Marek (Knights Corruption MC #1) (15 page)

“You okay?” he asked, turning around to catch me as I staggered forward. “You hungry? ‘Cause we can get you somethin’ to eat.”

Tugging me forward a few short feet, he pushed open a door leading into their kitchen. Stepping inside, I noticed there were even more people back there, most of them women. They were laughing and telling stories, amusingly berating one of the men for stealing a piece of food from one of the trays.

Adelaide stepped around an older, dark-haired woman, and walked toward the both of us with a big smile on her face. “Sully,” she greeted. “Don’t you look pretty.” Pulling me in for a momentary hug, she retreated, but not before eyeing Marek with a curious look. I was too concerned with not fainting to read too much into her glance, though.

“I was gonna have her help you all, but now it doesn’t seem right,” he pondered, tapping his finger on his lips and bringing all of my attention there.
Damn him.

“Marek,” Adelaide warned. “You better not. Not today of all days,” she said, retying her apron behind her back, looking like she was ready to get back to it.

Curiosity got the better of me and before I could stop myself, I blurted out, “Why? What’s so special about today?”

Marek turned around fully to face me, taking my other hand so both were encased in his strong, warm hold. Leaning in close, his breath licked across my suddenly dry lips. His eyes held mine, and I swore my heart skipped a damn beat. “Today is special, Sully,” he promised. “Because today is the day you officially become a permanent member of the Knights Corruption.” My heart skidded to a halt altogether. I tried to pull out of his grip, but it only tightened.

Arching a dangerous brow, he proclaimed, “Today’s our wedding day.”

Sully

Trigger must have surely put something in the shot Marek practically forced me to drink. Something so powerful it caused me to hallucinate. A thin bead of sweat broke out on my hairline, my face and body suddenly feeling very overheated. The voices around me dimmed to an almost inaudible level, the women’s movements distorted and blurred.

There was no way in hell he had just said what I thought he did.

Today is our wedding day?

Trying again to pry my hands from his, he tightened his hold once again and pulled me to him. His clenched jaw and steeled posture loomed over me with a power I’d never known before.

“Don’t fight it, Sully. There’s no way out of this, and it’s useless to try and think of one.” His scent tortured me, flicking on a light inside me I never even knew existed. Yet, he enraged me to the point that all I wanted to do was shield myself by lashing out at him. Hurt him like he was hurting me. Surely, he knew such a union was the same as signing my death warrant. He’d grown up in the same type of life I had, so he knew exactly what he was doing.

He was using me as a ploy to get back at the Savage Reapers for God knows what. But whatever it was, it must have been life-altering to be pulling a stunt like this.

Struggling with every ounce of energy I possessed, I wore myself out. And quickly. When he started walking forward, I dragged my feet and made it harder on him to move me. Or so I thought. My resistance was a mere annoyance, seeing as how he towered over me, no match for his sheer strength and will.

“No,” I cried, but Marek trudged toward someone standing in the far corner of the room. The man’s hands were clasped in front of him, an amused look on his face while he watched us approach.

“Yes,” my captor sneered, whipping his head in my direction to show me how pissed he was. “Let’s go.” He jerked me forward so harshly I swear he almost ripped my arm out of its goddamn socket. There were fleeting moments when he showed me an ounce of compassion, and I’d been a fool to think he was being nice during those times. But he wasn’t. He was playing me, just like everyone else in my life did, although he was the nicest man I’d ever encountered, which evidently wasn’t saying much.

“I can’t marry you!” I yelled, kicking my feet at the backs of his legs, struggling to dislodge his hold on me. But he was fierce, dragging me forward until we came to stand in front of the man with long gray hair, another club member who was obviously going to officiate the
marriage
.

Jerking his chin in the man’s direction, he bit out, “Git on with it.” Besides the fact that the bride-to-be was trying desperately to flee, everyone had a big fat smile plastered on their stupid faces. They all acted like what was transpiring was the most normal thing in the world. Then again, for all I knew, it was. Maybe they made a habit out of kidnapping other clubs’ women and marrying them the following day.

What the hell did I know, anyway?

The man before us started speaking, but stopped briefly when someone entered the room, yelling and carrying on enough to disrupt the forced arrangement.

“Shit! Did I miss it?” the VP to the club yelled. He walked toward us, his brows arched and waiting for an answer.

“Sit down, Stone,” Marek demanded. “We’re just gettin’ to it.” I saw Marek wink at his second in command, and it pissed me off even more than I already was.

The one thing I was thankful for, however, was that Stone’s unannounced interruption was the one thing which drew Marek’s attention away for a split second. Enough time to loosen his hold on me. As soon as I felt the tension leave his hands, I yanked mine free, turned around and fled.

But I didn’t get very far. Blinded by paranoia and fury, I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going and instead of running toward safety, I ran right into the strong hold of the one man who’d just allowed me the opportunity to hightail it out of there.

Smacking right into his large frame, Stone’s hands came up to hold me captive. “Whoa, sweetheart,” he mocked. “Where do you think you’re going? Don’t you know what an honor it is to marry the president of the Knights Corruption? Fuck! I don’t even think he’s ever had a girlfriend before now,” he said, looking directly over my head and straight at Marek, I was sure. Turning me around, he shoved me toward his friend, laughing at my back while I tried to find another way free.

But it was useless.

There were too many people present, blocking any plan of escape I could think of. I guessed there really was no way out of my new predicament. With drooped shoulders, I shuffled the few feet necessary to stand next to Marek, keeping my head down and away from his piercing eyes.

“Well, can we continue now?” the man presiding over our entanglement asked.

“Yes,” Marek said curtly.

I tuned out most of what he said, until he came to the part about taking each other as husband and wife. Marek’s simple answer when asked was, “Yeah.” Not ‘I do,’ or even a standard ‘Yes,’ but what did I expect? That the man was in love with me? He was simply doing it to seal my fate, as well as his club’s standing in the war between our two worlds. He didn’t give a shit about me or what I wanted or needed; I was just a piece of property to him, just like I’d been to Vex and my father.

When it was my turn to respond, I picked my head up, looked Marek square in the eyes and said very loudly, “Hell no.” I was hoping it was the loophole to get out of it, my blatant refusal a definite deal-breaker. Didn’t he need my verbal consent?

Maybe outside of club life it would be enough, but not here.

“Don’t need your agreement, darlin’,” Marek condescended. “This is happening either way.”

And it did.

He forcefully slid a ring onto my finger, and the president of our biggest enemy had just made me his wife.

Marek

The plan to marry Psych Brooks’s daughter had come to me
after
we’d taken her from them. Hell, I hadn’t even planned on taking her when we breached their shitty compound, nothing but a few drunken assholes guarding the gate.

At first, we thought it was too easy, thinking it was a setup and they were gonna surprise us as soon as we stepped foot onto their grounds. But there were no Reapers hiding around the corner ready to attack.

It’d been quite easy, until we knocked down the door to their clubhouse. It was there we came face to face with the soulless men of our enemy. The ones who weren’t drunk or high were extremely skilled in defending their territory, but in the end they were simply no match for me and my men.

Stone had shouted something about snatching Psych’s daughter for the ultimate payback, and I’d readily agreed. When we came to the barricaded room, we knew instinctually she was hiding in there. Over the years, we heard stories of the woman who was kept hidden from the world, her beauty unmatched to any around her. Her hype was built up so much I half-expected to see a used, life-beaten-down woman when we broke down the door.

But as soon as I laid eyes on her, crouching in the corner of the dark room, I knew instantly the rumors were true. Not being able to fully take her all in until we arrived home was torture, but I’d seen enough to sate my curiosity. She was beyond beautiful, even with all the scars and marks, the sunken look of despair in her eyes. Hell, even with the mixture of awe and disgust she threw my way whenever she saw me.

We stood in silence in front of everyone after I shoved the ring on her finger, her defiance coming full force even though it was guarded. She still wasn’t completely sure how I was gonna react to her outbursts. She’d flinch when I moved too quickly, surely from years of abuse at the hands of that psychopath, Vex. Shit, probably from her father as well.

Psych Brooks was the Devil incarnate.

Her fingers twirled the band, and I knew she was gonna try to remove it. I stopped her before she made the attempt. “Don’t even think of taking that off.” I gestured toward her ring. “You won’t like my reaction if you do.” I had to threaten her to do as I commanded, otherwise, things were gonna get out of hand.

Her hand dropped to her side, and she glared at me swiftly before lowering her head. I didn’t blame her for not wanting to look at me, but there was no going back now.

We were married.

And no one was gonna change it, not even her.

A silence fell over the gathering, everyone curious as to what was gonna happen next. No one had found out about the impromptu wedding until a few hours prior. There were no questions asked. They all knew better.