Bella Jewel

My Marcus will change your world, too. If you let him.

And you will let him, because that’s just his way.

I love him in a way that’s toxic. I know it because no matter how much my heart screams at me that something isn’t right, I can’t stay away. Marcus is hard, he’s broody, he’s not soft and he’s not gentle but when he’s inside me, deep inside, I feel him. I feel everything he refuses to let me see. And it’s amazing. It’s also how he got under my skin and stayed there.

What started as a one-night stand quickly turned into my world. I can’t tell you how it happened, or even why, I just knew I couldn’t get enough of him. It didn’t matter what he did. Before I knew it we were married. A week later I moved in with him. Everyone in my life was happy for me. Except maybe Marcus. He just remained as he was, impassive and deep, so deep I couldn’t get in.

They say your body tells you when something becomes dangerous — that it hums with awareness. They would be right. I felt it; I felt the shift, and I knew the moment I entered Marcus’s world that he was going to take my soul and likely crush it. I fell for a man who most women wouldn’t fall for, because he reeks heartbreak. He isn’t the hearts-and-flowers kind of guy, he doesn’t hold you, or call you sweet names, or make you feel like you’re the only reason he breathes.

In accepting this, I became the girl they all talk about — you know the one. The girl you shake your head at, wondering why she stays, wondering why she’s there. How come she’s so stupid? What could she possibly see in a jerk like that? That’s me. Though at first, I didn’t realize it. I fell in love with the devil. I didn’t know it at the time; even if I did, I can’t promise I would have done things differently. It took time for me to see what Marcus was; to see my love was one-sided.

But that’s what it was, you see. Love. Deep, binding love I couldn’t let go of.

He consumed me. He took my heart in his hands and he’s holding it there.

There’s no way I can turn away from him.

The Katia I am now, she’ll disappear into a world of hurt and lies. She will no longer be. He’ll take me and he’ll twist my world until it’s no longer beautiful, but ugly. So ugly it’ll bury me deep. There’s a good chance I’ll never come out of it unscathed.

But I’m getting too far ahead. I have to start you from the beginning.

“Very well. Your grandfather has stated that he’d like his business to be handed down to you. You’re the only one left in his direct family line since the passing of your father, and therefore the one he wishes to take on his business.”