HALSTON
I had seen men beg for mercy, I had seen enemies crawl through their own blood just to survive one more minute.
But nothing—absolutely nothing—was as terrifying as Kaira Voss standing still in the center of my living room with murder in her eyes.
I sat in the living room working through contracts with Oliver, pretending not to watch her.
The glow of my laptop screen was the only thing keeping me anchored as the house was invaded by the scent of expensive lilies and the frantic chirping of the event planner.
The bridal designers were draping ivory silk over her frame, Everyone moved around her like she was some delicate bride preparing for the happiest day of her life.
The stylist held up the first gown.
“This one is imported silk, hand-beaded—”
“No,” Kaira said flatly.
“This is just your style, elegant, timeless, and romantic—”
Kaira cut her mid word.
“You don’t know my style so just keep shut and do your work.” She glared at her.
The poor woman looked like she was reconsidering her entire career.
“Perhaps something more dramatic?” The planner said, forcing a smile.
She held up another.
“Worse.” She rolled her eyes and sighed.
Oliver leaned toward me quietly.
“She looks like she wants to stab someone.”
“She does,” I replied without looking up, a faint smile tugging at my lips.
The planner, clearly desperate for survival, offered Kaira a glass of red wine.
“To help you relax, Miss Voss.”
Kaira took the glass, she gave a small smile.
I knew that politeness wasn’t of pure intentions.
I looked up from my file just in time to watch her lift the glass like she was about to drink and then casually pour the entire thing down the wedding dress.
The stylist let out a horrified shriek as the red wine bloomed across the $20,000 gown.
The planner looked seconds away from fainting.
Oliver was equally stunned.
Kaira was one unpredictable player.
She didn’t blink, she just looked at me, her chin tilted in a silent challenge.
“Oops,” she said sweetly.
“A mistake.”
Liar.
Beautiful, violent liar.
I felt a ghost of a smirk touch my lips.
“Leave us,” I said, my voice cutting through.
“All of you” I closed my laptop, glaring at her without uttering a word.
Once the room cleared, I stood and walked until I was inches from her, forcing her to look up.
“You can ruin every dress in this city, Kaira,” I said, my voice a low, dangerous vibration.
“You can fight me until your knuckles bleed.
But on Saturday, you will stand at that altar.
Even if you have to do it in rags.”
“I will scream,” she said through gritted teeth, leaning closely into my space.
“I will tell every guest, every camera, and the priest that this is a forceful union.
I will embarrass you until your name is a joke in this city.”
A slow, dark smirk tugged at the corner of my mouth.
I leaned down, my breath ghosting against her ear.
“Good.
I’d be disappointed if you made it easy for me.”
************
The morning of the wedding arrived by so quickly, The mansion was chaos, staff running in every direction, the planner and stylist hoping to their job and leave in one piece.
I stood in another room in the mansion overseeing the one she was being prepared in from a distance, while Oliver helped me adjust my cufflinks, and knot my tie.
“She’s too quiet,” he said and sighed.
“I think she’s planning something.”
“She’s always planning something.” I muttered like it was a fact I had accepted years ago.
“Yes,” Oliver agreed, “but today feels… flammable.”
That turned out to be an excellent choice of words, because ten minutes later, smoke alarms started screaming through the house.
Oliver closed his eyes.
“There it is.”
I walked calmly into the hallway while maids ran past in panic.
Smoke curled from the bridal room.
My guards were scrambling, fire extinguishers in hand, but I looked through the haze to see the empty chair and the scorched curtains.
“Find her,” I commanded, my voice flat.
“She won’t be far.”
By the time I reached the corridor, they had already caught her halfway to freedom.
She was fighting like a wild animal, kicking and swearing.
Two guards dragged her toward me, her veil was crooked and her lipstick slightly ruined.
Regardless, she looked magnificent and furious.
Somehow I find the combination entertaining.
“Going somewhere?” I asked.
“I hate you,” she informed me, like it was anything new.
“Yes, yes,” I said.
“I know.”
She tried pulling free.
“This is insanity!”
“This,” I corrected, “is marriage.” I smiled.
I turned to Oliver who had returned with the antique silver chain I’d asked him to pull from the family vault.
It was heavy and cold.
I took her wrist, ignoring the way she tried to claw at my face and snapped the first cuff home.
Then, I locked the other to my own.
“Since you’re so fond of running,” I said, jerking the chain so she stumbled toward me.
“Now, we move as one.”
**********
The chapel doors groaned open.
The elite of the underworld sat in the pews.
No one cared that the bride looked like she was attending her own execution.
Kaira dug her heels into the stone floor, a desperate pull that rattled the silver links between us.
I kept walked like I hadn’t noticed, the chain jerking her forward like a disobedient pet.
I saw her eyes scanning the guests, looking for a shred of pity but she found none because people like this didn’t believe in love, only alliances and power.
We reached the altar.
The priest looked at the silver chain, his face turning a shade of sickly pale.
“This is against my will!” Kaira announced, her voice echoing off the ceiling.
“He’s forcing me!”
I looked at the priest.
I didn’t have to say a word.
The threat was in my silence.
He swallowed hard and opened his book, his voice trembling as he began the rites.
When it came time for the vows, the priest turned to her.
“Do you Kaira Voss take Halston Redd to be your lawfully wedded husband?”
The silence from her side was deafening, she stared at him with her jaw locked in a beautiful, stubborn line of defiance.
The priest looked nervous again.
I answered for her.
“She does.”
Kaira turned so sharply I thought her neck might snap.
I gave her a pleasant smile.
The priest, clearly eager to remain alive, continued immediately, asking me the question in return.
“By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife.”
And just like that, it was done.
I turned to her, using the chain to reel her in until her chest hit mine.
I reached out, flipping back the veil to reveal the fury written in every line of her face.
I grabbed her jaw, pulling her close enough to feel her breath, and pressed a forceful kiss to her forehead.
“Smile, Mrs.
Redd,” I whispered against her skin, the sarcasm a sharp blade.