"What if I refuse?" I ask, my voice barely above a whisper.
The silence that follows is answer enough. Connor's expression doesn't change, but something shifts in the air, something that makes it clear this isn't really a choice at all.
"You won't refuse," Connor says gently. "Because you're a smart girl, and you understand what refusing would mean. Without our protection, without Sean, you'd be alone. Truly alone. And I don't think either of us wants to see what would happen to you then."
It's not a threat, exactly. It's worse than a threat. It's a statement of fact, delivered with a certainty that makes it impossible to argue, made worse by the fact that I know he’s right.
I'm trapped.
The realization settles over me like a suffocating blanket. There's no way out. No escape. I can refuse, and be left to whatever fate awaits me—kidnapping, rape, forced marriage to a man who won’t be held to the Council’s rules and laws, who will do whatever he wants with me. Or I can agree, and marry this terrifying stranger who looks at me like he wishes I didn't exist.
"I..." My voice breaks, and I have to swallow hard before I can continue. "What if he… what if we don't… what if it doesn't work?"
"It'll work," Brendan says with a nasty smile. "Sean here knows how to handle women. He'll have you broken in proper in no time."
“Kearney.” Connor’s voice is a sharp reprimand, but the words have already struck.
Broken in. Like I'm a horse. Like I'm an animal to be ridden and used.
I feel tears burning behind my eyes, but I refuse to let them fall. I won't cry in front of these men. I won't give them the satisfaction.
Connor takes a breath. “I’m sure you know that divorce is forbidden, Miss Connelly. Not just by our laws, but by the Church. Marriage is for life. There is no question of the union ‘working.’ You and Sean will marry. You will produce children to inherit. And you will remain loyal to the needs of this Council.”
"I need time to think," I say desperately. "Please, I just need?—"
"There's nothing to think about, Miss Connelly." Sean Flannery speaks for the first time. "You're going to be my wife. That's decided. The only question is whether you make this easy or difficult, but either way, there is no choice in the matter.”
His voice catches me off guard. It’s deep, with a thick accent, rasping at the end of the words. It sends a curl of an unfamiliar feeling through me, something tingling and unsettling, and I swallow hard. I don’t know what it is, how he’s made me react. I only know that I can’t marry this man. That, out of everyone in this room, he’s the most dangerous one of them all.
It can’t be him.
I stare at him, at the absolute certainty in his face, and something inside me crumbles.
"I don't want this," I whisper.
Something flickers in his eyes—guilt? Sympathy? But it's gone so quickly I might have imagined it.
"Neither do I," he says flatly. "But here we are."
The words should be comforting—at least he doesn't want this either—but somehow they're worse. He doesn't want me,isn’t even trying to pretend to. I don’t know how he’s been forced into this, but it’s clear that he resents my very presence. And I'm supposed to marry him, to let him into my life, my home, my bed?—
I can't think about that. I can't let myself think about that, or I'll start screaming and never stop.
"The wedding will be in two weeks," Connor says, standing up and smoothing his suit jacket. "We'll handle the arrangements and contact you with any questions about your preferences, Miss Connelly. You just need to be ready."
Ready. As if two weeks is enough time to prepare myself to marry a stranger. To give up my entire life, my freedom, my future.
"Sean will remain in Boston with us," Liam adds. "We'll be staying at the Langham Hotel until the wedding. You'll have time to meet, to talk, to get to know each other a bit. We think it's best if you're not alone in the house together until after the ceremony. Propriety and all that."
Propriety. As if forcing me into marriage is proper. As if any of this is anything other than barbaric.
But I nod, because what else can I do? I nod, and I stand, and I numbly walk them to the door like a good hostess, like this is a normal visit and not the end of my life as I know it.
At the door, Connor pauses and turns back to me. "You're doing the right thing, Miss Connelly. I know it doesn't feel like it now, but Sean will take care of you. You'll be safe with him."
Safe.The word has lost all meaning.
Sean walked out first. I see him standing in the rain, his face hidden by the brim of his hat, before he walks to the waiting car without the rest of them. I can feel the anger radiating off of him. He’s a violent man; I can feel it.
