Page 21 of The Predator
“I don’t think I’m God, Ely. I just know the warning my last name brings, and that attaching it to you will give you the protection you need. I’m not scared of your father. He’s a minor inconvenience to me. I’ll swat him away like the fly he is.”
“And what happens to me? If I marry you? What will you do to me?”
“Signing the paper changes nothing. It makes you my wife, yes, but that’s where we were headed, anyway. Things just went a little quicker.”
She glances away and up at Aries, like he can save her from me. He wouldn’t fucking dare. Aries’ expression softens infinitesimally under her gaze, though. “I doubt it helps to tell you this, but Sebastian won’t let anything happen to you. He’s loyal to a fault, and he protects those he cares about. I mean, you already know that, though, since you’ve been living with him for months.” He shrugs, “Worst case scenario we annul the marriage once shit settles down.”
I glare at Aries.What the fuck?In order to annul a marriage we’d both have to agree to divorce, and there’s no way in hell that’s happening. Aries merely shrugs his shoulders at my icy glare.
Elyse looks between us, her eyes growing heavier by the second.
I pull out my phone and text the doctor to meet at my house. No way in hell am I dealing with Aries and then Drew once he returns to the Mill.
"Damnit, would you just sign the fucking paper so I can get you to the doctor. There’s no choice for you to make. Marry me, and you become untouchable; don’t and your father kills you, slowly but surely wearing you down, one brutality after the next.”
It might seem as though I’m giving her a choice but I’m not. I will forge her name on the dotted line if she refuses. I won’t let her fall into her father’s clutches to be used as a pawn on his chess board. I failed her once before, but I won’t again. Nothing will stand in the way of her safety, not even herself.
Her glazed gaze pierces me, and I can see how helpless she feels in making this decision.
To her, she’s lost it all. This is the end.
What she doesn’t know is all she has to do is turn the page, and a new chapter starts. No longer will she hide behind me. Elyse is a queen, and she deserves to stand at my side, not hide in the shadows.
Even after one night together I knew what I wanted, and what would come. I had planned to charm her into submission, not force her, but time ran out. I can’t say I’m completely unhappy with the situation. Taking her as a wife will not be a regret. It’s more the effect it will have on her that concerns me.
Pushing herself up into a sitting position, Elyse reaches for the pen. I try to help her up, but she brushes my hands away. Taking the pen between her fingers, she signs her name across the line, her hand shaking.
It’s terrible, and it’s fucked up.
I know this, but I can’t help but smile with the knowledge she is mine. Forever and always. Mrs. Arturo.
Reaching for her, I smile, “It’s time to go home, wife.”
CHAPTER 7
ELYSE
Ascream rips me from my sleep like no alarm clock ever could. It takes me a minute to realize the awful, anguish filled sound is coming from me. I’m pulled deep into the cavern of emotions as I slowly recall the last twenty four hours in my mind.
The Hunt. Sebastian. Yanov.
A pair of soft hands come to rest against my shoulders, and I can’t tell if the touch is real or my imagination.It doesn’t matter.I shake them off, because the only thing that matters is getting away. From Yanov, Sebastian, my father. Everyone and everything.
I thrash against the person trying to keep me in place, but no amount of thrashing or fighting makes them let go.
After a moment I blink my eyes open, and it becomes clear this wasn’t a nightmare. No, this is reality. The hands on me remain soft, but clasp hard like steel to keep me in place.
"You're going to feel pretty foolish, young lady, once you wake fully," A gentle, soothing voice says.
I blink a few times, trying to place the voice, the soft tone.
"Who...what? Who are you?" I stop struggling for a second.
The man is tall, with shaggy, unkempt hair threaded with gray and glasses almost hanging off the end of his nose. "You've met me before, Elyse. Do you remember?"
There's something clinical, something purposeful about the way he asked the questions.
"Remember?" I think back and then immediately regret it as my head aches, and all I have are blank spaces intermixed with dreams and nightmares.