Accidental Brides Book 1: Draco's Bride

I didn’t know how I ended up in front of a five-star hotel resembling a giant crystal ball, glimmering with luxury. I only knew I had to find the man who had made my sister’s life miserable.

The hotel doors slid open, and my heart jumped into my throat. There was no turning back. I had a sister at home who hadn’t eaten or slept for days, and that had to stop. Lena was brokenhearted and refusing food, but it was no longer just about her. She had a baby growing inside her that she needed to care for.

Maybe she didn’t have a father or brother to fight for her, but she had me. And I would show Ivan Draco that he couldn’t treat her like dirt.

I raised my eyes to the sparkling, bright hotel sign while small beads of sweat gathered above my upper lip. I’d worked in service jobs my whole life but never in a place like this.

“Get it together, girl,” I murmured, gripping the railings as I stepped through the door.

I smoothed my uniform. The server whose place I took tonight was slightly bigger than me, but at least she wore the same-sized shoes.

High heels clicked along the halls. The sound reminded me of Lena’s frantic steps when she left me to see Marco.

As I stepped into the Draco suite, walls of gold and silk closed around me. The city lights spilled through massive windows, making me feel small and invisible.

This place stood as a reminder of power and privilege, designed for indulgence.

My heart pounded. With each breath, I grasped that there had to be a reason why no one dared cross the Draco family. Perhaps Ivan Draco had tried to erase his family’s dubious past, but it still echoed in every corner.

I slowly scanned the tall, dark figure standing just a couple of yards from me by the dining table, and reality struck. The few video clips I had found to prepare for this meeting didn’t do him justice. It was easy to dismiss his aura of power on the screen, but it clung to him like a second skin in person.

One of the waiters nudged my shoulder. He pressed a pitcher of cold water into my hands and urged me forward. I gripped the handle with utmost concentration. It was as cold as Lena's hands that night, when she told me the news.

The memory made my pulse race. She was wrong; baby or no baby, Ivan Draco was holding Lena’s happiness in his hands. I just needed a chance to talk to him about Lena and remind him of his nephew's responsibilities to her.

As I approached the table, the bodyguard eyed me suspiciously, and I summoned the most innocent smile I could muster.

The blonde that sat on Ivan's right touched his sleeve, leaning closer to his chair.

“Ivan, are you sure you don’t want to go to the club tonight? I’m dying to dance.”

I stole a minute to look more closely at him. My eyes followed his sharp jaw to the strong column of his sun-kissed neck. The only soft things about him were his rich, dark hair and long eyelashes, which framed eyes as black as onyx.

I swallowed hard, feeling a strange unease creep up my spine.

You could dress a wolf in sheep's clothing, but you could never make him a sheep. The same was true of Ivan Draco.

The ladies beside him didn’t even notice me. I was invisible to them, just a server. But Ivan looked directly at me with the predatory eyes of a hunter. I bet he never missed a thing. It must be an old habit, a reminder of the days when he needed to watch his back.

The corner of his mouth curled up as his eyes probed my bare face, lingering a moment too long on my lips.

Goosebumps erupted all over my clammy skin. I regretted not putting on makeup today. With my bare face, I felt exposed, as if he could see straight into my soul.

“Water?” I offered, raising the heavy crystal.

He leaned forward in his chair. “Do I know you?”

The crystal pitcher slid lower between my fingers.

“No." I took a deep breath. "But I know you.”

“Ah,” he drawled, savoring the moment.

With a casual flick, he opened the button on his jacket. The blonde helped him shrug it off, and he rolled up his shirt sleeves. The gleam of a golden watch caught my eye. It must cost a fortune—unlike the fake one I had tried to pawn for my grandmother’s medicines.

“And you want something from me?” The small flicker of emotion I had noticed before disappeared.

“Actually,” I said, stepping forward, “I wanted to speak with you. The opportunity never came up, so I created one.”

I looked around, giving him a second to understand why I had snuck in. He raised his eyebrow, and I took a deep breath.

“We’ll be family, Mr. Draco, so I thought it was time to meet you.”

The air shifted, and I instinctively stepped back. His lower lip disappeared in a thin line of resentment.

“Lena is your sister?” The way he said her name, as if it were something filthy, made my hands clench.

“Yes.” I stood taller, raising my chin.

The two women stopped chatting, giving me their full attention.

Ivan opened his phone, and I counted to ten to calm my heart. I just knew that nothing good would come out of his mouth.

The man was an arrogant bastard, and Lena was right.

“Your account?” he asked.

“My what?” I stuttered as sweat glided down my spine.

“Your account, Ms.?” he repeated.

“Miss,” I corrected, earning another mocking twist of his chiseled mouth. “Miss Jade,” I added, and a flicker of amusement crossed his face. It only fueled the anger simmering inside me.

“If you are Lena’s sister, you could only want one thing from me.” He leaned back in his chair. “So, how much money do you need to keep you and your sister off my family?”

My mouth opened like a fish out of water. He acted as if Lena had gotten pregnant by immaculate conception. His sheer bluntness left me speechless.

His words hung in the air, heavy and suffocating. I had been naïve enough to think I could talk some sense into this man. My legs shook. The pitcher slid a little lower, making my hands ache, and humiliation washed over me. He viewed us as nothing more than opportunists. We were bugs beneath his Louboutin shoe.

My grandma was right: there is no such thing as a good man.

Blind rage gripped me, and before I could think, the damn pitcher flew through the air. It splashed Ivan with icy water before hitting the table and dropping loudly to the floor. The sound of shattering glass made my heart rush into my throat, almost choking me.

My ears buzzed as the room erupted in screams.

Well, not the whole room.

Ivan Draco stood still, cutting me in half with his eyes, wet droplets clinging to his sharp features.

Before I had time to process what I did, firm hands pulled me back, yanking me down the hallway.

“Let me go!” I demanded, fighting against the bulky guard.

He dumped me in the yard behind the hotel. The deserted space added to my discomfort.

Still on my knees, I caught the glimmer of perfectly polished shoes on the last step of the back entrance. I didn’t need to look up to see who was looming over me, and my kneeling position spoke volumes about our power imbalance.

I snorted loudly at the thought, earning another twitch of his stiff jaw. He raised an eyebrow and offered his hand to help me up.

The moment his long fingers wrapped around mine, a surge of electricity shocked me, and I let go, stepping backward. He grabbed my elbow to keep me upright, and the cold concrete under my foot forced me to look down.

In all the commotion, I had lost a shoe.

“Thank you,” I said, pretending nonchalance as I straightened my skirt.

The neatly tied bun at the top of my head hung loosely. I reached for the hairband and took it off. White-blonde strands spilled around my shoulders as I raised my eyes to his, preparing for his piercing gaze and humiliating words.

But the man before me seemed shell-shocked. His eyes focused on a point above my head with such intensity that I turned around, wanting to see what had caught his attention. Nothing unusual was behind me, just a parking lot and a street cat.

I frowned and turned back—right as his hand slipped through my hair, letting the strands flow over his skin.

My whole body stiffened. I knew I should stop him, but I didn’t. I watched him as he rubbed a silky strand between his fingers.

His clean, masculine scent filled my nostrils, and I took a shallow breath to maintain my composure.

This was a play of cat and mouse. I had never been a mouse, and I would not be one today.

“I don’t want your money!” I said, wishing he would step away and let me breathe.

As if he heard my thoughts, his hand left my hair and brushed through his own, sprinkling my face with tiny droplets.

I stumbled backward. My foot caught on the uneven ground, and I lost my other shoe.

He moved back to the stairs, pushed his hands into his pockets, and turned to face me.

“The Draco name is beyond reach for you or your sister.”

The bodyguard's phone rang, breaking the silence between us.

“Take the money while I’m still offering. Think well before you let your pride decide for you.”

Did he honestly believe that every woman wanted to be a Draco? Perhaps it was not his fault; maybe the women in his life did everything to assure him that the sun rose and set above him.

My lips twitched in strange sympathy for his ignorance.

With an elegance I didn’t know I possessed, I bent down, took the other shoe in my hand, and hurled it at him. The bodyguard tried to stop me.

“Let her,” Ivan ordered, his eyes locking onto mine with a gleam of amusement.

The shoe fell beside his feet, mirroring my sad, bleak reality. This man was untouchable.

My shoulders trembled, betraying the storm of emotions that swelled within me.