Ignoring him, I order Bruce, “Keep working our prisoner for as much information as you can. I don’t care what you do to him, just keep him alive until you’re sure he’s got no more secrets to spill. Call me directly with everything you find out. Go.”
Bruce leaves and I’m alone with Johnny. His sick amusement seems to have won out. “I can’t believe you’re doing this.”
“Fucking believe it.” I want to punch the smirk off his face, but I’ve got more important things to do. So does he. I give Johnny a list of orders, barely keeping my temper in check the bigger his grin gets. By the time I’m done, his lips are stretched so wide I swear his face is going to split in two. “You have a fucking death wish, you know that?”
“I’m just happy for you, brother. I mean, this is going to be one of the most epic clusterfucks I’ve ever seen, and all hell is going to break loose once your family finds out, but I am genuinely happy for you.” He looks it too, his smirk now a true smile.
I wish I felt anywhere close to smiling. Instead, all I can think about is how the next few hours are going to change everything and I’m just hoping like hell we all survive.
Assuming Lena doesn’t kill me first.
“Wake up, beautiful.”I brush hair off Lena’s forehead. She frowns in her sleep. I let the silky strands slide through myfingers, relishing the sensation. Like a snare, it pulls me under and I give in, kissing her forehead, her cheeks, her lips, before pulling away. “I’m sorry,piccola, but it’s time to get up.”
“What time is it?” Lena drags the covers over her face, cutting off my access.
“Just after five.”
“At night?”
“In the morning.” I tug the comforter away. Lena gives me a death glare before curling herself around a pillow.
“Go away,” she mumbles. “I’m sleeping.”
“Not anymore.” I pull away her pillow and force her to sit upright in bed. She’s wearing an oversized sweatshirt and I’m so fucking filled with want for her that I instantly see the hard peaks of her nipples, even through the thick fabric. Once I’m sure she’s not going to burrow back into the bed, I step away. Before I do something that’s going to waste time we don’t have.
“Breakfast is here.” I point to a covered tray on the bedside table. “Clothes and shoes are in the closet. Makeup is in the bathroom. I would’ve found someone to do your hair, but there wasn’t enough time. You’ve got forty-five minutes to get ready.”
Lena blinks at me, confusion quickly superseding sleepiness. “Ready for what?”
“Our wedding.”
Lena’s slow blink would be comical if I wasn’t in such a rush to get us fucking married. “Our…what?”
“Wedding, gorgeous. Our wedding. You, me, a priest. In forty-five minutes.”
Lena rubs her eyes, glancing around the room like she expects her surroundings to suddenly change. “This is a dream, right? No, a nightmare. That’s it. Anightmare. Because there’s no other way I’d be sitting here, at the ass crack of dawn, being told that I’m getting married against my will.”
I didn’t expect Lena to jump for joy at the news, but I’ll admit her resistance is really starting to piss me off. Especiallynow. “Sorry, sweetheart. This is very much reality. The longer you deny it, the less time you have to get ready for your big day.”
“My big day?” Lena looks at me like I’ve grown a second head. “Nuh-uh. There’s no way.”
“This isn’t a discussion.” I wrap a hand around Lena’s bare ankle, holding her captive. “The clock on our engagement has run out. You want to live, you need to walk down the aisle. It’s a simple as that.”
Lena tries to pull her leg free, but I hold tight. “I don’t believe you.”
“I don’t care,” I say, voice hard. “We’re getting married. The only part you have a say in is whether you do it dressed in a fucking expensive white dress, walking on your own two feet, or like this, with me carrying you over my shoulder.”
“You wouldn’t.” Lena’s glare is lethal.
I lean in, dragging her under me until she’s on her back, pinned under me on the bed.
Her eyes flare wide, her fingers fluttering before they land on my shoulders. I don’t let myself think about how much I love having her beneath me. I don’t need to stand in front of a priest with a ranging hard-on. “You’ve gotta know by now, beautiful, that I absolutely would. When it comes to keeping you alive, I’d do anything. Including marrying you. So get that sweet ass in gear and make your choice: look the part of the blushing bride or get carried down the aisle half-naked and rocking some impressive bedhead. You’ll look gorgeous either way, but I don’t know how you feel about the father thinking you couldn’t wait untilafterthe wedding to get thoroughly fucked.”
Defiance wars with arousal, Lena’s cheeks burning pink even as she pushes against my shoulders. “You’re a diabolical tyrant.”
“And you’re a pain in the ass who makes me so horny I’m worried my blood is never going to get back to my brain.”
Lena glances at my groin and I laugh. I can’t help it. She’s under my skin so completely and I can’t pretend I don’t have my own reasons for wanting her permanently bound to me. Fucking her senseless for years on end top among them.