Velvet Devil: A Russian Mafia Romance (22)

“Nothing you need to worry about right now,” I assure her. “Your attention should be here. It’s your big day, after all.”

She takes an angry step toward me, fists balled and eyes fierce. Standing stationary, she managed to look effortlessly beautiful.

But when she moves, she looks like she’s about to tip over.

“Where. Is. My. Fiancé?” she hisses one word at a time.

“Detained,” I retort curtly. “I’ll give you the details later. For now, we’re on a time crunch.”

Sighing, I step one foot down off the dais, snare Cami’s wrist, and tow her towards me. She talks three tottering steps, too shocked to react, before she shakes me off angrily.

“Don’t touch me!”

“As you wish.”

When I drop her wrist, her balance shifts and she starts to timber over. Only planting both hands on the surface of the desk saves her from faceplanting. I suppress a chuckle.

She glares at me with fury in her eyes and puffs a loose strand of hair out of her face. “You’re an asshole.”

“We have a lifetime to call each other names,” I say wryly. “In the meantime, you need to sign.”

I point to the desk. She stares down at the registration papers awaiting her signature.

“You can’t be serious,” she gapes at me.

“And yet here we are.”

“You can’t make me marry you.”

I arch an eyebrow. “Actually, you’ll find that I can.”

Striding over to her, I snag the golden pen from the holder on the table and scrawl my name at the bottom of paper. Then I hand the pen over to Camila.

“Your turn.”

“You’re insane.”

“Sign.”

Rather than bother with an answer, she grabs the pen and promptly hurls it across the room. The only sound is her huffing and the metallic skittering of the pen as it dances down the floor.

I’ve never experienced this side of her. Not in full force like this, at least I remember seeing flashes of it during our one night together. Enough heat to suggest a roaring fire somewhere deep inside her soul.

Seeing it in action certainly doesn’t disappoint.

A side door opens and shuts. Bogdan steps in, just in time for the pen to come to a rest at his feet. He picks it up and joins us at the altar.

As he hands it back to Cami, her eyes lock onto his face and recognition washes over her.

“You…”

He smiles mournfully. “I’m the guy who screwed up six years ago,” he says.

I expect her to hit back with some sarcastic retort. But instead, she shakes her head. “It was five against one. You couldn’t have stopped them all.”

“But I should have.”

She frowns. “Where’s the logic in that?”

“If you knew our father, you’d understand.”

She glances at me, making note of the relationship.

“Listen, Camila,” Bogdan says gently, “this is happening. It’s going to be a lot easier if you just sign on the dotted line.”

I grit my teeth. Of course he would try and reason with her, whereas I want to bend the brat over the desk and spank her into compliance.

My first instinct is always force.

Bogdan’s is diplomacy.

“I’m not going to be forced into marriage,” she says sharply. “This isn’t right.”

“My brother can protect you.”

“Your brother?” she scoffs. “Your brother ruined my life six years ago. And just when I’m on the verge of getting it back, here he is again. Excuse me for not jumping for joy.”

My patience is wearing thin. Bogdan can sense it.

“Camila—”

“Enough!” I roar.

Camila jumps and screams. She’s only ever seen the charming side of me. The smooth-talking velvet devil, the billionaire playboy who gave her the night she could never forget.

She doesn’t know how deep the darkness runs.

But she will. One shadow at a time.

“This is not up for discussion,” I snarl when the echoes of my voice have faded. “If you don’t sign, I’ll be forced to make you.”

She crosses her arms over her chest. “I guess you’ll have to make me then.”

Fuck if the woman doesn’t know exactly how to get me hard.

“So be it.”

I move fast. Before Camila can even react, I’m on her. Hips pressed against hers from behind, her scent in my nose, I wrench her left hand behind her back like I’m cuffing her and envelop her right hand in my own.

“Let me go!” she yells, thrashing wildly.

She doesn’t stand a fucking chance.

I grab her right hand and force it down towards the paper. CLICK goes the pen, and then I scribble it over the blank line and release her instantly.

She stumbles away from me, nearly losing her balance again. Her hair is a wild lioness’s mane around her head. Her dress is sagging off one shoulder, revealing that delicate little collarbone.

The same thought crosses my mind that popped up the moment she walked in: this little kiska is a fucking revelation.

As if it just occurred to her, Cami turns and tries to flee for the exit. She makes it about two steps before Bogdan coolly slides into her path. I hear the breath rush from her lungs as she collides with him.