Page 56 of His to Bedevil
The thought of Alejo getting bored with me and tossing me out on my ass like he did with his last girlfriend makes my stomach turn. The thought is so unbearable, I’m not even thinking about him killing me. But no. He didn’t want to marry his last girlfriend, and from my understanding, he wasn’t serious about any of his other girlfriends. Not only does he want to marry me, but he’s demanding it.
As I stand to my feet when I hear the door open behind me, he looks up at me with pleading eyes. Before he can beg me again not to marry Alejo, I tell him goodbye. “I’m okay, Matches. I’ll be fine. I’ll see you again soon.” Holding back my tears, I take one last look at his regretful eyes.
I spin on my heel and see Alejo standing at the threshold of the door. “NO!” Matches roars behind me. “Don’t, Fynn! Just don’t! I’d rather die than you marry him!” With shaky legs, I step outside of the room, and the door closes on him still yelling. My heart breaking into a million pieces.
Swallowing down the lump in my throat and blinking away the sting behind my eyes, I begin walking down the hallway to the stairs without waiting for Alejo. I can feel him following closely behind me, and I hate him right now. I hate that he has my only friend, someone who took care of me and gave me a new life. I hate that he’s making me marry him to keep him alive. I hate that he’s taken away my freedom and swears to never let me go. And I hate that when he’s near, I feel that stupid pull, attracting me to him more and more every day. And most of all, I hate that I don’t hate him. Even though I have so many reasons to.
Thankfully, he lets me be and stays silent all the way back to the house and up to his room. But as soon as the door closes, I spin on him, getting more and more irate with every passing second. “I want him better taken care of!” I shout. “He looks like death, and at this rate, he will most likely die like that! Breaking your word!”
Alejo stands there impassively, not even flinching. “Every time we try to release him from his restraints, he starts attacking my men, and we have to restrain him all over again. Those wounds are from him fighting anyone that comes near him.”
Of course he’s fighting them. Why wouldn’t he?“Then let me talk to him again. I can tell him that you guys won’t keep him restrained if he promises not to hurt anyone.”
Alejo shakes his head. “Mi amor, do you really think he would agree to that?”
Probably not, but it’s worth a try.I look away and chew on my bottom lip again. “Irma,” Alejo says in a soft voice as he reaches me. “I will keep my word.”
I look up at him through my lashes. “You really won’t kill him?”
“I really won’t kill him,mi amor. I’m a man of my word. Promise.”
I continue to stare up into his eyes, and they are unwavering. I can’t be sure, but I feel like he’s telling me the truth. He may be ruthless and sometimes considered a monster, but he seems like he has some honor. His word is his bond. He’s a lot of things, but a liar he is not.
I nod my head. “Okay.”
“Let’s get to bed, my love. We have a very big day tomorrow.”
Lying in bed with Alejo wrapped around my body like every night, I think about what Matches said to me.
And when he gets bored with you, he’ll kill you too.
I’d feel a lot better about all of this if I knew how Alejandro really feels about me. He says he wants everything from me and that he too feels that pull between us, but he could just be referring to the physical attraction we have toward one another or the sexual tension that is unmistakable. In that case, Matches is right. He’ll get bored with looking at me and find some shiny new toy eventually. But it doesn’t change anything. Whether or not I go through with this wedding, I’m at his mercy unless I find a way out of here. Marrying him can only buy me more time.
Alejandro
“Istill can’t believe it.” My brother stands behind me as I stand in front of the mirror. In the reflection, I see him shaking his head in amusement. “I never thought I would see the day.”
I’m sure he’s not the only one. Hell,Ican’t even believe I’m standing here in a tux about to get married. To a woman I hardly know. A woman I haven’t even slept with yet. A woman who has completely consumed me from the inside out and has wrapped me around her tiny finger in such a short time.
Before Irma, I went through women almost quicker than it began. A beautiful woman would catch my eye, and I would sleep with her. If she was decent in bed and not too mouthy, I would keep her around. But it never lasted more than a week. Anna was the only one that lasted longer than that, and that was only because she was so skilled in the bedroom and had already stuck around long enough for me to train her completely into submission. I used to get off on scaring her. With Irma, she doesn’t scare easily, and it’s something that gets my blood flowing. I love how strong she is.
When I first laid eyes on Irma, the connection was instant, and I thought for sure she felt it too. But now, I’m not so sure. Sometimes I think she’s just being stubborn and fighting it, and sometimes I fear that maybe I was only hoping she felt the same connection as I did. It doesn’t matter though. I’m marrying her either way, and she’ll learn to care for me, maybe even learn to love me one day.
“Well, here it is. I’m about to be a married man.”
We’re getting married in a beautiful Catholic church. It’s against Cuban tradition, considering we are still under Communist rule, but my family was and still remains Catholic. Irma says she’s not necessarily religious, but she does believe in God, or that there is one. It was important to my mother though, and since neither Irma nor I had any objections, we let her have this.
The reception will be held back at the estate. The guest list is rather large, more than I care for, but being who I am, this is an event. Important business partners and even politicians will be in attendance. My family isn’t very large, and Irma doesn’t have any, so it’s not a very intimate setting.
“Mijo!” My mother comes waltzing in wearing a beautiful red gown. I turn around to see her approaching me with her arms extended for an embrace. She hugs me tightly then cups my face as she leans away. “Look at you, Alejandro. My firstborn. My precious son. You are so handsome, and you are about to marry the most beautiful woman. You have made your mamá very proud.”
I smile down at my beautiful mother. “Thank you, Mamá. All I want to do is to make you proud.”
“Patear el culo.”Kiss-ass, my brother mutters.
“And your father would be too. He was already so proud of you. Both of you.” She looks over her shoulder at Lucas, I’m sure giving him a look for the “kiss-ass” comment. “I wish he could be here today, but I know that he is watching.”
Swallowing down the painful lump in my throat, I nod my head. I also wish he were still here today. For more reasons than one. If he were still here, I wouldn’t feel the weight of the world on my shoulders, having the business dumped on me too soon. He’s been prepping me for it since the day I was born, but I never thought I would have to take over before the age of forty.
