A Forced Contract Marriage with the Devil novel Chapter 201

Chapter 201

NIKOLAI’S POV

I pressed the phone to my ear and sighed, shaking my head, “No…”

“Nikolai… his tone was almost scolding.

“I can’t, Alessandro…”

He sighed, “It’s just a charity event. I’m a happily married man, I can’t show up alone.”

I lifted a shoulder, “Why would I accompany you?”

“Because you are my husband, whether you like it or not. Do you want other men or women to accompany me?” he asked.

I pinched the bridge of my nose, exhaling tiredly, “Who accompanied you to these kinds of events when I wasn’t here?”

“No one…”

I scoffed, “Yeah, right…”

“I have pictures to prove my innocence,” I could easily pick up the playful hint in his words.

“Then go alone again.”

‘I can’t…”

“Why not?!”

“BECAUSE I’M TRYING…” he yelled out, making me pull away from the phone, startled by the sudden volume and by the rawness of his voice that cracked at the edges. “It’s fucking difficult but I am fucking trying, Nikolai. I’m trying to earn you. How the fuck am I supposed to earn you if you refuse to see me. I have never been broken in my whole life, until this time,” his volume dropped too low at the end of his sentence.

I could feel it, even through the phone an ache, a trembling undercurrent of desperation he was trying so hard to keep hidden but couldn’t

anymore.

I closed my eyes for a second, the heat of his voice still echoing in my ears. That was the thing about Alessandro, he always had this damn way of making me feel too much and too fast. Anger. Confusion. That dangerous pull I tried so hard to ignore.

“So, it has nothing to do with Antonio being in my captivity?” I asked, half teasing, half testing.

He laughed at my question.

have all

once

“Baby boy, if I wanted to bust him out, I would have by now. I don’t have to make a fool out of my man to get my guy back. I trust you, you I said he was unharmed and you will let him go when you think it’s the right time. I’m letting you have all the power here, Nikolai the fucking power over me, I have no fucking idea what more I can do, I’m trying…” his voice was soft, tender, a tone I had only before when I was kidnapped, and he was the one who apologized for it.

And back then, like now, it caught me off guard.

I turned toward the window, my hand pressed to the cool glass, phone still clutched tightly in my other hand.

“How do I know you won’t fall into your old patterns once you have everything your way again?” I asked, my voice quieter now. Less defensive Maybe because part of me hated that he was trying. Hated that it made a difference.

Chapter 201

There was a pause on the other end. I could almost feel him collecting himself.

“I don’t think it will be anything like before between us, you’ve changed Nikolai and so have I. The Nikolai I knew would never do the vicious: things you did to me last night. I can still feel you all over me, baby boy. I can fucking taste you on my tongue, I could—”

I cringed, groaning and cutting him off before my cheeks could get any warmer. “Just shut up! That doesn’t-

But of course, he cut me off right back.

“I’m trying, Nikolai, for you. I don’t want to lose you, baby boy. You make the rules, you tell me what you want and I’ll fucking make it happen. I really want to take you with me, not for appearances, not because I’m a married man, none of that shit, I want to talk to you; I want to spend some fucking time with you. There is something I really want to fucking tell you before I fucking chicken out.”

I stopped breathing for a second. That intrigued me. I didn’t want it to. But it did.

“What?” I asked, my voice softer now, cautious, but undeniably curious.

I heard the faintest intake of breath on the other end.

“Come with me to the event first…”

I sighed, “I’ll think about it.”

“It’s tomorrow night…”

“I said, I’ll think about it.”

“But-”

I hung up and then I remembered what I was about to do before Alessandro called me and distracted me from the task at hand.

I dialed Paul Salvatore’s number and waited for him to pick up, once he did, he asked questions about everything and everyone, Alessandro. He wanted to ask when I will be deciding to kill Alessandro. I told him about Alessandro not agreeing to the divorce.

especially

“Paul, Marco is being difficult,” I trailed off hesitantly. I know how close Marco and Paul Salvatore were. He considered him his son. He had basically adopted Marco and his little brother Dante when they were way too young.

“Why? What did he do?”

“He wants to go to war. Paul, for Alessandro this war will be like taking candy from a baby. He’s holding back, he’s going easy on us because of me but Marco doesn’t see that. He’s looking for a reason to stir up this war. I’m very tempted to kill him but he is your second in command, he is important to you and Leah.”

Paul Salvatore sighed on the other end, I could imagine him thinking with his fingers pinching the bridge of his nose, “I don’t want him to die, Nikolai, he is crazy like that. He always has been since he was a child.”

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