"Marry me." He said it like he was ordering coffee. Calm and fucking certain.
"Like hell I will, bastard."
"Let me rephrase, Mr. Lantsov." His eyes sharp enough to draw blood. "If you want Project Athena, you will marry me."
"Wh-what?" My laugh cracked somewhere between disbelief and panic. "Have you lost your mind!"
He took a step closer, slow, deliberate. "It's a business arrangement. You're good at faking, aren't you?"
I scoffed. "Faking? You-you'll be the one faking shit. You're as straight as the rod you keep up your ass!"
His smile didn't reach his eyes. "That's my issue, not yours."
"And-" My throat went drier, "what's mine?"
"Saying yes before I decide you no longer have a choice."
-------
CHECKMATE CHRONICLES (The Art of Deception)
Two corporations.
Two kings.
One throne no one's willing to share.
Asael Lantsov is fire - reckless, untamed, impossible to cage.
Isaac Warren is ice - controlled, calculating, deadly when provoked.
A reckless heir who treats chaos like oxygen.
A control freak who counts every molecule of it.
They were meant to compete, not collide.
But when the world's most expensive tech project - Project Athena - forces their companies into a joint venture, rivalry turns into a war behind polished smiles and billion-dollar contracts.
And the final move?
A legal marriage binding their corporations and maybe their lives for two years.
Enemies by history.
Lovers by law.
Bound by a contract neither can escape.
In a game where every secret could cost the world its freedom, love isn't the endgame -
it's the most dangerous weapon of all.
When fire meets ice, chaos reigns.
And in their world, checkmate isn't just the end—
it's the beginning.
