Chapter One
“This cements a new future for everyone,” Donnie, his friend, said.
Jake looked at his three best friends and smiled. “You think you’re going to pep talk me on my wedding day?”
“It’s the least we can do,” Luiz said.
“This is not happening. Not today. I’m the girl in this arrangement. Being married off as if I’m nothing more than cattle. I thought we were over that?” Jake asked, running his hands down his tuxedo jacket.
He looked fantastic. Just staring in the mirror, he knew he looked good, but then, a tuxedo could make anyone look good, and today was his wedding day. He was marrying a woman he’d barely spoken to, and from the looks she had given him, she hated his guts.
Well that was more than fine for him. He didn’t like her much either, and he had a lot of other things to look forward to, like controlling his element of The Family, which included the soldiers that worked for him, along with the drugs that they helped to distribute. He hated every single part of the drugs, but he was in control, which meant he could focus on where that shit went.
“This will be the only time that we use a marriage to join forces,” Donnie said.
“You can’t promise that. This is a sad day for all of us. We are going back on our word,” Tonio said.
“This is for the good of The Family. Emily, you’ll treat her right?” Luiz asked.
Jake stared at his three friends and frowned. “I’m not a monster. I’m not going to hurt this woman, not at all. I won’t even touch her.”
“You know this marriage needs to be real. It has to be for this to work,” Donnie said.
“I’m not going to force a woman to bed me. I’ll wait, and in time, we’ll fuck, but until then, you need to back off. I’m doing what I need to do for The Family.”
Donnie sighed. “We are better than our fathers. They didn’t put The Family first. They just sold women for their own purpose.”
“Are we not doing the same with Emily Bracken? It would benefit us all to be united, I get that. It’s a shame that we couldn’t just have deals that we kept, promises made, and all that stuff,” Jake said. He looked away from the mirror and at his friends. “It doesn’t matter how much we pretty this up. We’re fucked either way. We broke our own code, our own ethics with this. Let’s make sure we don’t break any more.”
He wasn’t going to be mean to his wife.
“Is this about Charlene?” Donnie asked.
Jake smiled. “I’m over Charlene. She’s happy, Donnie. I’ve moved on.” He wasn’t lying either. There had been a time he’d wanted to have that woman as his own, but he wasn’t prepared to fight other pussy for that pleasure.
She hated men, and they had remained friends. In the beginning, he’d been hurt by her decision to be with women, but he couldn’t change it. It was strange, but as time had gone by, and he’d seen how happy she was, that hurt had changed into acceptance, and now he was happy for her. His friends believed he was hurting, and wanting a woman he couldn’t have, which was no longer the case. He’d gotten over it. His issues the past few months had been because he saw the reality of what they were doing. They couldn’t change the world that their fathers created. There was no way to do what they always wanted, to walk away. There was no way for that, but what they could do was adapt, and slowly change the way they lived from within the core themselves. They handled everything, and they stayed on top of it all. They stopped the abuse, the sex trafficking, and their businesses were slowly changing as well.
Their fathers had been like an infection that needed to be gotten rid of.
There was a knock on the door. Luiz went to answer it, and Jake took a sip of his scotch. His wedding day, and he was drinking.
“I’d like to speak to Jake, please.” Emily’s voice had him turning toward the door. He couldn’t see her as his three friends had all covered the door.
“It’s bad luck for the groom to see the bride before the wedding,” Donnie said.
“I don’t care. This is not a real marriage. Jake, I need to talk to you.”
“Let her in,” Jake said. His three friends looked at him. “What? She knows this marriage isn’t really real.” He shrugged. “Let her in.” He had no intention of lying to her, or being someone different, not even for her.
She entered the room, and he was completely shocked. Emily had long, blonde hair, sparkling blue eyes, and a figure that was so much fucking temptation. The wedding dress she wore molded to every single one of her lush curves, and it tempted him. His cock thickened, even though he didn’t want to be attracted to his blushing bride.
He saw she was breathing heavily, and her tits pressed against the top of her bodice threatening to spill over, flashing the entire room.
“I want to be alone with her,” he said, looking at his friends.
Donnie gave him a look, which he returned. After a few seconds, the door closed and they were alone. He held up his glass of whiskey. “You want one?”
She shook her head. “No, I don’t.”
Her blonde hair had little purple flowers within the tresses. He couldn’t stop looking at her, and his dick was refusing to do as it was told.
“I don’t want to be married to you.”
“I know. I don’t want to get married to you, but it’ll be good for our families.”
“I don’t care about our families.”
“That’s rather selfish. I didn’t have you pegged as being that kind of woman,” he said, taking a sip of his whiskey. “Let’s face it, without our union, the chances of war are higher.”
“I don’t believe it. You’re all grown men. There’s a way for you to have what you want, and my father the same.”
Jake tusked. “You’re wrong about that. You see, we have a bunch of people working for us, and whenever they are thirsty for blood, they will conspire, and before long retaliation after retaliation, it’s inevitable for bloodshed.”
“And you think marrying will stop that?”
“No, it doesn’t stop that, but what it does is create a unity. We know that Bracken wants peace, and he knows we want peace. Unity of marriage works, and it’s also good business.”
She stepped up close to him, and the floral scent coming from her was highly arousing. She took the glass from him and gulped down the remaining liquid. He was impressed as she didn’t cough or react like a stupid girl drinking for the first time. He found that rather interesting.
“So I’m a business deal.”
“Think about it, you’re going to be part of making sure there is no bloodshed. It’s a pretty decent deal.”
Emily handed him back the glass. “I don’t want you to touch me. I don’t want to sleep with you.”
“Babe, believe me when we get to a bed, sleeping is going to be the last thing on my mind.”
“So you’re not above rape, then?”
He frowned and handed her back another glass of whiskey. “I’m not going to rape you. When we fuck, and we will, you’re going to love every single second of it.”
“Your ego knows no bounds.”
Jake took the glass from her. Capturing her hand, he held her close. Taking a long swig, he swallowed down the burning liquid and stared into her eyes. “Think about it, princess. We’re going to be alone, together, for a very long time. Close in ways very few couples are. I’m going to be open and honest with you. It’s only going to be a matter of time before you look at me and wonder exactly how good I’ll feel sliding into your tight pussy.”
There was a spark in her eyes. He saw it and knew she was feeling something by being this close to him.
“I hate you.”
“Good. It’s a good feeling to have. I heard that angry sex is better than loving sex. Hate me all you want. Us two fucking is inevitable.”
****
That was it. Emily was now bound to this man without any way of getting out of it. She hated him and his assumptions. What she hated even more, was her body had betrayed her. The moment Jake had gotten close to her, it was like everything else had faded away into nothingness.
The priest had pronounced them husband and wife. Jake had pulled her into his arms, and as he kissed her, she had only heard the ominous sound of drumbeats. Her heart was pounding against her chest as she waited for the kiss to be over. Closing her eyes, she hated that a part of her heart melted at that kiss. Twenty-one years old and it was the first time she’d been kissed.
It was stupid being a virgin at this age, but that was exactly what she was and not for lack of trying either. Having Francis Bracken as a father showed her the kind of men who were interested in her. None of them stuck around once they saw her father and was handed the threat that most fathers give. The only difference between her father compared to every other was he would shoot a guy in the head.
Jake didn’t back down!
After photographs where everything had been elaborate and boring, they had been pushed into a waiting limo where she had to travel with Jake. Neither of them said a word. The hotel where the reception was being held was beautiful, and everything looked like it should be out of a magazine it was that perfect.
Within thirty minutes everyone had arrived and wished her congratulations. The moment she could, she made her escape and stood off to the side, alone, like always. These kinds of functions she never fit in, always unable to pretend to the fake bastards that she liked them.
Glancing around the room, she saw that Jake was looking at her. For a split second she held his gaze, and then forced herself to look away. He was an interesting man, and to her that meant a deadly one. Unlike his other three friends, Jake had come from a soldier, or in common speak, a minion. Not that his title or anything like that mattered to her. She didn’t care about a person’s title, or where they were in their mafia food chain.
Emily was nice to everyone and was even on speaking terms with one of the family’s bodyguards, Beau. He was a married man and loyal to her father. While she was growing up Beau would often sneak her treats, and he was just kind. Kindness within their world was something to marvel at.
“Come, dance with me,” Jake said, pulling her out of her thoughts. He took hold of her hands, and she saw everyone was staring at them.
“You’re causing a scene.”
“I’m not. You will be if you don’t dance with me.”
“I don’t want to dance with you.”
“It’s our wedding day, Emily. Stop being a pain in the ass. This is all for you.” They got into the center of the room, and he tugged her the final few inches. His hand landed on her back at the base.
“What do you mean this is all for me? I didn’t plan any of this.”
“You didn’t?” he asked.
She shook her head. “I was ordered about how my future was going to play out. I had no say in the flowers, the location, the dress.”
“What would you change?” he asked.
Emily frowned and knew she couldn’t say anything, and he smirked.
“You wouldn’t change a thing, would you? You’re just being difficult on purpose.”
“I’m not being difficult at all. Everything is beautiful. I guess I just wished I felt more than hate for my partner.”
“Oh please, you and I both know you fancy me. You want to fuck me, and we are going to do that. Have lots of sex, make beautiful babies.”
“We’re not having kids.” She was twenty-one, and there was no way a baby was leaving her body. “Also, I’m a virgin, so you can keep your disease-riddled cock to yourself.”
“I have to say, Emily, I rather love that smart mouth of yours. It makes me think of doing other more sinful things with it.”
“You’re crass, rude, and I really don’t want to be having this conversation with you.” She went to pull away, but Jake was too strong. He held her firmly in place.
“This is our wedding dance, and you will have this dance.”
She rolled her eyes. “There is nothing normal about our arrangement. I guess you’re going to have a lot of mistresses, right? Cheat on me every chance you get.”
He sighed. “Actually, no.”
The frown was back. “No?”
“You can believe me or not, Emily. We have an attraction. We don’t like each other, nor do we like our circumstances. However, we have both made those sacrifices for the greater good in the name of family.” She wanted to snort. “I intend to honor my vows to you. I will be faithful to you, as I expect you be to me. The only dick you will know is mine. I intend to fuck you often and everywhere.”
“Even though you don’t like me.”
“Our arrangement is not the best, but why spend the next fifty plus years wasting a chance here? Tell me you’re not soaking wet for me? That you’re not wondering what it would be like with the two of us?”
Her throat had gone completely dry. She had no words to say to him, and he knew it.
“I’m offering you everything.”
“But love.”
“Love is an overrated emotion. Now, if you would like we can go to hating each other and spending every single moment wishing we were elsewhere. Or we can form a truce.”
“A truce?”
“One that gives us both pleasure and makes this situation easier.”
“Do you think that is even possible?”
“Anything is possible. I don’t want to lose you, and I refuse to spend the rest of my life hating it and you. Unless of course you’re a bitch, but I’ve got a feeling you’re not.”
She gritted her teeth and refused to tell him a thing.
“You can hate me all you want. The truth is the truth, and I checked you out.”
“You had me investigated?”
“Of course, I did. Why wouldn’t I? I was about to marry a woman I knew nothing about, but I think I know enough now. You help the homeless even though your father hates you doing it. You also have a thing for abandoned pets, and you’re always trying to save them. You don’t work, but your charity work keeps you busy. I was surprised to find that you weren’t some pampered princess.”
“I do not need your approval.”
“Fine by me. You’re not getting it. I’ve got a shitload of work to get through. I don’t want to think about my lonely wife waiting at home. You won’t be fucking anyone else but me, just so you know.”
She rolled her eyes. “This is messed up. You have to admit this is messed up. I didn’t want to get married.”
“I didn’t want to be part of The Family that sold its women to the highest bidder. I watched that happen, and I know it nearly destroyed my friend. I have no intention of letting our children be auctioned off. This is a business deal, and even though neither of us like it, we can make this work,” Jake said.
The music came to a stop, and he took her hand, pressing a kiss to her knuckles. Part of her wanted to tear her hand away and glare at him. What use would that be? Besides the fact it would make a scene, he was offering her a chance to actually be happy.
She nodded at him and removed her hand, leaving the dancefloor. Smiling at their guests, she left the hotel’s main room, and rushed out, going toward the street. Holding onto the wall at the side of the hotel, she pressed a hand to her stomach. She felt sick, scared, tired, and she didn’t have the first clue what she was going to do.
The choices had been taken from her. This was all her father’s instruction of what he wanted from her. It wasn’t fair. She hated it and wished there was a way to fight back.
“Baby,” her mother said, coming up behind her.
Tulip rubbed her arms, trying to offer her comfort. “I know you’re not happy right now, and for that I’m sorry.”
“Mom, don’t. You married Dad because you loved him. I don’t even like that man in there, and yet I’m married to him. Bound to this stupid relationship, and I’m scared.” She would never admit her feelings to anyone else but her mother.
“Jake’s a good man, Emily. Your father loves you, and he wouldn’t have done this with just anyone. I promise you. We’re going to keep an eye on you. Nothing bad will happen. You never know, maybe you will fall in love with Jake.”
“Yeah, and hell will freeze over.”