All Chapters of Married To Danger: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

VALENTINADad was unusually quiet over dinner, his eyes flicking to me every few minutes like he was gearing up to say something but kept losing his nerve. Mom, on the other hand, looked like she’d just been handed front-row seats to Paris Fashion Week.When I finished eating, I waited for Dad’s nod to leave the table. I was itching to get back to the painting I’d started that morning. With the last week of my second semester officially behind me, I’d been pouring most of my free time into practicing my art.Finally, Dad cleared his throat. “We need to discuss something with you.”“Alright…” I said slowly. The last time a conversation started like this, he’d blindsided me with news about my fiancé running off with a prostitute. I’d been elated, but of course I couldn’t tell dad that. My mother had spent the entire week in tears, talking about how her enemies would never stop mocking her now. I’d just turned nineteen at the time, but apparently, having no fiancée was scandalous.“We’ve

He didn’t move. He just stood there, blocking my way, his dark gaze locked on me like he was trying to figure out exactly what kind of trouble I was. The air between us felt heavy, like someone had closed a door to a room that had already been too warm. I could hear my own heartbeat in my ears, an annoying, uneven rhythm that betrayed me when I wanted to look composed.I watched him with huge eyes and my mouth halfway open, unable to decide whether to say something sharp or stay perfectly still and hope he ignored me like most men like him did. And then, recognition flashed in his eyes, like he was just now realizing that I was Valentina, the girl who was supposed to be his wife.The longer he stared, the hotter my face burned. It was stupid, but my hand drifted up to my bangs without thinking. A reflex I’d picked up years ago, as if I could hide behind them when people stared too hard.His eyes followed the action, all the way down to my bony legs and finally, to my hair, and I sa

VALENTINAI was shaking with pure rage by the time I got back to my room. Was I really expected to spend the rest of my life with a man that was so cold and so domineering? Looking down at my clothes and ordering me to change what I was used to wearing? What gave him the right to think he could do that? We weren’t even married yet.“I’ve been looking all over for you!” Mom exclaimed when I walked in, immediately pushing me toward my walk in closet. “You’re supposed to meet Adrian right now, we need to get ready.”“Mom…” She looked me up and down, like she was just noticing me for the first time. “Great heavens! What in God’s name are you wearing?”Her dramatics didn’t surprise me. I already knew what she was going to say by the way she scrunched her nose.She tugged at my clothes until I started undressing, still filled with rage.Mom frowned at me. “What’s going on with you?”“Nothing,” I answered almost immediately.She turned to a rack of dresses that must have been brought in bef

ADRIAN“Hey, I got this for you,” Damien said, handing me a flask.I tugged my tie into place, feeling the knot tighten against my throat like a noose, before accepting the flask he offered. “I won’t be drinking hard liquor today.”His mouth curled into a smirk. “It’s not for drinking. It’s for bashing yourself over the head if you get another bright idea about refusing the bloody sheet tradition.”I shoved the flask deep into the inner pocket of my jacket, suddenly feeling agitated. “Don’t start this again.”Damien’s glare was hard and unflinching. “I’ll start it as many times as it takes. Just swear you won’t try any of that faking blood stains bullshit. You know Rico wasn’t offering you a way out right? He was baiting you. He wanted to see if you’d fall for it. Trust me, he took his on their wedding night. She cried, she whined about the pain, but he still had her. That’s the kind of man he is. And that’s the kind of man he expects you to be.”Heat surged in my veins, and before I

By the time dinner ended, I was wound so tightly I thought I might throw up. When Adrian rose and offered his hand for the first dance, my body moved on instinct, but inside, I was hollow. The eyes of the guests followed us as he led me to the center of the ballroom. A hundred faces, all waiting to see how the new bride and groom would perform.My smile was in place, fake and perfect like my mother had drilled into me since I was a child. Smile, no matter what. Smile, even if your world is collapsing.Adrian’s hand settled firmly on my waist, guiding me with effortless control across the floor. He was taller, broader, and more powerful than me in every possible way, and the difference showed even in the dance. If we’d been a real couple, maybe I could have relaxed, leaned into him, and let my cheek rest against his chest. But we weren’t. We were strangers bound by vows, moving in unison for the benefit of everyone else.“Why are you trembling?” Adrian’s voice rumbled low, startling me