“What if we refuse?” Veronica challenges, her voice ice cold, her steely gaze trained on the couple. The husband’s jaw clenches visibly, but before he can say anything, his wife interrupts.
“We hope that doesn’t happen,” she says, her voice a whisper. “We… we promise to treat you well and give you everything you need.”
“When do we start?” I finally ask the million-dollar question. The couple exchanges a glance, their expressions unreadable. It is the husband who speaks, his voice almost robotic. “Naturally, we will be present in the creation of our child,and one of us will knock her up.” He points at me. “I’m not sure if my wife is the issue, but one of us is. There’s no more funds to put into the hands of useless doctors. With the small similarities between her and my wife, no one will ever notice the child isn’t hers biologically. And since she’s in fertile days now, we can start today.”
I nearly choke on my water. “Today?”
“Today,” the husband echoes, his annoyance clear. “We want the process to be as natural as possible under these circumstances.” Veronica’s face pales, her eyes wide as saucers. “If you can’t get my wife pregnant, then you will knock her up.” His beady fingers point to Ronnie.
“He can’t. He’s my brother.”
The husband blinks, taken aback. Shit, even I am. That was the last thing I expected to spill out of her lips. Why would she say such a thing when I look her way? She quickly turns away, avoiding my gaze.
“Your brother? That’s not…” He trails off, exchanging a confused glance with his wife.
“Yes, I’m her brother,” I confirm. “And given the circumstances, you can understand why this is an impossible request.” I don’t care to correct her. I’m not herrealbrother, but raping her is out of the question. Clearly, she doesn’t want me touching her. But I won’t let him either. I’d rather my body be defiled before I ever do anything but worship hers.
“Your brother?” The wife echoes Veronica’s words, her harsh whisper ripping through the silence like a gunshot. She turns to look at her husband, an expression of shock plastically painted across her pallid face. “We… we didn’t know.”
“Does that change anything?” I ask, my voice hard and unyielding, knowing damn well her saying that puts her in his path. Knowing that fucking admission changes everything. The silence in the room is heavy, a miasma of shock and disbelief permeating every corner. To their credit, the couple seems genuinely taken aback by this revelation. They must not seen Max or Alexa, or maybe they saw our proximity and assumed we were together. Who knows how they lookfor their victims, but they definitely had no idea. They stare at each other in bewilderment, a flurry of silent communication passing between them. Their mouths open and close; words caught in their throats as they struggle to process the news.
“It does,” the husband finally mutters, breaking the heavy silence. His features are tight as he glances at his wife, who nods solemnly. “I will try to knock her up. If not, we will find her a suitable partner. Either way, a baby will be born.”
“You willNOTtouch her,” I snarl through gritted teeth, the chains rattling from my stance as my body tries to lurch towards him. Veronica looks at me, her face stricken in fear. Harry holds up his hands in an attempt to calm the situation, yet makes it worse the moment his mouth opens. “We didn’t go through all this trouble to not have a baby at the end of it.”
“You won’t touch her,” I reiterate firmly, my nails digging into the palm of my hand as fire runs through my body from the rage. The audacity of the proposal leaves me reeling in anger. “I’ll do whatever you need me to do, but stay away from her.”
The husband sighs, running his fingers through his thinning hair in a gesture of clear frustration. “I'm afraid that is not your decision.” He spits the words out like venom, his gaze cold. The wife hugs herself, her eyes darting between her husband and me, a glimmer of fear flashing through her gaze. The husband looks over at Veronica. “We will start with you after your period. Right now, it’s his turn to perform.”
Veronica flinches, her eyes wide with terror. “Don’t touch him,” she murmurs, avoiding his gaze. “Please, there has to be another way.” The husband nods, a predatory glint in his eye as he shakes his head in disapproval. “There’s no other way, we have tried. This is the only way.”
My jaw clenches, my gaze meeting hers as she strains towards me. “Iz.”
I nod, offering her a small smile. “Nothing new to me, Ronnie. It’s okay.”
“Good,” he says, disregarding the pleading look in Veronica’s eyes. “We’ll act as soon as possible.”
“No.” The refusal is immediate, as Veronica frantically looks between us.
He turns back to me, his face hardening even further. “You may not agree with it,” he says, the words dripping with hostility, “but we will have a baby.” Turning to his wife, he whispers something in her ear before turning his attention to Veronica and walking over to her. My blood runs cold when he reaches towards a chair. My mind instantly shuts off as Priscilla walks towards me, bunching her dress up over her thigh.
“Don’t you dare touch him,” Ronnie warns, her voice breaking slightly. Priscilla stops, her movement timid as she looks back at him. He nods and gives her a wave of approval. All I can do is brace myself; my eyes lock onto my queen from across the room, watching as she braces herself for what she’s about to witness. I’m gonna besick. The look on her face is a straight punch to my heart. Veronica begins to whimper, using her hands; she covers her mouth, and tears stream down her face like rain upon a window pane.
“I’m sorry,” Priscilla mutters, crouching before me. Using her hand, she pushes the tray to the side, and my body sinks into the cold concrete wall.
“IZ!” Ronnie shouts, only to be met with the back of Harry’s hand. Anger boils inside me, snapping any logic as I wrap the chain around Priscilla's neck. “Let us go, or I’ll kill her right here,” I say coldly, applying pressure around her neck until I can feel her pulse quicken. Her nails dig into my flesh, but I don’t care. I don’t let up, not even as Harry watches us with amusement dancing in his features.
The small win comes at a devastating blow, Priscilla sputtering as she struggles to breathe. “Did you hear me?” I growl out, desperation surging through me when he rises to his feet in a calm demeanor. Ronnie crawls backwards, making herself smaller as he approaches her. My eyes widen as his hand fists her dark waves and slams her face into the concrete. “Like I said, one way or another, I’ll have my family.”
“No, no,” I repeat over and over, shoving his wife away from me and fighting my restraints. “DON’T FUCKING TOUCH HER.” His attention is fully on Veronica as he continues to unbuckle his pants.
“Hold her down, Priscilla,” he orders.
“Please… Please don’t… don’t do this,” Veronica begins to plead as his hand forces her head to look my way.
“Let her fucking go. Fuck you.”
I launch myself at him, a raw, animalistic anger surging through me, but the chain holds me in place. “I will kill you for this. I swear, I will,” I growl, each word dripping with hatred as I continue to struggle. I tug and pull again, the cold metal biting into my skin, but nothing happens.
