Page 29 of Until Death or Defeat

“Well I figured maybe Angelo, Bruno, or Jonathon might’ve obliged.” He says it with a straight face, and I’m confused.

Who is he talking about . . .

I burst out laughing when I realize what he means. He’s talking about the names I rattled off when I said I knew decent men last week. They are real guys I know, but I’ve never fucked them.

“You’re crazy, Artem. Have you been saving that outburst all week?”

He clenches his jaw and grabs my elbow, trying to drag me somewhere less crowded and loud.

“If I find out a man touched you tonight, I’ll dismember him in front of you.”

I shake my head as my mouth falls open in disbelief.

“Thisis why I hate you. Who the hell says that to someone? Can’t you just leave me alone? We can’t stand each other, so why do you care if I let some guy touch me? And don’t you dare say more stupid shit about you thinking I’m yours because we’re about to get married.”

He sighs and turns around, pinching the bridge of his nose. He takes a moment to compose himself before he turns back to face me.

“You have always been mine, and you always will be. You’ve been mine since the first time we spoke on the roof,” he takes a step towards me, closing the distance as he looks deeply into my eyes, towering over me.

“You’ve beenmineto break,mineto have,mineto ruin.” His rough hands brush my waist, as he harshly squeezes. “I would have never let another man have you the way I’ve had you. You can fuck whoever you want, but we both know you’ve never felt like this with anyone else.”

I scoff.

“Yeah, you know what, you’re right Artem. I have never fucking hated anyone in my life as much as I hate you.”

I push my face aggressively closer to his as I spit the words, and he chuckles darkly.

“Tsk, tsk,solnishko. You want to know something about hate?”

His hands move slowly down my waist to my hip, softly rubbing around different parts of my body as his eyes look to my chest and then back up to my face.

“Hateis the strongest feelingthere is. I’m fine with you hating me. You know you’ll never feel this strongly with anyone else. No one will make you feel how you feel with me, ever. No one knows you better than I do.”

He laughs when he feels the shiver that courses through me as he says that, as he moves his hand down to my outer thigh.

“Come now. We have a long fucking day tomorrow. Your friends will all be taken home.”

I can’t push out any more energy to fight this, I know it’s futile. I’m too inhibited to even stop him, and I feel lost in my head. He pulls my hand to lead me out of the club, and I follow him still in a daze.

Luckily today, I don’t have the fattest hangover in history. I don’t think I could manage that on my own wedding day. I already have too much in my head, and I need to keep a sound mind. I take another look at myself in the mirror and let out a deep sigh.

“No one knows you better than me.”

Fucking prick.

What does he know anyway? Sure, he’s made good guesses about things I like, but any guy can do that. It isn’t like it makes him special, or that it makes anything different between us.

I shake off my thoughts and try to live in the moment. Here I am, looking gorgeous in this dress, the most important dress I’ll ever wear, and I’m souring my own moment.

It’s an elegant, satin gown that drapes almost like the dress a Greek goddess would wear. The breast is structured, andstarting in the middle of my breasts it drapes down. The sleeves dangle daintily on my upper arms, and my hair is in a beautiful bun with curls falling all around it.

Thisis the moment I’ve always dreamed of. When I remember today, I’ll just remember this. The only thing I’m missing is my mom helping me fix my dress.

I hear the door click open, and I turn. I see my father poking his head in, and I immediately turn back to the mirror to avoid his gaze. He walks slowly over to me, putting his hand on my shoulder as he stands beside me.

“You look radiant,” he says, looking at my reflection in the mirror with me.

He sighs, and I know he’s struggling to form the words.