutching my face.

And as he closes his eyes, he comes closer, and closer, and closer, and softly plants his lips on mine.

I’ve waited for this moment since forever.

Wishing upon a star to make it happen.

Liam’s kissing me. A feeling that should leave a lasting imprint on me.

His mouth is warm and sultry against mine.

But the longer he kisses me, the more I realize … I feel nothing.

After a while, he leans back, my lips still red and buzzing from the kiss.

I should be jumping up and down with excitement. Instead, I just sit there, dazed. Completely and utterly confused.

What just happened?

“Did that … do anything for you?” he murmurs.

I lick my lips, afraid to answer.

I don’t want this to be the truth.

“Wait, let me try,” I say in a moment of impulsiveness, and I smash my lips on his, clutching his face.

I’ve never kissed a guy so aggressively, but the harder I kiss him, the more it feels vapid.

And the more I begin to see Luca in front of me, kissing me instead.

I tear my lips away from Liam, frowning, angry with myself.

“Why doesn’t it work?”

Liam sighs. “I’m sorry. I tried. I just feel …”

“Nothing,” I fill in for him.

It hurts.

It hurts because it’s exactly what I feel when I kiss him, when I expected so much more.

And I can’t help but wonder … would it have been like this if Luca hadn’t stolen my first kiss?

“What the fuck?!”

Luca’s distraught voice makes me turn around and look down. He’s right there, on the grass, staring up at us with a kind of rage in his eyes that I’ve never witnessed before.

Oh, God.

Chapter 10

Jill

* * *

“You’re kissing him?!” Luca yells.

Liam holds out his hand. “Luca, stop. You’ll wake Dad.”

“I don’t fucking care!” he yells. “I hope he beats your ass like he did mine.” He spits on the ground. “Come the fuck down and face me, you fucking coward.”

“Jesus, calm down,” Liam says. “It was just a kiss.”

“Just a kiss?!” Luca growls, and then he suddenly looks at me. “You … Out of all the things you could’ve done, this is what you chose?”