Scandalous Games (Arranged Games Book 1)

Every day for the past month, I feel like I’m playing a dangerous losing game.

A game of Russian roulette.

Except, there’s an invisible gun rounding the shots. Every second I don’t confess the shameful truth to Bianca, the guilt sits heavy on my chest while eating me alive.

How do you tell the girl with a broken heart that you’re the cause of it? That in my cruel desire to destroy my asshole stepbrother, I ended up shattering her instead. The wreckage of which she bears the scars of to this day.

And that it’s not even the worst sin I’ve committed.

Or the only life I eviscerated.

Ever since I’ve admitted to myself that I need Bianca like a necessity, that she’s slowly making a home in my cold, beating heart, the mere thought of being separated from her terrifies me. An emotion I didn’t feel even during the darkest time of my life.

She’s the light at the end of the tunnel that men like me search for their entire lives. And if I end up in the pits of darkness because of my mistake, it’ll be the end of me.

I let her slip away once, but not again.

Especially after feeling her warmth, her laughter and mischievousness, the sass and cuteness. After watching her lower the walls she’s built around her heart. There’s a brightness and hope in her eyes that I felt missing the night she stumbled into my life again.

The secrets and the pain she carried has disappeared.

And a deeper part of me knows it’s because of me. She’s letting me in, and damn if it doesn’t fill my chest with pride. She makes me feel whole in a way I’ve never experienced before. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do to give her the whole world. Lay the stars and the moon at her feet.

Because Bianca and I are an inevitability.

In a twist of fate, we always find our way back to each other. And if I truly want her to love me like I’m falling for her, I need to bare my soul to her and give us a fair chance.

I just need to get through this long reception party unscathed first. I trust her parents not to pull a stunt as much as I would trust a dentist to operate on my heart. Zero. And it’s hard to ghost a function when it’s thrown in your honor. Besides, my wife wouldn’t let me risk jeopardizing her little sister’s future by offending her parents. She thinks it’ll twist her parents’ view regarding love marriages. Hate to tell her but it was already screwed.

“I heard they’ve invited the media too,” Bianca reveals from beside me while we sit in the back of the limousine heading to the party.

She looks absolutely stunning tonight in her golden dress that complements the color of her soft brown eyes. The moment she came out of the bedroom in all her golden glory, I haven’t been able to take my hungry eyes off her. Her luscious tits peek from the top of her blouse and tease my cock with every breath she takes. And so does the bare stomach visible above her skirt.

I’m almost regretting not insisting on a proper marriage ceremony, just so I could watch her walk down the aisle in a red dress and claim her in front of the entire world.

If she wasn’t wearing my ring on her finger, a clear message that she belongs to me, I would seriously be worried about murdering any man who dares to look, let alone talk to her. I fear my possessiveness will never fade for this woman, much like my obsession.

I almost miss what she says as I become distracted by her naked leg peeking from the slit in her skirt. It’s dangerously high for my liking. The fact that I can easily touch her pussy if I desire appeases me a little.

I really need to fuck her again and this time, her cunt and… mouth.

“Do they make you nervous?” I softly ask, concern overriding my lust for her. “You don’t have to face them if you don’t want to. We’ll take the back entrance.”

“It’s okay. I’m not giving my parents a reason to be pissed tonight.”

Fuck that. “We’re going through the back, kitten.”

“I can handle a few minutes in front of the media.” I’m not convinced but she grabs my hand and stares at me under her eyelashes. “Please, Dash.”

“Fine. But we’re not stopping for pictures.”

She smiles, still holding my hand. This woman has me wrapped around her fingers and doesn’t even know it.

It’s not long before we arrive at the lavish hotel despite the rush-hour traffic. The driver rounds the hood after idling and opens our door. I step out first and instantly, countless cameras start snapping pictures, the flashes almost blinding, followed by their incessant screaming of our names.

“Mr. Stern! Mr. Stern! Look here!” they yell from my left. “Dash! Bianca!”

I shield Bianca as she carefully steps out of the car with her camera-ready smile poised on her lips. Except, only I can make out the anxiety lurking beneath the confident mask. It makes me want to take her far away from here.

Tilting her chin until those mesmerizing eyes meet mine, I whisper, “Don’t look at them. Just hold my hand.” I take our joined hands and place them over my heart. “And focus on my heartbeat.”

Kissing her softly, I keep her close to my side as I guide down the velvet carpet and the mass of reporters toward the shining lobby. I don’t let go of her and neither does she as we reach inside. When she faces me, the smile on her face is genuine and relieved. Her red siren lips begging to be kissed, if only we didn’t have an audience.

“You look like a temptress tonight, kitten,” I rasp in a raw voice. “Beautiful and breathtaking. I’m not letting you out of my sight.”

“I’d seriously be worried about your possessiveness if it wasn’t part of our fake arrangement, Dash,” she flippantly teases, a strange emotion flickering behind her pupils.

My body goes rigid as my mind becomes stuck on her casual remark. When she finds no traces of amusement in my eyes, nervousness flashes across her face.

“Dash,” she murmurs.

“You think this,” I point between us, my voice hard, “is an act?”

“Don’t tell me you’ve caught feelings for me.”

I never stopped. I take one step and she takes another back until I have her cornered against the wall. Despite her heels, she has to tilt her head back to maintain our eye contact. I put my hands above her head on either side.

“Answer my question, wife. Do you really believe that when I call you mine, take you around the world, lose my mind when I don’t hear from you for two seconds, and run to you like some lost puppy, I’m doing it all for show?” A hundred different emotions play behind her soft and wide eyes. Lowering my voice, I demand, “Or how about the little things you do for me when we’re alone? Don’t think I don’t notice you hide my chargers every night just so I don’t work late or when you hug me every night because you can’t sleep alone. How about the fact that you’ve never once taken off my ring? Is it all for show too, hmm?”

“No,” she whispers so softly that I almost don’t hear it. Even if I didn’t, the truth is in her expressive eyes that hide nothing.

Pulling her flush against my chest, I lean until our lips are a breath away, so she doesn’t mistake my intentions. “This stopped being a fake arrangement the moment you kissed me, kitten. In fact, it was never about your sister. It was always about getting closer to you. You were never supposed to be Niall’s. You are meant to be mine. It’s seven years overdue.”

Her mouth opens, but I’m not done talking. “Just know this. I’m going to take you, make you mine in all the ways that exist, and if there isn’t one, then I’ll forge my own. Until you’re mine. My everything.”

Footsteps sound behind us before she can say another word and the voices of her friends cut through the air, breaking Bianca out of her trance. I reluctantly give her space when she pushes at my chest while I still hold on to her waist.

“Do you ever keep your hands off of her, lover boy?” mocks Rosa, making Bianca blush harder.

When we face her friends, Iris is biting her lip to stop from laughing while Rosa stands with her hands on her hips. They make a perfect duo: dark and light with one wearing a black gown and another in white.

“I can see you’re back, Rosalie,” I drawl in a dry tone. “Did the in-laws kick you out of the city?”

“Dash!” hisses Bianca while Iris snickers before instantly shutting up when Rosalie glares at her before aiming it my way.

“How about you worry about your in-laws?”

“Stop, you two,” admonishes Bianca.

With a haughty expression, Rosa stomps to Bianca’s side and steers her toward the well-lit hallway, leading her away from the ballroom where I can see the guests mingling. Some even looking curiously in our direction.

“Where are you taking my wife?”

“You can have her back when it’s time for the new couple to walk to the stage,” Rosalie throws over their shoulder.

I don’t move until they disappear around the corner and like the lover boy she called me, I immediately miss Bianca. Thank God Justin isn’t here or he’d be laughing his ass off.

“I get it now,” a familiar voice speaks from behind me, startling me.

I twist just in time to see my new business partner, Kian Singhania, step out from the shadows, holding a glass of whiskey in his hand. As usual, his dark eyes hold no single emotion. They almost appear dead like a bottomless pit and calculative as though the world and everyone in it is a code he wants to crack.

No wonder the media calls him merciless and apathetic.

Steeling my spine, I reply to his remark, “What?”

“Why you ran out of the meeting like the hounds of hell were after you.” Taking a sip of his drink, his head tilts as he says in a remote voice, “You’re crazy about your wife.”

The way he puts emphasis on ‘wife’ raises my suspicion immediately. The corner he was standing in is hidden and dark, which means he could have been standing there and listened to the whole conversation between Bianca and I while we remained oblivious. Probably even heard about our little secret.

Just another complication I didn’t need.

Pocketing my hands, I narrow my gaze while he remains steadfast and unfeeling. “How long have you been standing here?”

“Long enough.”

Fucking hell. It takes all my power to keep my mask in place because if there’s one thing I hate, it is having my back against the wall. However, before I can threaten him, he beats me to it.

“Don’t worry. Whatever you do outside of our company doesn’t interest me.” Stepping closer, he advises, “However, you should be more aware of your surroundings because secrets like that could be disastrous and scandalous in the wrong hands.”

“I’m well versed with scandals, and I don’t intend to have another.”

“If only we lived in a world where it was a possibility.”

With those ominous and true words, he disappears into the crowd while I’m left wondering if Bianca and I are fooling ourselves that we’ll survive this unscathed.