Pursued By My Mafia Husband

Chapter 3

Gemma

Cassian starts. His jaw and fists clench, like he wants to say something but he’s holding himself back. “Sir—” he says.

But Donovan’s eyes fall on me. “Do that, and I’ll pay all of your debts and for your mother’s care at Sacred Hope.”

Cassian turns his gaze on me. His eyes promise to kill me if I agree.

He has no idea how desperate I am.

“Deal,” I say. Clutching the blanket around me, I lean forward across the desk and shake Donovan’s hand. It’s soft and warm and wrinkled, but still strong.

“No!” Cassian snarls. His voice is dark and dangerous as he comes out of the shadows and advances toward his grandfather’s desk.

Deadly silence falls over the room.

*****

Cassian

My grandfather gives me one look. That’s all it takes.

I step back.

When my parents were killed, this man raised me. He’s old and powerful, and back in his day he took the Blackwell family from the bottom of the pile to become the fiercest, richest, most powerful family in the criminal underworld.

I owe him everything.

But I still can’t marry her. Even if her long, wet, red hair frames her face, and her wet clothes cling to her curves like s*x walking.

Even if, from the moment I ran into her outside, I felt like I was falling into those sea green eyes.

Especially because of that.

My family’s position is always precarious. When you’re at the top, those beneath you will stop at nothing to tear you down. To end you.

That’s the reason my mother and father were killed years ago. Our rivals fear our power too much.

Anyone married to me is in danger of losing her life.

Besides, expanding the business and protecting my family is all I can think about, or we could lose everything my grandfather built.

I won’t let that happen. Not as long as I’m alive.

And there’s a third reason this won’t work. I know about Gemma Marino. I know, because her half-sister, Reyna, has been my friend for years.

Lucien Marino was scum, but for good reason. His family forced him into marriage with a woman named Lisette Bravard. Her family was supposed to be rich and powerful.

If they were, Lisette’s madness took care of that. She squandered everything within a few years after her marriage to Lucien. Then she drained his fortune, as well.

It’s not her fault. She’s unwell. But Reyna said living with her mother like that made Gemma conniving and sly.

There’s one reason and one reason alone she’s here: for money and power.

I can see it now, already. Her father is dead. She has no money. She needs protection. Someone powerful. It’s no wonder she came to us.

I just didn’t expect my grandfather to fall for it.

My grandfather looks from me to Gemma Marino. He says, “Duke will show you to a room, Gemma. Take a warm bath, get some sleep. In the morning, I’ll have the contract ready for you to sign.”

Gemma nods, and one of my grandfather’s bodyguards personally shows her out of the room. Before she left, she gave me a long, deep look. I couldn’t tell what she was feeling, only that… she seemed to have so much she wanted to say.

I wonder what she’d look like beneath me. Or with my face buried between her thighs.

I grit my teeth at my traitorous body.

“Grandfather,” I say. “What the hell is going on? Why would you do this?”

The old man rises from his desk chair. He’s shorter than me and has been for years, but when he glares at me, I snap my mouth shut.

“Are you disrespecting my wishes, Cassian?” he asks in a quiet voice.

“No, sir,” I answer, just as quiet. “But I know about her. I’ve heard plenty from Reyna over the years, and—”

“Enough!” my grandfather snarls. “Do you know the guts it must have taken for her to come here tonight?”

He pauses, and I can see getting worked up has messed with his heart. I go to him and help him into a chair closer to the fireplace.

He looks up at me and pats my cheek. His tone is softer when he says, “You won’t understand why I’m doing this now. Maybe you won’t for years. But as your grandfather and the head of this family, I am commanding you. You will marry Gemma Marino.”

“If you force me to do this, you’ll never have an heir. I won’t touch her. Her family line is tainted with madness.”

“Yes, you will,” my grandfather says threateningly.

“Her mother—”

“Silence!” My grandfather glares at me. “You’ll marry her tomorrow and give me an heir within five years, or I will disown you.”

My whole body goes tense, rejecting the idea of marrying this gold-digging snake.

But when Donovan Blackwell says jump, the only answer is “how high?”

“Yes, sir,” I say.

He might be able to force me to marry her, but I will never love her.

And no matter what he says, there will be no s*x. I won’t f*****g touch her.