Monster A Dark Arranged Marriage Romance - Vanessa Waltz Page 0,4
you, thank God. Once you have my name, you’ll drop the biker crap. I won’t have it in my house or anywhere around me.”
That settled it.
I’d stab my husband before the night ended.
“I’ll wear ripped jeans and leather to all your family barbecues. And guess what’s going on the wall? A giant Harley-Davidson poster.”
Tony’s dark eyes sparkled with the love of a challenge. “I’ll gag you with your panties. Force you to taste your pussy for hours. I’ll drag you over my lap and do things. Maybe in front of an audience.”
An unwelcome flush burned my cheeks.
He lightly fingered my chin, and the air vanished from my lungs. “You have no idea what I’m capable of.”
No, I don’t.
My heart hammered.
“And you don’t know it yet, but you chose the wrong girl.”
Two
Evie
I’m grateful so many people support our marriage.
Mom warned me.
Dating in the MC was not for romantics who planned their wedding in the first two weeks of a new relationship. She said I couldn’t handle the club girls, the cheating, and the heartbreak. Now I’d never know if she was right.
Because Dad was forcing me to marry him.
Tony stood at the altar, wearing an expression more appropriate for being stuck at the DMV, not celebrating his marriage. Nobody wanted to be here, least of all my fiancé. He glowered like I was the bug crawling up his ass.
Same to you, bastard.
A tense silence enveloped us as the march’s last notes faded, the droning of the priest not enough to slice the tension. My gaze wandered to my leather-clad father in the front row, a grim set to his jaw. Behind him, rows of people shifted in their seats. Sympathy marked the women’s faces, but the men mirrored Tony’s put-upon boredom.
My spirits sank even lower.
I curled my hands into fists and shut them out. A woman’s wild sobbing broke the quiet, and I gaped at Tony’s side. His mother cried into a tissue.
I bristled.
Why was she crying? I was the wronged party in this situation. Her murdering son would be my husband, and he’d made it clear that he planned to use me like a blow-up doll.
Tony shot me a twisted smile full of lethal calm. Before long, his “I do” echoed as though he stood in a tomb. Then the priest turned toward me.
“And do you, Evie, take Anthony to be your husband?”
Grief tore at my heart, but my father’s threats rang in my ears. I swallowed the ache in my throat.
“I do.”
Tony’s surly best man handed him the rings. My family’s oldest enemy took my hand in his big, calloused one. Shock slammed into my ribs as he slid another ring I hated onto my finger. His resentment drilled holes into my skull.
“I now pronounce you man and wife,” said the distant voice of the priest. “You may kiss the bride.”
Our vulnerable gazes clashed.
Hatred blazed in those tawny brown pools. They had a burning, faraway look, like he couldn’t bear to share the same space. His arm banded my waist, pulling me roughly to him. He cradled my head. We stared at each other as though across an unfathomable distance.
Married, but still strangers.
I anchored my hands on his shoulders, my stomach twisting as our bodies pressed close. I tipped my head up to kiss my husband, stowing my rage for later. Then his lips caught mine, and my senses leaped to life. His kiss was punishing and angry, sending spirals of heat through me. His stubble raked my skin. He was a flame eating the oxygen in the air, devouring my sustenance.
Scattered applause cleaved through my brain.
Tony pulled away, stone-faced.
I swayed, fingers digging into his jacket. At the base of my throat, my pulse beat and swelled. My lips tingled.
I wanted more. Tony was zoned out—and bored.
A fierce sting bit my cheeks.
That was it.
I officially belonged to a monster.
Dad had spent a lifetime warning me against men like Tony. Despite that, he’d permitted Tony to make my life hell forever. His only daughter, fed to Tony like a sacrificial lamb.
The betrayal sawed into my chest.
After an hour of photos, we drove to our reception at a waterfront museum. A giant wall of glass overlooked the harbor, winking with a sea of yellow lights as the dark water reflected a cloudless sky. Seafood rested on ice, but I’d yet to go anywhere near the buffet. I had a mild allergy to shellfish, but nobody thought to ask for my preferences. His mother had planned everything.