The Krasniqi Bride

Liridona's POV The server room door stays shut behind me. Blue light from the racks paints everything cold. I finished the download but my fingers shake a little. I yank the drive free, it is a small black thing and my ticket out of this miserable life. Then the door opens. Valon Krasniqi steps inside. Damn! I totally forgot about him. Valon f*****g Krasniqi. With the way he bursts in, it seems like he was already here, only waiting for me to finish so he can intercept. Bloody Mafia move. He moves fast. One second I stand alone and the next second my back hits the server rack with the metal pressing into my spine. His body pins mine. Close. Too close. Breath rushes out of me. His breath brushes my face heavy and steady. I stare up with my good eye. Sapphire to emerald. His eyes lock on mine. His right eye is a deep hazel with an amber-gold wedge cutting through like fire. His left eye is gray-green; stormy and cold. He does not blink. “Liridona Egzona Halili,” he utters. My name sounds wrong in his mouth. “Twenty-five. Apartment in Dragodan. Second floor. Corner unit.” He knows. “Diellza Arbesa Halili. Fifteen. Ibrahim Rugova High. Literature class. Poetry.” My stomach twists. He knows everything. I try to push him but he does not move. His grip stays firm on my arms. “Marry me tonight,” he says in a very stupid calm , low voice which gets on my nerves. “Become my wife in the eyes of my clan or your sister dies.” I freeze. He pulls out his phone and the screen lights his face blue. It is a live feed. Diellza sits in the back of a black car. Her eyes wide and her hands tight in her lap. A man in dark clothes sits beside her, with no weapon but he does not actually need one. She looks at the camera, her lips trembling. I do not need to be told before I know that she is scared and confused of what is happening. I am also confused. I mean I was just to download a file and give the flash drive to my client, get my money for my service done and get the hell out of Pristina but the devil here had to show his face before I even had the chance to get out of the door Damn me. Where was I? My world shrinks to that small screen. I refuse. “No.” He tilts his head and my instinct was to spit in his face which I did. “Të qifsha robt e shtëpisë tënde!” (“f**k your whole household!”) The words fly out immediately sharp and vicious. He does not wipe it away. Instead he grabs my jaw, his fingers tighten around it and without warning, he does the… I do not even know what to call it. The impossible??? Unattainable? I am actually lost for words. He kisses me. The motherfucker kisses me. Was he not supposed to like draw a gun on my head or ask why I am here??? What am I even saying? I am sure he knows exactly why I am here since he already has my whole history in his hands. Back to the issue at hand. Valon kisses me hard, possessive and angry. I tried to fight. There is totally no way I would let him kiss me but he already did. I claw at his shoulders, I push against his chest. I even kick at his legs but he does not let go. His mouth moves against mine, demanding and taking. Who does this guy think he is?? Oh!! The great Valon Kreshnik Krasniqi, ruler of the Krasniqi Clan. I forgot that for a second. I bite his lip. He growls low, making a deep sound in his throat. Then something shifts. Something I hate to admit. My body answers. Heat spreads over me fast and unwanted. I tried my possible best to fight it but to no avail. I kiss him back. Just once and helpless. I hate myself for it. He pulls away. There is a small cut on his lip. My masterpiece, the art which occurred after I bit him. It is dripping with blood. He smiles a little but it was cold. “You will learn.” I breathe hard, my chest rising and falling fast. He lifts me over his shoulder easily like I weigh nothing. My world turns upside down. His shoulder digs into my stomach and his arm locks around my thighs. I pound his back but my hits are weak hits. I have no strength left in me so I gave up for the meantime. He carries me out like a sack of potatoes. We passed through the corridor, past empty offices and then walked down the stairs. No one stops him not because they cannot but because no one dares. This is his territory anyway. I was the rat who thought I could walk in here and go out undetected. I was so stupid and careless. Rain hits my face when we reach outside. He puts me in the back of a black SUV and shuts the door. The engine starts. The high-rise fades behind us. Prishtina lights blur through the window. I sit there like a puppet. My hands are still free but they are currently useless. Tears burn my good eye but I quickly wipe them away. I will not cry in front of him. I will never. Many thoughts went through my head. What would happen to me now? I remember his marriage deal. He was joking right? Diellza’s face stays in my mind. Scared, small and waiting. I clench my fists when he sits beside me. He is close again. His coat smells of rain and dark wood. He does not speak because he does not need to. do not have to ask him where he was going or taking me to. Because the car climbs the mountain road. Toward his estate. Toward my cage.