Chapter Three

Lianna

The Devil’s Eyes

The door opens and everyone and everything is still, no one moves, even the air in the room changes, it's thicker, colder, heavier.

I don’t know why, but every instinct inside me screams the same thing.Danger.

The first thing I notice is his shoes when he walks in, they are perfectly polished, pure black leather, then I follow his legs, he has long legs and broad shoulders and then I look up.

For one disorienting second, my terrified mind refuses to make sense of what I’m seeing.

Because monsters aren’t supposed to look like this. They aren’t supposed to be beautiful.

But the man standing in the doorway is devastatingly tall, powerfully built.

Dark hair swept back like he doesn’t care how perfect it looks. He has sharp cheekbones a strong jaw.

And eyes, Dear God his eyes, cold gray like winter steel, like storm clouds before lightning strikes.

Like the kind of eyes that have watched people die and felt nothing.

This is him, Cassian Moretti.

The man everyone fears.

The man I was never supposed to meet.

The women around me lower their heads.

Cassian’s gaze slowly sweeps across the room assessing before his eyes lay on me and everything stops.

He doesn’t react, his face is expressionless and that somehow terrifies me more.

Because there is something deeply unsettling about a man who feels impossible to read.

His gaze moves over me with terrifying precision.

My wet clothes, my trembling hands, my tear streaked face. I feel stripped bare.

Someone says quietly behind him 

“Boss”

Cassian raises one finger and the man instantly falls silent.

I stumble backward and my knees hit the edge of the bed, i can’t move anymore.

He stops a few feet away.

Close enough for me to catch the scent of expensive cologne mixed with something darker leather, smoke, danger.

Close enough to realize how much bigger he is than me.

How easily he could overpower me.

My voice shakes, but I force words out.

“Please help me”

His expression doesn’t change.

“Everyone out.”

The order cuts through the room, and the maids rush out and suddenly it's just us two I'm the room. 

I back farther against the bed.

My voice breaks.

“Please don’t” I start but he stops me, 

“Look at me.”

The command is quiet but absolute and I freeze but against all my instincts, I lift my eyes and look up at him. I look at those big gray eyes pin me in place.

“Who are you?”

The question catches me off guard.

“What?”

His voice hardens, “Whats your name.”

“I’m Liana,” I say quickly. “Liana Rossi.”

He watches me but still no expression at all, so I immediately continue desperately.

“I’m not Bianca. I’m not your bride, I work for Harrison Floral Studio. I came to deliver flowers and your men grabbed me and brought me here and I swear I don’t know what’s happening.”

The words rush out messy and in panick but he says nothing, 

“Did you hear me?” I whisper.

He moves towards me and stops directly in front of me, too close I can feel his heat and his presence consumes everything.

He lifts one hand and I immediately flinch.

Something flickers in his eyes. Something almost like curiosity, then his fingers touch my chin his touch is warm and steady. He tilts my face upward and forces me to hold his gaze.

He studies me like he is searching for something beneath my skin.

His thumb brushes lightly against my cheek.

Wiping away a tear.

That tiny gesture shocks me more than violence would have because it feels intimate and personal.

Then he says something that makes my blood turn to ice.

“I know.”

My brain blanks out.

“What?”

His grip on my chin tightens slightly, his eyes lock onto mine unblinking and terrifyingly calm. 

“I know you are not Bianca.”

Everything inside me crashes and my knees nearly give out.

Panic slams into me harder than before.

“You, you know?”

“Yes.”

“If you know, then why am I here?!”

His expression remains unreadable.

I shove against his chest hard but he doesn’t move an inch.

“Why?” I scream, “Why are you doing this to me? I didn’t do anything to you!”

Another shove but the man is as cold as ice, “You can’t just steal people!”

He still just stands there staring at me not saying a word. 

“Say something!”

He watches me break apart for a few seconds before he finally speaks and every word feels like a blade.

“Because the ceremony begins in twelve minutes.”

My mind refuses to understand.

“What?”

He releases my chin and steps back. He straightens his cuffs as if discussing the weather.

Then he says the words that shatter my world.

“You are getting married tonight, Liana.”

“No.”

My voice barely exists when I say that no. 

“No.”

His eyes never leave mine, not even once. 

I shake my head violently.

“No!”

I back away and my breathing turns wild.

“This is insane!”

Tears blur everything.

“You can’t marry someone against their will!”

For the first time emotion flickers across his face. He steps closer again and speaks so quietly I almost miss it.

“In my world” He leans down, his lips near my ear. Then his voice slides over my skin like smoke.

“You do not get to choose.”

He straightens up and turns toward the door.

“No!”

I lunge forward and grab his sleeve and his entire body stills.

The temperature in the room drops.

My hand trembles against the expensive fabric. I shouldn’t have touched him. I know that instantly.

Cassian looks down at my hand then back at me. Something dangerous flashes in his eyes.

“Please” Tears spill freely now, “I’m begging you, don't do this to me.”

For one impossible second, I think I see hesitation.

He reaches up and wraps his hand around mine gently. 

Just firmly enough to remove my fingers from his sleeve.

Then he says the words that destroy every last piece of hope inside me.

“Dress her.”

He opens the door and the guards enter immediately and I stare at him in horror.

Something inside me snaps and I scream after him.

“You are a monster."

He turns his head slightly enough for me to see his profile. 

And then he says, in a voice colder than death, 

“No, Liana, you haven’t met the monster yet.”

And he walks out.