6- Eve

“We’re here,”

I look up, my irritation already coming up to my voice before I can control myself. “I see. Where is… here, exactly?”

It looks like we’re in the middle of nowhere. I can't even tell where we are even though we are still in Italy. Before Damien responds, he’s at the door, helping me out of it. “It’s one of the many bases Lucien tortures people at times. He said that you might like the background,”

“Ah,” I say, though I don’t voice my thoughts. My eyes fall on the only building in this desolate place around us and I walk to it. The second I get in, I can’t help the wave of surprise that flashes through me as I realize that the inside looks… different.

The house looks like an almost rundown building but inside… It's almost breathtaking. The air is thick with the scent of jasmine and old books. A path of deep crimson rose petals leads down a central aisle, flanked by pews of dark, polished wood.

The ceiling is a cascade of wisteria, thousands of delicate purple blossoms tumbling down with their fragrance perfuming the air. Mixed in between them are tiny, golden lights that twinkle like captured stars, casting a soft, magical glow over everything. At the end of the path stands a simple arch woven from more wisteria and deep green ivy.

And there he is.

He has on a suit, and a smile on his face. The smile is unsettling, of course, like I’m being stared at something that’s using every ounce of his strength to stop himself from eating me. The look doesn’t even falter for a second when I get close enough, “You took your time,”

“I had to clean up a lot of dead bodies. That takes a while, but of course, you wouldn’t know that,” The smile is still there, but it’s not condescending. He looks amused as he towers over me before he moves away from the path, bowing slightly as he says, “The papers are right there to sign, Principessa,”

I walk past him. “Don’t call me that,”

“Glad you mentioned that. I spent all night studying even better ones. Amore. Tesoro. Carina. Giola Mio. Dolcezza. Bellisima—”

I zone his voice out as I reach the table with the papers on top. There’s a marriage contract. A typical one. There’s nothing extra listed, not even a clause that I can use as an attack. If anything, this is the most normal marriage contract I have ever seen. And he’s already signed in his name.

He’s still rambling out names in the background, and for a moment, I tell myself that this is good. There’s nothing he could possibly hold over my head. This is safe. But why? Why would he willingly decide to do this for nothing in return? He hadn’t mentioned what he wanted yet.

There’s no time.

I quickly sign my name— EVE HELLFIRE, and turn around to look at him. The second I do, he stops talking. He completely freezes, his blue eyes widened slightly, and slowly, he climbs up the stairs to where I am and picks the paper, a small scoff leaves his lips. “You signed it,”

I can smell him now. He’s close enough for me too, and it’s not gunpowder. It’s something strong. Seductive. It’s enough for me to almost backtrack though I don't lose my focus as I say, “I did, wasn’t that the point?”

He turns to look at me, his eyes burning with an emotion anyone else would call happiness but I know it’s something far worse. “Well, yes, Lupetta,” She-wolf. “But… I never get what I want, especially so easily. It’s… a bit of a turn on, I’m afraid. Would we be exchanging our vows now? A kiss? Perhaps a night of consummation? We have a few—”

“Let me make it clear, Lucille,” I cut in. “I am only your wife in name. I have no plans to be in your bed, or yours in mine. We will not be exchanging any fluids of any sort. You can stop with the names. We do not even need to be on speaking terms in the foreseeable future.”

I wait a second, then another. He stares at me as if he waits for me to say anything more but when I don’t, he grins. “That’s alright with me. I’ll keep to your side of the bargain as long as you keep to my side, Bianchi,”

“There was no bargain—” Then I pause, my eyes going to the paper in his hands. And that’s where I see it. There’s a list of clauses littered all over the back page. I immediately reach for it, but he raises it up, his eyes a mix of fascination and joy as I hiss, “That is not fair,”

“I can assure you that agreeing to keep my part of the bargain is very fair,” His voice has dropped lower and before I can register what’s happening, he’s grabbing my waist and pulling my body into his. My body almost erupts from how… hard his chest is. His body. “I will not be kissing you, or going inside you. But I can assure you that there are many things I would rather do to you,”

I grit my teeth. “I swear, I’ll burn you,”

He groans there. “Baby, you know how your threats make me feel. I’m already so fucking hard seeing the expressions on your face,”

And I can tell he’s not lying.

Because something very big is pushing into my thighs.

I quickly push my body away from his, the sound of his laughter echoing through the hall before I hear Damien say, “I apologize, I know we don’t want to rush this, but they’ll be here soon. We have to be on the plane. Now,”

I turn to look at him. “Who?”

“Your father and your ex fiancé,” Lucille’s voice responds as he walks down the stairs towards where Damien is, then pauses to look at me with a smile on his face, “Surely you didn’t think they wouldn’t hunt you down? Of course I used every trick at my disposal but they will come. I can assure you that I am not a good person, but I will not lock you up, or treat you as anything but my equal. So you can come with me now, willingly, because when you become my wife, I do not plan on ever letting you out of my sight till I personally kill you myself,”

Damien’s voice holds warning now. “Lucille,”

Lucille Hellfire doesn’t even bother to notice him. His eyes stay on me and his hand is out, waiting. Patiently. He knows my Father could kill him if he finds us here but he’s giving me a choice.

A choice. No one else has ever given me that before. Not even Mother.

‘But he just said he’ll kill you if you leave his sight,’

And it’s the most honest thing anyone has ever told me since the day I was born. I cannot control many things, but this one. This one, I can control. I can make a choice.

I start heading down the stairs. His smile burns even brighter. “Good girl,”

I put my hand in his. “Do not call me that,”

He hums a response I don’t hear as we head outside the door towards the car but the moment he opens the door, the warehouse explodes. He’s instantly shielding me from the damage. The second the dust around us clears, I look around but I don’t see any cars— and when I hear him chuckle under his breath, I turn to look at him and say, “Was that you?”

“We wasted a bit more time than I had calculated inside. It was meant for your Fiancé I’m afraid,”

“We were literally just inside a couple of minutes ago!”

“I would never have let harm come to you,” He cuts in. His voice loses the light in it and it’s low. Dark. I can feel the chill running up my spine as his hand comes up to my cheek, “Besides, we would have died together. It’d be like the romance books we read as children,”

I quickly slap his hand away as I get into the car. “I don't know what bloody books you read as a child but never do that again,”

He’s still grinning at the door of the car as he says, “Understood. No touching you until express permission is given,”

“You know that’s not what I—”

He slams the door on my face, leaving me shocked about what the heck I have done but I don’t get to think of it too much as he gets into the driver’s seat while Damien takes the seat next to him and he says with a bright smile on his face to me from the rearview mirror, “I love you by the way,”

It’s impossible not to scoff even though I don’t want to but that only makes him beam brighter as he puts the car in reverse, “Killed zero people today, let’s see how long that lasts,”