Violent Delights (White Monarch Book 1)

by Jessica Hawkins

  I eased my eyes open. He kept my head in his hands but had his head turned toward the back of the church. “Envision me taking her with the same fervor on this, our wedding night, brother,” he said, then kissed me again.

  I jerked away and slapped him. The sound of it echoed through the church—skin on skin, and Pilar’s loud gasp—whereas my regret was immediate. Cristiano glared at me, working his jaw side to side, anger clearly building within him.

  Cristiano held up a hand without removing his eyes from me.

  Even with the realization of what I’d done, rage burned in me. For the way he’d flaunted the kiss, something that should’ve been sacred no matter the circumstances. For how he’d used me to become even more powerful. For how he’d stolen my senses and tricked me into enjoying the kiss.

  “You’ve ruined me,” I said to him, and turned to look down the aisle at Diego. “And you let him.”

  I picked up my dress and strode down the aisle. If Cristiano didn’t like it, let him shoot me in the back.

  “Talia,” Diego said, pressing his palms together in supplication. “Wait.”

  I pushed by him. “Go to hell.”

  Max blocked the door, stopping me with a curt shake of his head. There was nobody to help. Nobody but me.

  I spun back and stood in front of Diego as my vision blurred with tears. “You were careless with my father’s business and careless with me. Now I’ll pay the price.”

  “You saved my life,” he said. “I will forever be grateful to you.”

  I grabbed the lapels of his suit to push him away, but I couldn’t. I didn’t want him to go to hell. I wanted him to stay with me. Diego took my wrists. I fisted the fabric and buried my face in his chest. “You know what he has planned for me.”

  Without turning around, I knew Cristiano was at my back before he spoke.

  “Take your hands off my wife, or I will add them to my collection.”

  I squeezed my eyes shut. I would soon see Cristiano’s rumored museum of body parts with my own eyes.

  “I’m sorry,” Diego said and released me.

  “She is mine,” Cristiano said. “Say it.”

  The tie of Diego’s knot hung loose, defeated. I hated that he had put me in this position, but I hated how Cristiano rubbed it in our faces even more.

  “She is yours in the eyes of God,” Diego said, “but in every other way, she is mine. Saying otherwise won’t change the fact.”

  I turned from Diego to Cristiano to plead with him not to react, but he stood calm.

  “As I told you before, brother,” he said, each word slow and clipped, “once this was done, there’d be no turning back. She is mine. If you, or anyone, touches her again, I will rain down a fury the likes of which not even the Maldonados have seen.”

  Chills spread over every inch of my skin. He only said it to goad Diego, but his possessiveness gripped and thrilled me in ways that scared me.

  Cristiano lowered his eyes and locked them on me. “Get out.”

  Instinctively, I knew he wasn’t talking to me.

  “Out!” Cristiano bellowed. He looked around, meeting eyes with each of his men and then Diego. “Everyone leave. You too, Max, and take the priest. I have business with my wife.”

  The church emptied quickly—too quickly. I couldn’t even get a handle on my trepidation over being alone with him.

  When it was just us, Cristiano walked forward until we were face to face. “Next time you slap me,” he said, “save it for the bedroom.”

  I let out a shaky breath. My only comfort was being in the church. I had to believe he wouldn’t punish me for my insolence in God’s house.

  He looked me up and down. “Hit me, rage against me, call me names. But I have two rules you won’t break twice. First, Diego will never touch you again. And second, you will not ever lie to me, even one more time.”

  I racked my brain for what he might be referring to. “I didn’t lie,” I said quickly.

  “No?” he asked. “What did you think would happen when you came to my bed and didn’t bleed?”

  I swallowed my gasp and did my best to school my shock. He knew I wasn’t a virgin—yet he’d gone through with the wedding anyway? “Not every woman bleeds,” I said, careful to speak honestly.

  “Not with Diego, I’m sure. He treats you like you’re breakable. I won’t. With me, you’d have bled, and perhaps you still will in other ways.” He raised his chin. “Remove your dress.”

  What? My jaw went slack. He couldn’t mean for me to strip down here? I ceased to breathe or function in any way but to stare at him—and shake all over with the force and speed of my hammering heart.

  “Y-you can’t,” I said, my mouth completely dry. Even Hades would wait until he was back in the underground for this next part. “We’re in a church.”

  “White doesn’t suit you, my lovely wife.” He circled me until he was at my back. I didn’t even have the wherewithal to try to keep him in my sight. He wouldn’t do this here. He couldn’t.

  He trailed a finger up my spine until he’d reached the top button of my dress, just under my hairline. He gripped the back of the collar with both hands, slipping his knuckles between the fabric and my skin. It was a warm caress that spurred panic in me as I realized what he was doing.

  “Stop—”

  He yanked the dress open, ripping my mother’s lace.

  I opened my mouth, and my chin trembled. I thought I’d already known the worst of him, but he would prove me wrong. When his footsteps sounded again, I did my best to inhale back the urge to cry. My weakness would only spur him on.

  Cristiano finished his circle and stood in front of me again with darkened eyes and lowered lids. “Now, take off your dress, Natalia—and let me see what my brother’s freedom bought me.”

  Coming June, 2019: Violent Ends

  Preorder Now on Amazon

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  Coming June, 2019: Violent Ends

  Preorder Now on Amazon

  Also by Jessica Hawkins

  Learn more at www.jessicahawkins.net

  White Monarch Trilogy

  Violent Delights

  Violent Ends

  Violent Triumphs

  Right Where I Want You

  "An intelligently written, sexy, feel-good romance that packs an emotional punch…” (USA Today's HEA) A witty workplace romance filled with sexual tension and smart, fun enemies-to-lovers banter.

  Something in the Way Series

  “A tale of forbidden love in epic proportion… Brilliant” (New York Times bestselling author Corinne Michaels) Lake Kaplan falls for a handsome older man — but then her sister sets her sights on him too.

  Something in the Way

  Somebody Else’s Sky

  Move the Stars

  Lake + Manning

  Slip of the Tongue Series

  "Addictive. Painful. Captivating…an authentic, raw, and emotionally gripping must-read.” (Angie's Dreamy Reads) Her husband doesn’t want her anymore. The man next door would give up everything to have her.

  Slip of the Tongue

  The First Taste

  Yours to Bare

  Explicitly Yours Series

  “Pretty Woman meets Indecent Proposal…a seductive series.”—(USA Today Bestselling Author Louise Bay) What if one night isn’t enough? A red-hot collection.

  Possession

  Domination

  Provocation

  Obsession

  The Cityscape Series

  Olivia has the perfect life—but something is missing. Handsome playboy David Dylan awakens a passion that she thought she’d lost a long time ago. Can she keep their combustible lust from spilling over into love?

  Come Undone

  Come Alive

  Come Together

  Acknowledgments

  Many thanks to:

  My editor, Eliz
abeth London Editing

  My beta, Underline This Editing

  My proofreader, Paige Maroney Smith

  My sensitivity readers, Chayo Ramón and Maria D.

  My release PA, Serena McDonald

  Cover Designed by Najla Qamber Designs

  Cover Photographed by Perrywinkle Photography

  About the Author

  Jessica Hawkins is a USA Today bestselling author known for her “emotionally gripping” and “off-the-charts hot” romance. Dubbed “queen of angst” by both peers and readers for her smart and provocative work, she’s garnered a cult-like following of fans who love to be torn apart…and put back together.

  She writes romance both at home in New York and around the world, a coffee shop traveler who bounces from café to café with just a laptop, headphones, and a coffee cup. She loves to keep in close touch with her readers, mostly via Facebook, Instagram, and her mailing list.

  Stay updated:

  www.jessicahawkins.net/mailing-list

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  www.jessicahawkins.net

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  Copyright

  Cover Design © Najla Qamber Designs

  Violent Delights All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system without the prior written permission of the author.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

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