Claimed By My Husband's Enemy novel Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Chapter 23

(Creed)

“Father wants to confirm that you are not backing out tonight, Creed.”

“I never back out, Terrence,” I replied, my voice detached as I waited for the princess’ special guest for tonight. “You know me. I don’t do that shit-”

I heard footsteps behind me and frowned. I had been waiting for a while now. Vicious took her sweet time. I spun around, ready to snap at her for making me wait. “Didn’t anybody teach you what punctuality means-”

The words were trapped in my throat and I froze.

Have I ever seen anyone this enchanting in my life? My beast hummed, telling me I already did. The woman in red at the humans’ gala.

Her.

“Sorry,” Vicious said casually as she glided towards me like she had been through this march a hundred times before. “I talked to mom’s nurse. I lost track of time.”

I let her off the hook. Because that smile was too bright. Too pretty to disappear. Too damn adorable that I was convinced Vicious had learned witchcraft. Otherwise, I would not have been this affected over something so trivial.

Even if all my wolf wanted was to hoard her all to ourselves so that no other male would see her like this, I said, “Let’s just go.”

“You aren’t mad?”

I was.

At myself.

Because if she showed that smile to me again, I might just forgive anything. She had been humming since the day I gave her the gold bars which amounted to fifty thousand dollars because she did not want the money to be traced by any more humans including her family, especially Richards. She claimed that most of the banks in her world were faithful to her husband.

That’s why after inquiring about black markets, Vicious collected her gold giddily. Seeing her satisfaction and knowing that I was the one who provided it filled me and my beast with immense pride.

I motioned my arm. She got the message and linked her arm with mine. “You talk way too much, Vicious.”

“I’m just nervous. So, how do I look?”

I stared at her for a brief moment, at the off-shoulder black lace gown that complemented her luminous skin, exposed her smooth dainty throat, and the curves I wanted to cover so only I could see.

Vicious raised her brow. “Well?”

“You look enough,” I growled. “Just enough.”

Enough that I had forgotten I was talking to the prince I served.

Enough that I was relieved she was not a shifter because this way, she could not hear how loud my heart reacted.

Enough that it made me lose my fucking mind.

(Eli)

“Before we step out of the car, I want you to answer me truthfully, Vicious. The guests inside will certainly ask you this question as well and I would hate to be the last person to hear the answer,” Creed said, breaking the silence inside the car, as the tall platinum gates opened and the guards in white and red uniforms allowed our car in. “Eyes on me.”

I didn’t want to look at him as much as possible. I was used to seeing beautiful people. I shook hands and worked with some of the most handsome men in the world. And I didn’t feel drawn to any of them. Landon, for all his flaws and sick intentions, was also a very handsome man which was only a bonus at that time because I fell in love with who and what he pretended to be.

Meeting Creed made me realize I just happened to have an extremely high standard. I was a sucker for his face. Especially now when he was in a midnight-blue tuxedo. Bark in his house I’d been standing on the stairway for some time, watching him absorbed in his discussion with the prince Successfully unlockedlked in deep breaths before making my

presence known.

Unlike what everyone in his house was thinking, looking at their alpha had never been an easy task for me. Just like now

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Chapter 23

when he was trapping my eyes in those gray irises again. The other day, I had to recount my gold bars a couple of times because I kept getting distracted by his eyes. I was pretty good with numbers yet, Shanty had to step up, she had to help me count, which only made this stunning bastard smirk.

Creed could scam people with just his eyes.

How could the humans look at the shifters and not get as bewitched as I was? How could they even think of doing that to shifters when I found it so hard to think of anything else when I was facing Creed? How blind could they be?

“Vicious,” he snapped.

“Yeah?”

“I was asking you a question.”

My cheeks flushed. Still, I raised my chin, pretending I still had some dignity left. “Obviously, I didn’t hear it. Say it again.”

Lies. I heard it. But the words just entered and left my ears. I’d become too busy staring at his face, particularly at the way his mouth moved while delivering each word. This was bad. My fascination for his face was getting worse.

Creed sighed. “It’s just a yes or no question, Vicious. Would you still like to stay married to Richards?”

To the deranged man who exploited my weaknesses? My fears? Who sold me like I was nothing and was still expecting me to return to him like a fool?

“Are you fucking kidding me?” I asked, dumbfounded. No words could describe the depths of my hatred for Landon. If had claws like yours, I’d have ripped his dick in pieces the first day I caught him cheating on me.”

My response seemed to have eased the tension in his shoulders. “Not his heart?”

“Come on. Why would I rip something he doesn’t have?”

Did I just imagine it, or did he really move away from me after hearing what I planned to do with Landon? Dale, the bastard. was laughing again in the passenger seat.

“Good. Then I will have my lawyer prepare the necessary papers to free you from him,” Creed replied with a hint of smile on his face.

My mood soured. “Landon isn’t going to sign it. Knowing him, he’s never going to release me.”

“He will. He won’t have a choice.”

And somehow, I knew it was true. Only Creed could make the impossible happen. Only he seemed capable of solving all of my problems.

‘What happens after that?’

Those four words failed to leave my mouth when the driver stopped in front of a castle that I thought I’d only be able to see in movies. I stopped him by the arm when he was about to open the door.

“You got your answer. My turn to ask now. Tell me one thing, Black. What do you expect me to be when we walk in there?

I saw a flicker of surprise in his eyes.

“We will show a united front. Only speak when they ask you a question, Vicious. You don’t have to impress anybody out there. All you have to do is just control your sassy mouth and follow my lead.”

I nodded. I could do that. He didn’t even have to pay me to do it. His men were taking care of my mom. That was more than enough. But he didn’t have to know that. Since he offered the money, why would I refuse it?

And then we were out of the car. In an instant, I felt the weight of the dozens of stares behind my back

As if sensing my distress, Creed glanced at me. “It takes claws and courage to live in this realm, Vicious. You may not have claws, but you sure have courage. You won’t be killed tonight.”

I glared at him. “Couldn’t you just encourage me like any normal person?”

“Normal is overrated.”

“Now that I think about it, I still don’t know many things about your world. What if I slip up? Are they going to hurt me?”

His jaw clenched. “Nobody is going to hurt you, Vicious. Not on my watch.”

“Does that mean you care?” He narrowed his eyes. “I mean some monsters usually don’t.”

I was only teasing him. But Creed took that seriously.

“Have you met many monsters in your life?”

At work. At the campus. At our family home. Especially at my prison. I looked away. “Yes.”

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Chapter 23

Creed stopped walking and turned to me, stealing other guests’ attention. He cupped my chin and made me face him. “Do you know what makes me different from the other monsters?”

“Not yet.”

“Then know this starting tonight, Vicious. I may be a monster, but I will fight all the monsters to keep you alive.”

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