“No.”
“I will scream.”
“Do it.”
The challenge sliced through me.
“I will call my family, and they will come get me out of here.”
“You can’t.”
“My phone—”
“Is no longer with you.”
I froze. He had taken it. Of course he had. But the worst part of it all was how I hadn’t even realized how and when exactly he had done that. He had taken away the one thing I had to get out of here.
“You arrogant—”
I shoved at his chest, but he didn’t even budge, his solid frame still concrete.
“You cannot force me into this,” I hissed.
His voice dropped lower, “I can. Watch me.”
I saw it then. The steel beneath everything, and I immediately knew this was not a negotiation. It was a decision that he had already made.
“I hate you,” I said.
“Not yet.”
I slapped him then, the sound cracking through the room, making everyone present in the room flinch, but once again, he didn’t even move. His face turned slightly from the impact, then slowly returned to center as if it had been nothing.
“Get out,” I told the older man once again. “You'd better leave now.”
He hesitated, but Nikolai nodded once, and the man exited swiftly, closing the study door behind him. The other men also took their boxes except the one with the dress and exited the study, leaving us alone.
“You don’t understand what you’re doing,” I said, my voice shaking, not from weakness, but from the sheer scale of what he was attempting to do.
“I understand perfectly.”
“You are signing your own death warrant.”
“Possibly.”
“Why me?”
His eyes held mine, and even though he stayed silent, I could see the element of choice burning in them. He was right when he said he knew exactly what he was doing. The man standing before me was a calculated man who would never do something stupid without thinking about it again and again. He had thought about this for a long time, and every conclusion had brought him here.
“Because this prevents war.”
“You think marrying me prevents war? How?” I had never been more confused.
“You will understand everything in time.” I simply stared at him.
“You are using me.”
“No.”
