Chapter 122

[ALEX]

I watched Mia tuck Jennifer into her hospital bed, kissing her forehead and holding her hand until the little girl fell asleep. Jennifer was a hellion. She'd lunge at me at any opportunity, hugging my legs like a clingy dog. I think she saw me as a prince in shining armor who had saved her from eternal boredom and reunited her with Mia.

I pitied the child. Losing your family at seven and being stuck in a hospital bed is hardly an ideal life. But she was the reason Mia had lied to me—she was Mia's Sunday hospital visit.

I cursed myself for not checking the CCTV cameras sooner. That girl distracted me in the worst possible ways. My temptress. My enchantress. My damnation. My fucking distraction.

"I'm placing two guards outside Jennifer's room, as you requested," Dominic said, pulling me from my thoughts. I nodded stiffly. He added reluctantly, "The Pakhan wants to see you."

Uncle Damien. Goddamn it. He probably wants to know why I broke things off with Hannah and why Xander, the fucking knight, offered to marry her to stabilize relations with the minister. Fucking Xander. He should consider it a blessing that I let him live.

Mia emerged from Jennifer's room, her glare and pout—both of which I could erase in minutes—fixed on me. She crossed her arms, waiting for me to precede her.

"After you, Mrs."

"Don't call me that again," she hissed, walking past me.

Always a fight. Always an argument. But then again, my Mia wouldn't be mine without that fire in her.

Dominic coughed uncomfortably behind us, and I ignored him, just as I'd begun ignoring the rest of the world when this girl was involved.

She got into the car grudgingly, muttering curses under her breath whenever she looked at me. She stared out the window as Dominic drove.

"The view isn't that good, you know," I commented after three minutes of uninterrupted staring.

"It would be if your guards' cars weren't blocking us from all sides," she quipped. "Oh, look, there are cars in front and behind, too. Joy."

"I don't appreciate the sarcasm, Mia," I replied, without looking up from my iPad.

"Can't help it, can I? You're marrying me. You're stuck with it until you decide to divorce me."

I froze, my eyes snapping to hers, trying to conceal my anger. "There will be no divorce."

Her eyes widened. "You mean to say I'm stuck with you for the rest of my life?!"

"Damn right you are," I said, a strange satisfaction rising within me. "And I plan to ruin you. So that if you ever manage to get away, if you so much as talk to another man, all you'll think about is how it feels when I'm buried deep inside you and you're screaming my fucking name."

Heat rushed to her cheeks, spreading despite her attempts to hide it. "Alex!" she scolded, glancing at Dominic, who was driving.

"I don't pay them to listen, cupcake."

"It's a human thing," she grumbled. "You'd know if you were actually human."

I ignored her, and she returned to staring out the window, only acknowledging me again when the car stopped and she realized it wasn't my house.

"Where are we?" Curiosity flickered beneath her nonchalance.

I didn't reply, and she frowned.

Dominic looked back. "We're clear."

I nodded at him before looking at Mia. "Let's go."

She shook her head but followed me. Guards were in front and behind us, and she seemed more intimidated than when I took her to dinner. I think it was the realization that this wasn't a single date; it was the rest of her life. I was going to tie her to me, by any means necessary.

"A jeweler?" she muttered, following me inside.

"Sir," the manager said, standing. "We've been expecting you."

I nodded, sitting on the couch in the inner room he led us to, gesturing for Mia to do the same. She glared but sat.

"Engagement rings," I demanded, and the girl beside me started coughing.

"Engagement rings?" she whispered as soon as the manager was out of earshot. "You brought me here to pick out my own engagement ring?!"

"Would you rather I pick it out for you?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Well, it doesn't matter, because it's not going to be a real marriage anyway." She flipped her hair, looking away until my hand clamped on her chin, forcing her to face me.

"It's going to be a real marriage in every way that counts, cupcake. The sooner you accept that, the better. Are we clear?"

She stared at me without blinking until tears welled in her eyes.

"Are. We. Clear?" I repeated slowly, dangerously. She nodded.

I released her when the manager brought out a tray of rings.

"They're so big," Mia murmured, her eyes flickering over each one.

"Too small," I told the manager. Her jaw dropped. "I need bigger."

Mia's hands trembled slightly as she reached for a seven-diamond ring—one large central diamond surrounded by six smaller ones, forming a flower on a rose gold band engraved with more tiny diamonds.

"May I?" I asked, and she placed it in my palm.

I took her hand, slipping the ring onto her ring finger. It sparkled against her fair skin.

"Dominic?" I called to my second-in-command, who was standing about eight feet away.

"I can see it," he confirmed.

"Good," I nodded, turning to Mia. "You like it?"

She nodded, not removing her hand.

"We'll take this," I told the manager, asking the price and writing a check.

Mia remained quiet until he handed us the ring in its box. Then, as we walked to my car, she reached for the ring.

"What are you doing?" I asked, watching her.

"Removing it?" she replied, her tone obvious. "I should put it back in its box, right?"

"Don't," I placed my hand over hers, stopping her. Her movement froze under my touch. "It's right where it's supposed to be."

I don't think she noticed that I never let go of her hand, interlacing our fingers for the rest of the ride.