The determined set of his jaw shakes me.
He intends for someone to win.
Him.
Escape is possible but not easy.There are guards, alarms, and my captor—the enforcer—himself.
“Look…” I’ve been involved in high-stakes negotiations for years.Diplomacy is my greatest hope, now that I know who I’m dealing with.“It’s not too late to undo this.I’ll call my father to let him know I’m safe.”
“Good first step.”
I frown.I hadn’t been expecting that response.
“Our consiglieres will work out an agreement.”
He reaches into his suit-coat pocket and pulls out a phone, offering it to me.
I blink.
“Call him.”He nods.
Still, I hesitate.This has been too easy.There has to be a catch.
When he speaks again, his voice is low and even.“Let him know we’re getting married.”
The words hang in the air—absurd, impossible—sending a shock through me that numbs my limbs.Married?To him?
Laughter bubbles up, hysterical and disbelieving, but I choke it back, my mind reeling.
My emotions crash into each other—outrage first, hot and blinding, followed by confusion, then a cold calculation.This is his strategy, a way to bind families and prevent war.But at what cost to me?
“You’re insane.”I step away from the wall, my bare feet crunching on a shard of glass, a sharp sting that I ignore.I focus on him.
My free hand trembles at my side, but I clench it to steady myself.The room spins slightly, the drug’s remnants or the revelation, I’m not sure.
He doesn’t smile, doesn’t gloat.Just watches me with that unyielding gaze.“Make the call, Valentina.As you said, neither of us want a war.”His words carry the weight of inevitability, and my stomach drops, fear coiling anew.
“As I said, one of us will win.”
Married?
To my father’s enemy?
I’m overwhelmed by a desperate need to fight back, to fight him.
I lunge forward, not with violence this time but with words, my voice rising.“You think I’ll say yes?That I’ll stand there and make vows to you?”Love.Loyalty.My chest heaves, the sweatshirt shifting again, exposing more skin, but I don’t care.
His expression softens fractionally, almost regretfully, but his voice remains firm.“You will.It’s your only way out.”
His threat lands heavy, sinking into my bones, and I feel the trap close around me.
Everything in me fractures, and resignation creeps in against my will.
I’m angry at my powerlessness, the way he’s so expertly manipulated me.
I sink onto the edge of the bed, the sheets cool beneath me, my mind whirling.
Married.
