Chapter 18
LILYANNA
So, this is what hell looked like? Something inside me twisted painfully as the Donahue Don settled his cold, dark green eyes on me. He was eerily silent as he stared me down.
I was sure most men broke as that stare settled on them, but I couldn’t break. I couldn’t and wouldn’t show the weakness that men like him fed on.
I waited on a suspended breath as he continued to look at me like a bug under a microscope. His eyes were so close, it was like a physical touch, and I feared frostbite as they continued to stay on me.
“Carter,” he says, his voice as dark as his stare.
“Mr. Donahue,” I reply.
I watch as his lips twitch. He expected me to call him Don and fold and beg for mercy. He would be waiting until the sky rained fireballs.
“So, you started this war,” he says like he knew it was me who killed his son for sure and who knows, maybe he did.
“No,” I tell him honestly.
I didn’t start it, I was just followed orders. The war had started long before this, and it was due to their fucking cocky nature.
“No? So you didn’t kill Nick,” his voice had gotten colder, and it was like a whip to the skin.
“Orders,” I replied with a shrug.
I wanted him to believe that I didn’t fear him. Men like him smelled that shit like a bloodhound. I was careful to keep my movements slight and relax my eyes as well even my voice.
Pretend you aren’t trapped, my mind whispered.
“You’re lucky, my son has a plan for you,” he tells me. His voice was holding something akin to pride.
“Plan?” I can’t help but ask.
“Marriage. A way to stop this bullshit before lots of men die. You don’t want that on your conscious, do you?” He asks, speaking like it was another sunny day and this was a walk in the park.
NO! My mind screamed out.
I wasn’t going to let this happen. I couldn’t let this happen. My baby depended on me to get the fuck out of here.
“I thought you wanted to ransom me…” I left the rest unspoken. Like don’t you need more money?
“We’re at war, sweetheart,” he tells me. His cold voice dug into my body.
Fear clenched my heart as my breaths became uneven. I wasn’t getting out of this, not unless my family came for me, and that was a death wish.
“I’ll give you a week to plan this shit out,” he tells me. His voice held no room for argument.
“No,” I whisper out loud.
“You don’t have a choice sweetheart, now get the fuck out of my sight before I decide to place a bullet between your eyes instead of a ring on your finger,” he growls out sharply.
Standing on shaking legs, I walk to the door where Joel was waiting on the other side. This was it. Either I die, or I marry one of his sons.
Who was it going to be? Joel?
“Soon, you’ll be mine,” Joel whispers close to my ear.
That lump in my throat started to choke me. Plastering a smile on my face, I looked up at Joel.
“You don’t want to do this,” I tell him.
His smile is all teeth like that of a hungry predator.
“Sweetheart, I’ve wanted this since I learned what females were really for,” he tells me with a voice full of heat.
My heart sunk into my stomach as we walked up the stairs and to the bedrooms I knew awaited us. My only hope was that he was old-fashioned and wanted to wait.
Oh god, let him wait, I prayed. At that moment, all I could think about was my baby and the life with Cole that would never happen.
Chapter 19
LILYANNA
That fear held me paralyzed in its grip, forcing me to accept his unwanted attention. His smile was one of triumph, and I hated him a little more. Being so close to Joel made me want to vomit.
His brother’s death was the first to weigh on me. I didn’t want to admit it even to myself. But he clung on sinking his fingers into my flesh and casting a shadow of his own.
We were friends once upon a time. Normally, killing someone would be like a chore; go to the grocery store, do the dishes, oh, and kill so and so.
“You’re mine now, Lilyanna,” he tells me.
He leans in close, and his hot breaths were puffing over my flesh, giving me a shudder of disgust that I couldn’t hide.
He took that as a sign that I wanted him and not for what it really was. It was my way of telling him that I would never accept nor ever want the bastard.
“Step back,” I growl.
I felt my feet shift as I backed up against the door frame. I was officially trapped, and like a wounded animal, I lashed out. My palm slammed into the bridge of his nose, and a sickening, yet beautiful sound of cartilage breaking echoed around us.
“Fucking bitch,” he snarled.
One hand went to his nose, and the other slammed into my face hard. My head whipped back slamming into the door frame behind me.
Purple spots blinked in and out like fireflies in front of my eyes. I wasn’t going to be able to fight back the darkness edging my vision.
My body slid down the smooth and yet bumpy frame of wood that was behind my back. The shocks of what was happening finally took its toll.
I felt hands grabbing at me and then I was being dragged, not too gently, into the room. I wanted to kick and scream, I wanted to fight.
My body felt heavy and useless as hands reached under my arms and hefted me onto the bed. I slammed onto the surface as Joel dropped me on it, bouncing slightly.
“I should fuck you right now,” he tells me while his voice sounded husky.
That icy fear turned my blood into cold rivers as he ran his hands over my body, caressing me. To my shame, it also heated slightly.
“But it will be more fun to take you when you have my last name, and you really belong to me,” his voice was filled with hunger and disgust filled me.
“You can fight me, baby, I don’t give a shit,” he tells me.
I hated this man, and I promised myself I was going to kill him if it was the last thing I ever did. I had to at least attempt to fight for my life and my unborn child that I had to protect. We both deserved to go down with a fight. Blinking one more time, I watched as his hand came down one more time. This time it connected with the side of my head.
Then it was lights out for me.