The Devil Protects Me
909 Words
|Casmira's POV|
"Don't you think it's wrong of you to be a homewrecker?" Katrina snaps at me as she comes to stand barely two inches away from my face, her perfectly made-up features twisted with fury as she glares at me like I personally orchestrated the destruction of her entire life.
But before she can get any closer, Damien immediately steps between us, his broad frame blocking her path as he shoots her a cold look.
"We broke up yesterday, Katrina. You and I are nothing." He snaps at her.
Is he serious?
The man broke up with his girlfriend yesterday and now he is standing here in front of a registrar, preparing to marry me less than twenty-four hours later.
What kind of insane situation is this?
My stomach twists into knots as I stare at the back of Damien's head, suddenly feeling like I have walked straight into a disaster that somehow keeps getting worse with every passing minute.
Katrina lets out a sharp, disbelieving laugh before pointing a manicured finger directly at me.
"So this is why?" she demands, her voice shaking with anger. "You dumped me for her?"
My eyes widen immediately.
"No!" I blurt out before I can stop myself.
Unfortunately, neither of them seems remotely interested in listening to me.
Typical.
"You know that's not true." Damien says coldly.
"Then why are you marrying her?" Katrina practically screams, drawing the attention of everyone inside the room.
Because apparently some secret organisation decided that forcing me into a marriage with my worst nightmare was the perfect way for me to repay a decade-old debt.
I cross my arms over my chest, already developing a headache from this entire situation.
"Trust me, if I had a choice, I wouldn't be here either." I mutter.
Katrina's head whips towards me so fast that I almost take a step backwards.
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"It means exactly what it sounds like." I snap back, frustration bubbling over inside me. "I don't want him."
The words leave my mouth before I can stop them.
And suddenly the room falls completely silent.
Mr. Rupert raises an amused eyebrow.
The registrar suddenly becomes very interested in the stack of papers sitting in front of him.
Even Katrina looks surprised.
My heart skips a beat.
Because Damien is staring at me.
Not casually.
Not indifferently.
Actually staring.
Those dark blue eyes lock onto mine and for some reason my pulse begins racing inside my chest despite the fact that I absolutely refuse to acknowledge how handsome he looks today.
God.
I hate when he looks at me like that.
"See?" I gesture between us with exasperation. "Nobody is stealing anybody here. This is quite literally the most dysfunctional situation I have ever been involved in during my entire life."
Katrina scoffs loudly.
"Then walk away."
My mouth immediately snaps shut.
Because I can't.
And apparently everyone in this room knows it.
The confidence drains from my face so quickly that I can practically feel it happening.
Katrina notices immediately.
Of course she does.
Her eyes narrow suspiciously.
"What?" she asks. "Why aren't you saying anything?"
I glance at Damien.
Then at Mr. Rupert.
Then back at Katrina.
How exactly am I supposed to explain that if I don't marry her ex-boyfriend today, a terrifying organisation with unlimited resources might decide that killing me is the most efficient way to settle an unpaid debt?
Yeah.
That conversation is definitely not happening.
"That's what I thought." Katrina sneers. "You're just after his money."
A laugh escapes me before I can stop it.
An actual laugh.
The first one I have managed all morning.
Because if only she knew.
Damien's inheritance.
The ten million dollars.
The marriage contract.
The threat hanging over my head.
The possibility of dying if I refuse.
The entire thing is so absurd that I almost want to laugh again.
"You have absolutely no idea what you're talking about." I tell her.
Before Katrina can respond, Damien reaches forward and picks up the pen from the table.
The room seems to grow quieter.
His jaw clenches.
His expression hardens.
And then—
He signs the final document.
My breath catches in my throat.
No.
No, no, no.
He actually signed it.
It's done.
Mr. Rupert immediately claps his hands together with an expression of satisfaction that makes me want to throw something at him.
"Excellent."
The registrar clears his throat awkwardly before looking down at the paperwork one final time.
"By the authority vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife."
Husband.
Wife.
The words hit me like a freight train.
I stare down at the marriage certificate lying on the table.
At my signature.
At Damien's signature.
At our names written together on the same document.
For one horrifying second, my mind supplies a new name.
Casmira Everhart.
The thought makes me feel physically ill.
Beside us, Katrina lets out a broken sound.
The kind of sound that immediately makes every instinct in my body go on high alert.
My head snaps towards her just in time to see her grab the heavy flower vase sitting on the registrar's desk.
My eyes widen.
"Oh God—"
And then she hurls it directly at my head.
Everything happens so fast that I don't even have time to react.
One second I am standing there frozen in shock.
The next—
Damien throws himself towards me.
- Writer
