Walking over to the bag, I pull out a rectangular black velvet box. Walking back toward her, I open it up and her eyes drop to it before slowly meeting mine. “Turn around,” I order, ignoring the questioning look in her wide eyes.
Swallowing, she gives me her back. I have to help her with the train of her dress so she doesn’t fall over it. I don’t want her to hurt herself before she takes my name. Reaching up, I grab the pearls and yank, breaking the thin Tiffany necklace. The sound of them bouncing on the old wooden floor makes her inhale sharply.
Removing her gift from the box, I toss the box and reach around her slender neck, pulling the black velvet around it before fastening it at the back. It fits her perfectly, just like I knew it would.
My eyes meet her watery ones in the mirror, and I step into her back, smashing her dress in the process. Lowering my face next to hers, I ask, “What do you say, little darling?”
Her shaking hand comes up, and her fingers run along the thin material.
“It’s one of a kind. Had it made just for you,” I go on at her silence. The outside looks dainty and feminine. It’s black velvet with various sized diamonds. From the outside, it looks like any other choker. It’s the inner leather lining that makes it so unique.
She sniffs and lowers her hand to her side, her eyes falling to the floor.
I lower my lips to her ear and whisper, “You can thank me later.” And with that, I turn and exit the room, going to get ready.
LAIKYN
I can’t breathe; my heart pounds in my chest so hard it’s painful. I feel around for a chair, anything to grab, but I end up falling to my knees in the tight dress. I hear the sound of something ripping, but I no longer care if I ruin it. Not like Luke will, either.
The door opens, and my brother reenters. “Lake.” He runs over to me and kneels. “Lake, are you okay?”
I shake my head, gasping for air. My hands go to the choker Tyson just put on me, and I tug at it. But my hands are shaking too much. They fall, slapping to the silk and gripping it, and I feel my brother’s hands on the back of my neck.
“It won’t come off,” he growls, yanking on it. “Fuck, Lake.” He pulls me back by my neck, choking me. “I don’t know how—”
“Leave us.” My father’s voice interrupts us when he enters the room once again.
“Dad, you can’t be fucking serious,” Miller snaps. “Tyson?”
“I said get the fuck out,” our father commands, pocketing his cell. “I won’t say it again.”
My brother huffs, and then the door shuts with his departure.
My father bends down in front of me and grabs my hands, pulling me up on my shaking legs, also not seeming to care if I ruin my dress by the way he yanks me to my feet. “Daddy, do something.”
His eyes drop to the choker, and he swallows, his Adam’s apple bobbing before he looks away from me. His eyes fall to the things that Tyson dumped out of the bag he brought. A thick black collar that has a silver ring on the front, a chained leash, and something else that I can’t quite place. The threat he made was real. He will make me crawl on my hands and knees like a dog down the aisle and force me to be his wife.
“It’s done, Laikyn,” my father finally speaks.
“No.” I shake my head, refusing to believe that. “I can’t …”
“The Lords have given him a choice. And he picked you.”
A choice?Why would he want me? I yank my hands from his. “No. I won’t do it.” I storm over to the door, but he grabs my upper arm, pulling me to a stop. His fingers pinch my arm, making me cry out.
“I won’t let you bring our family shame!” he yells at me, making my chest tighten.
“What does our family have to do with it?” I wonder, but he doesn’t respond. “Daddy—”
“The Lords have spoken, and that’s final. You will walk down that aisle with your brother, and you will marry Tyson.”
Why do I have to give myself to Tyson when my own father won’t give me away? “Please”—a single tear runs down my face—“don’t make me do this.” My knees shake, and I shuffle from foot to foot, the heels hurting my feet.
“I will not take the fall for you having too much pride.” He straightens his shoulders.
“Pride?” I gasp. How can he even think it has to do with that?
I stand paralyzedas I watch Tyson place my mother in a chair in the waiting area. She’s sobbing, hands covering her face.
