The Devil's Favourite Obsession

She sounded incredibly sarcastic and was openly challenging him. She was knitting undeniable truths into dangerous lies so flawlessly that she sounded like an expert con artist. If she continued down this path, she might one day become a successful politician.

Cixi feared only what he would do once he inevitably found out she had lied.

”I just slaughtered a room full of men to make an example for others to stay away from you,” Cassian continued, completely ignoring her sarcastic tone. ”Perhaps I should have dismembered them slowly, just to make you believe exactly what I am capable of doing to protect you.”

Cixi possessed his coin — the exact coin he had been relentlessly searching for. And Bloody Mark had completely failed to mention that the woman claiming to be his fiancée had possessed the sovereign token this entire time.

Fiancée or not, the coin itself served as an absolute, unbreakable promise of protection.

”I do not like the name Cixi,” Cassian stated abruptly, shifting the subject with chaotic ease. ”Are your ancestors from the Qing Dynasty?”

He lifted a single finger, hooked it firmly beneath her chin, and turned her face slowly from side to side beneath the passing streetlights. ”You do not look Asian at all.”

Cixi forcefully swatted his presumptuous hand away from her face. ”I like my name,” she hissed.

Cassian merely shook his head. ”How does Monika sound to you? It is the perfect name for a mobster’s girlfriend... Did I ever seriously promise you a wedding?” He deliberately shifted his dark gaze to her empty hands. ”Where is the engagement ring? Did you think I was dead, so you sold it? Or did you come to that club tonight looking for a hook-up?”

Her jaw dropped open in pure disbelief. Had he genuinely not heard a single thing she had just said?

”You know, maybe we are simply not compatible with each other,” Cixi suggested quickly, desperately trying to construct a way out. ”I think you should leave me alone and look for a woman who naturally matches your dark vibe, someone whose name actually suits a gangster boss.” She phrased it carefully, making it sound as though she were magnanimously leaving the final decision to him. ”I am absolutely never changing my name. I love it.”

Cassian’s reply came instantly. ”I will reconsider the name change... but only after thoroughly checking our sexual compatibility.” He leaned slightly closer, his dark eyes locked intensely on hers. ”Let us see exactly what you have got. We can decide whether to continue this engagement afterwards.”

Cixi’s eyes widened dangerously. Internal alarms began ringing violently inside her head.

She snapped her gaze away from him and looked out of the tinted window. ”Where are we going?”

”To my place, of course,” he replied smoothly, looking at her as though she were the one acting irrationally.

She desperately wanted to break off this fake engagement for a thousand reasons. However, she could no longer do that openly. He had just casually justified a mass killing by placing the entire burden on her head. He had explicitly claimed he had done it for her.

And after learning the horrific truth about the viral video still circulating, her throat felt practically sealed shut. She understood all too well what a video like that could do to destroy a person’s life.

”I think I know exactly why I proposed to you,” Cassian stated softly, breaking the tense silence.

Cixi immediately turned to him, desperate to know the answer to a question she herself did not have the truth to. ”Why?”

”Because you are completely crazy.”

Cixi glared at him pointedly, but her sharp look did nothing to stop him from continuing.

”Why do I suddenly feel as though you do not want to have sex with me?” Cassian asked. He sounded genuinely offended before Cixi could even formulate a reply. ”Did you somehow lie to me about being my fiancée?”

Cixi shook her head at once, fiercely defending her dangerous lie. ”Do you think any sane woman would be mad enough to talk boldly to the Devil the way I am doing right now?”

”Yes. Only a completely crazy one,” Cassian replied seamlessly. ”Exactly like you.”

”See? You just proved my point,” Cixi deflected, gripping her small purse tightly. ”You liked me because I am crazy.” She swallowed slowly, forcing down her rising panic so that she would not sound even slightly hesitant.

”I am completely exhausted,” she continued, her voice dropping slightly. ”I feel filthy after that degenerate grabbed me on the dance floor. And I am literally stained with the blood of the men you just butchered. It was a profoundly disturbing scene. I genuinely do not think I can do anything with you tonight.” She looked directly at his dark, handsome face, letting genuine, pleading exhaustion show in her eyes, desperately hoping he would relent. ”Please.”

Cixi had clearly understood one undeniable truth about Cassian Crown that night: the Devil never took no for an answer, especially when a fearless woman openly challenged or defied him. Therefore, it seemed much safer to simply agree to go back to his private estate while quietly hoping he would let her sleep in peace without trying anything remotely intimate.

”That’s exactly why, darling,” Cassian whispered softly, his pitch-black eyes gleaming with a predatory intensity in the dim light of the car. ”I need to replace those terrible memories by creating new memories, making you scream, cry, moan, lots of orgasms on the bed, couch, table, chair, bathroom, kitchen, under the shower, floor, until your mind shatters. I’ll fill you so completely that you won’t be able to think about anything else but my body inside yours and the ecstasy it brings.”

Cixi was truly terrified now.

”Are you not ever going to listen to me?” she was on the verge of screaming.

”I am listening to you! Just tell me one thing I didn’t hear.”

Cixi pressed her lips together, forcing herself not to roll her eyes. ”Will you ever do what I say?”

”Of course I would! Just tell me which position you like. And I shall do it!”