The Devil's Favourite Obsession

The question had come out wrong. Cixi wanted to pose the question, ’Why do you want to kill––as a reward?’ Yet because her eyes had been fixed on his cigarette instead of the threat hanging over the crowd, killing had somehow been replaced by smoking.

Could she change her question now? She wondered. Would she still sound confident if she did? After quick consideration, she decided to go with the flow.

Her chin lifted slightly. ”Yes.”

Though Cassian maintained an absolutely passive expression, his pitch-black eyes flashed with sudden, unexpected interest. He slowly tilted his perfect head, genuinely studying her as if she were a mesmerising puzzle he desperately wanted to tear completely apart.

Behind him, two of his heavily armed men exchanged a subtle, quick glance. They had already begun to accept that their lethal boss and his newly found, rumoured fiancée spoke to each other in wildly outlandish ways.

Yet even by their profoundly twisted mafia standards, openly questioning the Devil about his smoking habit while a freshly severed head leaked blood onto her dress, her shoes, and even her face was highly unusual.

Cassian took another deliberate, intensely provocative drag of his cigarette, while his dark gaze never once left Cixi’s wide, light grey eyes.

A dark, deeply dangerous fascination coiled securely in his chest. ’If we were truly engaged,’ Cassian thought, allowing the silence to stretch thin between them, ’what exactly would she say if I fucked her while smoking? Or had I already done it...?’

He analysed the way she stood her ground, the way she refused to lower her eyes even though she clearly understood the danger of standing this close to him. ’Or perhaps we already did it.’ He casually considered the highly probable scenario. ’She is exactly the sort who would complain about the smoke touching her skin like an unwelcome lover. She might have smelled of it afterwards, after something intimate. And I would no doubt have ignored every bit of her irritated little yapping, because I have never had the habit of changing my ways for anyone. A need to test that theory stirred sharply inside him!’

Then a frustrating void pulsed through his mind.

’How exactly did I ravish her?’

It bothered him immensely that he could not remember a single intimate detail of what he supposedly did to her aggressively in bed. She was undeniably not his usual type. Golden-blonde hair and porcelain-pale skin had never once caught his dark eye. Yet, apparently, this uniquely defiant, fragile creature had miraculously turned into his fiancée.

Cassian finally parted his beautifully sculpted lips. He let the thick grey smoke drift smoothly towards the dark ceiling before he calmly replied.

”You have a talent for surprising me in the most inventive ways, Fi.an.cee,” his velvet voice purred, carrying a dark, intoxicating promise that made Cixi perfectly shiver. ”You and I shall definitely have alone time together.” His gaze held hers with notorious intent. ”Let us properly celebrate our romantic reunion right after I finish peacefully cleaning up this cattle mess. I am looking forward to it. Just ’You’ and ’Me’,” he mouthed the last three words without a sound escaping his throat, and Cixi watched one corner of his lips curling upward, and somehow her bite mark on his lips appeared even deeper.

The realisation settled in her stomach like something irreversible, and wondered if she had just traded survival for something dangerous.

’Just you and me.’ She repeated the words in her head a thousand times within seconds.

Cixi aggressively gulped. A cold shiver ran down her spine. She acutely realised the catastrophic problem she had just proudly shoved herself into.

In her frantic desperation to save Marion, Lily, and herself bravely, she had completely failed to logically consider what it actually meant to claim the title of fiancée.

This was absolutely not a polite era where conservative parents comfortably chose a decent man for you, and you safely never physically touched each other until marriage.

And as far as she had heard about Cassian, and witnessed through the mirror, he was highly unlikely to be a patient celibate monk hiding inside the mafia.

What was she thinking? She berated herself for her stupidity. But then that stupid word fiancée had kept her and her friends alive.

Cixi glared fiercely at him. ’Does he genuinely have to speak like an absolute degenerate in front of everyone like this?’ she internally screamed. He was practically announcing cheerfully to the entire criminal underworld that they were going to have wild sex that very night.

This was a mistake!!!

Meanwhile, the soon-to-be-dead crowd, including the wealthy patrons who had confidently remained behind, were now regretting not fleeing when they had the chance. As they looked around, they realised that most of those still left were foolish men. Many of the women had already left. They should have chosen sex over this bloody spectacle.

Then again, who could have known the mafia lord would be this casually unhinged? They had not imagined they would witness a dead body. They had expected punches, swollen eyes, split lips, broken noses and ribs, perhaps a few kicks, but not this.

They couldn’t leave if they wanted to, as they were surrounded by men with guns, including four men standing near the door.

Should they kneel? Beg? Offer some blood oath to keep what had happened here a secret?

Their minds raced as they searched desperately for a solution that might allow them to see the sunrise.

Cixi pushed herself to take a step towards Cassian, who was watching her intently, making her heart race.

”Darling,” Cixi called him loudly, yet her voice was trembling slightly, and her light grey eyes burned with desperate defiance. ”Do we need more heads rolling on the floor?”

Inside, she was screaming at herself to keep quiet and say something that might please him. Then another thought crept in, absurd in such a moment: did the word darling sound comforting to him? Would that actually work?

”Does my fiancée not appreciate the gift I am sacrificing everything for?” Cassian asked. ”Men before me ruined kingdoms, died for love, or built monuments. I, on the other hand, am giving you exactly what suits you. I would advise you to recognise my love for you!” His smile broadened, almost as if he were challenging her to dispute his statement. ”Or would you prefer that I prove it only in bed?”