He actually rolls his eyes, and I squeak when his hand shoots out and he physically manhandles me into the chair and his arms land on either side of me, imprisoning me in a wall of steel.
His dark eyes power down to my soul and he is mere inches away when he says in a husky whisper, “If it’s not me it will be somebody else and you won’t get to choose. Remember how it felt when you were tied to the seat and watched a man die before your eyes. That could have been you.”
I swallow hard as the memory spears my bravado, and he hisses, “This is not a game, sweetheart. This is our life. Men take rather than ask. They never ask questions, just dictate, and they expect obedience, and any backchat is usually silenced by violence. They break your spirit and sometimes your bones, and they do it because they can.”
I am physically shaking as he delivers a hard truth and then shocks me by reaching up and cupping my face in one hand and as his thumb brushes against the purple bruises that are throbbing right now, he whispers, “I am not that man, Alice. Despite what you think, I’m a decent one and have no interest in adding to your pain. So, here’s the deal because I believe honesty is important to you, which is why I have not lied to you about my involvement in this.”
I swear the heat in this cubicle has nothing to do with the temperature because I am mesmerized by this man. It’s almost as if he is hypnotizing me into submission.
“We will marry, you will bear my child, and you will have the choice to leave at the end of it. I will fulfill my father’s wishes and you will be safe from a bastard who won’t be as agreeable as me and will use you for his pleasure while breaking your spirit. In return for helping me honor my father’s wishes, I will do the same for you.”
My breath hitches as his lips hover close to mine, and he sounds almost seductive as he whispers, “I will help you find your mom.”
Tears fill my eyes because he has taken the one thing that means the most to me and pinned it to the top of the board, circled in red ink.
He appears compassionate and says with a soft smile, “Work with me, not against me, angel and I will do the same for you. We will be better as a team than opponents, and I don’t envy the chances of anyone who gets in our way.”
His thumb is caressing my face, and I surprise myself by leaning into his hand, all of my fight deserting me under the pressure of a soft smile and a comforting word. If anything, it’s a relief that he is being so kind. I misjudged him because, of course, he’s right. I am a walking target with many arrows pointing in my direction, and I have a feeling he is the armor I need to be wearing to survive the war.
I nod, all the fight draining out of me, and he sighs, his mouth so close it’s temptation of the most desirable kind. Somehow, having his child doesn’t seem like a bad decision at all, and I whisper, “Do you really believe that I would bear your child and then leave without it?”
My heart is breaking as abandonment issues return with a vengeance, and I sigh. “You see, Simeon, if I marry — and that is a strong if — it will be for life because I would never put any child of mine through my experience and I’m guessing you wouldn’t allow me to leave with our child.”
His eyes flash as I add, “So you see, we do have a predicament. You don’t want to marry me, and I don’t want to marry you and to be honest, I don’t want this stupid inheritance, anyway. Money corrupts, and this is merely one case in point. Why do you believe I want it, anyway?”
“That’s not what this is about, angel.”
He shocks me by pulling me to my feet, and as his arms curl around my body, I rest my head against his huge chest, and his deep voice rumbles through my soul as he states fact.
“We don’t get to choose. If it’s not me, it will be someone else. You really don’t have a choice in this. The money is too tempting for every villain out there, and I’m sorry to say, it has ruined any future you wanted before you get a chance of choosing what that future is.”
“I can return to the convent and then everybody loses.”
I squeeze my eyes tightly shut against the tears that will be my downfall.
“You will never make it that far.”
“You’ll kill me?” I state it simply, more out of interest than anything, and Simeon growls, “I’m not that much of a bastard, no matter what you think of me. No, I would be dead already because to take you they must go through me first.”
“You would die protecting me?”
I’m shocked, and yet the pleasure that sentence brings reveals more to me than any word.
He pulls back and smiles, almost sweetly, and nods. “Of course I will die for you, angel. Haven’t you listened to anything I’ve said? It’s do or die, touch her and die, and death do us part when you live in the shadows. I am your best bet at navigating this hell we live in, so don’t fight me, work with me and we may come out the other side.”
“By marrying you?”
He says nothing, and I wonder why that sentence doesn’t seem as scary anymore. If anything, when I dreamed of a husband, I never hoped it would be a man like him. I can think of worse, and for a minute back there it was way worse when the man on the jet forced me into becoming his wife.
With a defeated sigh, I nod, hanging my head as reality hits. He’s right; we must work as a team if I am ever going to see mysisters again. If I am ever going to find my mother and unlock the mystery of her death.
“Then we should leave.”
He drops my face and links his fingers with mine, and as we walk out of the cubicle, I’m surprised when we turn left, back the way I came.
“Why?”
He sighs heavily. “My car is waiting at the rear exit because I wouldn’t put it past your friend out there to have called the cops.”
