~RENJI~

"Let me go right this instant!" Aisling’s harsh Irish-accented words rang out behind me as I pulled her out of the bar and into the underground garage. Her tone was neither girlish nor overtly masculine. It had a deep tune to it, and I'd never been with any girl who sounded like that. It was new, and I didn’t want to admit it was intriguing as well.

"No. I said I'm taking you home," I said, cutting her off for the time being until we reached my Porsche. Then I let her wrist go.

She scoffed, raising her hand to circle around the wrist. Dramatic woman. I’m sure I didn’t hold her too tight. "You are such a fucking brute. All that sick handsomeness, someone would think you are a gentleman, but you're nothing far from a Neanderthal!" She hurled every insult she could muster at me.

Well, I’ve got myself a foul-mouthed beauty on my hands. "Language, woman." I warned, but it might as well have entered one ear and flown out the other. I remembered her words—her calling me handsome. I knew I was handsome, but hearing it from her mouth with all her anger sounded different.

"You don’t order me around." She glared at me, then turned to move, but I held her wrist again and pulled her closer than necessary. "Can you fucking stop grabbing me!"

"I will stop if you stop moving!" I sighed, raking my other hand through my hair. I think I’m getting a migraine because of this woman. "Get inside the car. You’ve done enough for today. You literally had a show—how do you even have strength to drink alcohol?"

Something like recognition sparked in those forest-green eyes and—well, fuck me. I’d let out something I wasn’t supposed to. "You were at my show." It wasn’t a question.

"No." I answered regardless.

"Could’ve fooled me." She scoffed. "Why were you at my show, Renji?"

Was there a point denying? Hell, we weren’t even supposed to be having this conversation. "To see the woman I am getting married to. Can you get into the car now?" I let go of her wrist, but she still stood before me, her eyes narrowing with audacity. The audacity of this woman. How sure was I she knew I was in the mafia? Maybe if she did, she would regard me with a little respect. "What?" I barked.

"What? What?" She asked incredulously. "You want me to get into your car and you’re still standing here? Not opening the door for me?"

I scoffed. This woman was something else. "I do not open doors for women." I stressed every word perfectly.

A humorless chuckle slipped past her lips, and my mind already saved the sound before I even realized. "Well, sorry to burst your nonexistent bubble, darling," she called me darling. Fuck. "But I’m not women, I’m Aisling O’Connor. And if you want me to get into your Porsche"—I’d never heard the word Porsche stressed so languorously—"you open the passenger seat for me and treat me like a woman you actually are going to marry. I can’t teach you everything." She finished, her stance as though she actually were teaching me how to court a lady.

I clenched my fist. She was not making any moves to go to the other side. She was really serious about me opening the door for her. With my pride dismantled by a woman who barely reached five foot ten, I went to the side and opened the door for her. That was only when Aisling rounded the car and sat inside like a princess. No, a Queen.

"Thank you, darling." She gave a sweet smile that was nothing short of fake, and I had to stop myself from slamming the door hard. I closed the damn thing, rounded the car, and slipped into the driver’s seat.

Before starting the vehicle, I took a look at Aisling. Oh, she was seething, her cheeks ablaze with color, and she was gripping her sweatpants tight. Who wears sweatpants to a fucking club? At least it was better than if she’d worn something short or provocative.

Starting the car, I drove out of the underground garage.

"What’s your address?" I asked.

"If I am to be your wife, you should know my address without questioning me." Oh, she wasn’t going to make it easy for me, was she?

"I am, in no way, a damn stalker, Ms. O’Connor, to know your address without asking."

"Aren’t you in the mafia? You can tell your goons to work up in their computers in the hidden room in your damn underground basement." She said in one breath, breathless by the end of her rant

"Jesus, woman, what the hell are you even saying?" I glanced over at her for a bit, then turned my attention back to the road. She wasn’t going to kill us both with her wild mouth. "Would it be better if I worked up in my computers than asked you?"

She didn’t respond.

I softened my tone. "Where is your house, Aisling?" I asked again as we hit a red light.

At the call of her name, she turned to look up at me, our gazes locking in the same instant, and for that split second, there was no hate or fury behind those beautiful forest-green eyes.

"Kings Estate," she answered, turning back to face the road, and whatever spell that was for a few seconds vanished.

We didn’t speak again for the rest of the ride. Sometimes I felt her glance my way, and sometimes I did glance her way, but we didn’t meet each other’s gaze again.

It took a few minutes to reach Aisling’s father’s house. The gate was secured by heavily muscled men, but one word from the woman beside me and they opened the gate.

I drove in, parked, and turned off the car, waiting for Aisling to step down, but she just sat there.

"Well...?" I probed.

"Well, you should get down and open the door for me to step out." She said it so harshly I didn’t think there was a bone of love in this woman’s body.

"I will do no such thing," I gritted out.

"Okay, then we’ll sleep in the car tonight. Car sleep is my favourite." And then the damn feral thing moved to make herself comfortable on her chair. I didn’t want to ask what car sleep being her favourite was. Does she sleep in fucking cars?

"You already know who I am, Aisling O’Connor. You cannot expect me to step out and open the car door for you."

"Why can you not?"

"Because..." Because...? What did I even want to say?

"Exactly, because nothing. Please step out and open the door for me, let me step out." She said, and I braved myself, counted to ten, then stepped out of the car so I wouldn’t end up choking my wife-to-be.

Before I could reach Aisling’s door, though, she opened it herself, stepped out, then banged it shut, leaving me stunned out there.

"Goodnight, hubby." She moved closer to me. "Our marriage will be a lovely one, I can tell." Then she leaned in, kissed my cheek, and moved away into her house. And to keep myself from going after her and maybe going on with my plan of choking her, I slid into my car, my hand rose to the spot her lips had brushed, before driving away from the whole compound.