Sweet Torture

Chapter-3

The idea of a temporary marriage had only just come to her mind, and now, she was desperate for him to take it. Because the idea of staying here, with him, for the rest of her life......she didn't think she could handle that. The mansion felt abandoned, the staff at a minimum and Kayan......his disdain for her was palpable.

He almost made her long for her father's chilly presence. And if she did marry himin name only, at the end, her job would be done. A feasibke term instead of the life sentence she'd always imagined. A glimmer of hope she hadn't realized she'd wanted.

If she could change things.......if she could give Nathaniel time to grow up then she and Kayan could divorce and everything would be set to move forward smoothly.

She could do something else. Be someone else.

Her pulse pounded in her temples. She hadn't really let her self hope for that outcome. That her marriage to Kayan really could be nothing more than paper. A paper easily destroyed later.

"A legal marriage only," he said, his voice hard.

"So much the better,"she said, trying to keep the relieve from showing through in her tone. "We can both go our separate ways later. And this way we preserve the peace between our gangs." She started pacing, nervous energy demanding that she find a way to relieve it. " And when we do separate it will be amicable, naturally, so the link between Slytherines and Scorpions will remain strong."

"It must look real," he said.

She tilted her head. "Of course it must, if not like a love match, then like a permanent marriage. To my father, to Arthur, to Nathaniel. None of them can know."

His upper lip curled slightly, " My people cannot know."

She realized then that it was a matter of his pride. She felt a slight pang in her chest for being so selfish and for not thinking about him or how it would effect him. This would cost him, this man who lived in the shadows. But she couldn't even contemplate what the consequences would be if she didn't pull this off.

"No one," she said, her pledge to him.

"You will remain here."

"What?"

"What did you imagine would happen?"

"I had thought..........my father is ill. I had thought to return home."

"Ah, and you do not think anyone will see that as strange? That my new wife has abandoned me?" He reached out and curked his fingers around her arm, just above her elbow, his grey eyes burning into hers even as her flesh felt branded by his touch." No one will know."

She explored his face visually for a moment. There were some cuts and bruises on the right side of his facr, other than that his face was flawless. Grey eyes, sharp jaw that looked like will cut her fingers if she touched it, perfect pink lips, long eyelashes that can make any girl be jealous of him and a little light stubble. He was every bit handsome, a walking Greek god who looked like as if he had been sculpted by the God Himself. He was fierce and compelling. And for a moment she was almost over come by the  desire to skim her fimgers over his light stubble, to feel the roughness of his stubble herself.

She clenched her hand into a fist and kept it glued to her side. "You have my word Mr. Salvatore."

"As tradition dictates, you will stay here in the mansion to cement the engagement," he said. She could tell that cost him. That he truly didn't want her here. She aldo knew that he wanted to keep up appreances.

She swallowed hard, feeling as though a judge had just lowered the gavel, sentencing her. At least it's not a life sentence.

"I will stay." It took every ounce of strength she had to speak, to not shrink away.

But she would use every shred of it that she had in her body to get through this. To see her gang-her brother-through. To the other side. For freedom for her people. A new kind of freedom for herself. One where duty to her people wasn't so much more important than living her own life.

It was a dream. And yet it was a dream that kept her going. That spurred her on now. She would rest later. She would have the chance to, something she'd not thought possible.

"I was planning on staying," she said. "For a while at least."

"I know, I saw your procession of belongings coming in earlier."

"It was too important. I wasn't going to back down."

"Why is it so important to you? Why are you the one who has to solve this? A matter of honor?" He regarded her closely and she knew he truly wanted an answer.

"What would you do to ensure Yazdan's success, Kayan? If he lived, what eould you do to make sure that he was able to fulfill his destiny? To make sure he was safe?"

His Adam's apple bobbed and she watched as his hands  flexed into fists. "Anything. I would give my life."

"As I am giving mine."

He tilted his face up, angling the left side to het. "So noble of you." She was struck again by how beautiful he was. By how handsome he was. That square masculine jaw, perfect olive skin. There was no light in his eyes though, no emotion to read.

"I don't know about that."

"Modesty does not become the sort of woman who would storm the mansion of Salvatores and take up residence without permission," he said. And for a moment she thought she saw one side of his mouth curve upward. An expression of good humour. Although, that couldn't be. It really didn't seem possible.

"My apologies."

"One thing you must understand, bella. The mansion runs in a certain order, I do things on a certain schedule. You will not interrupt that."

No. Of course not. She was not important enough to interrupt the Almighty Schedule. Though, why that should bother her at all, she wasn't sure. Yes, she was. Common courtesy. She wouldn't say that to a regular guest, let alone one she was engaged to be married to. Even if it was going to be strictly a legal marriage.

"It's a big mansion," she said. "I'll bet you can avoid me altogether if you like."

"A theory I am tempted to test."

"If we're going to pretend this is real you're going to have to work on treating me as though you want me around."

He leaned in and she pulled away slightly. His masculine scent teased her, made her heart accelerate. He had a scent all his own. Mint and earthy mingled with the  musky unique essence of Kayan. It made her feel fuzzy.

"And you are going to have to pretend you aren't repulsed by me."

"I'm not," she said. It was the truth. He was ruthless but all the nonsense about him being a beast, somehow something more than a man, that was just plain ridiculous." I won't lie and say I'm completely comfortable with you, but by the time we have an engagement party....."

"There will be no engagement party." The light in his grey eyes was fierce, almost wild.

"There has to be," she said. "It is tradition for brides in Britain to...."

"You are in Sicily now," he said, his voice hard, unyielding. "You have come into my territory, and I am nowvyour Capo. You made this choice. Remember that. And meet me in the dinning area in an hour. I need to brief you about all the rules and traditions that you have to follow while living here." He turned and walked out of the room, slamming the door hard behind him.

And for the first time since her plane had touched down in Sicily, she truly felt like she was in over her head. So she decided to take a hot bath to relax her stiff muscles and clear her mind.

She took a long bath bath for good half hour and then she washed herself and started getting ready for the dinner with the devil. Primrose looked at herself in the mirror. She was pale, her eyes red from lack of sleep. She looked like a walking dead. Very attractive. Fortunately her future husband didn't seem to care about how attractive or unattractive she was. And she didn't care what he thought, either.

It was all about politics. All about what the union could bring both of them. Their gangs.

She blew out a breath and turned away from the mirror, walking out of her room and into the vacant hallway, heading towards the dinning area where the devil was waiting for her, maybe thinking various ways  about how to get rid of her for disrupting his peaceful life.

As soon as she reached the  intended destination she saw the devil waiting for her as expected.

"Miss. Atherton, you're 5 minutes late. I hate tardiness and I don't have time to waste on such useless things. I appreciate punctuality. Make sure you're on time the next time."

"Sorry.....actually I lost my way as I'm not quite accquainted with the place. I'll make sure to be on time the next time."

"That's alright. Please take a seat."

Abundance of food was laid infront of them thay was enough to feed more than hundred people. It was nothing less than royalty. No wonder her father was so desperate to form an alliance with the Salvatores.

"So, Primrose as I told you the purpose of this dinner is to tell about the rules that you have to follow while living here and the traditions that will be followed in our wedding. So while you live here as my wife you are not allowed to mingle with any male species other than me, you are to decent clothes at all time and you will respect me and my decisions. You are allowed to give your opinions but you are not allowed to go against me. Not only that you are to treat all the members of my gang and workers in the mansion with respect irrespective of their position and status. And you will not interfere with my personal life and neither will I interfere with yours. If you want to work you can and you are allowed to go out whenever you want but make sure you take the bodyguards with you and inform me before going. And you are not allowed to disrupt my schedule in any way. Make sure you stay out of my way. I hope I made myself clear and I hope you understood everything well."

"Yes of course. I understood. Don't worry, I will try to stay out of your way as much as possible. But if I am not allowed to mingle with other males than you also have to agree to not mingle with any females or have any relationship with them while you are married to me. Otherwise it will be unfair and I will not agree to something that is unfair."

"Don't worry. Though our marriage is only a legal one, I still respect the fact that you are my wife and I will never cheat on you. And I will never do something that I have told someone else to not do. Be rest assured."

With this they both had their dessert and went their separate ways after saying goodnight with different thoughts in their mind. They laid down on their mind but sleep was far from them. Both of them thinking about what the future was to bring to them and how they will cope up with the changes that are going to come in their life. Kayan thinking how he is going to face the new challenges that he will have to face by coming out of his comfort zone. And Primrose thinking how she is going to live with this ruthless cold man but glad about the fact that it was not a life sentence at least.