Page 88 of The Forbidden Bodyguard

Stella has been taken against her will; dragged from her father’s home and is being forced to marry Marino right now.

The woman I love.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

STELLA

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I wake up to find myself lying on black sheets, dressed in a wedding gown.

I sit up and place a hand on my head.

Ouch.

At first, I’m confused, but then slowly reality starts to creep back, and immediately I start panicking.

Oh, God.

I was carried out of my father’s home, my mouth gagged, and then I felt a needle.

After that, just darkness.

I glance down at the dress again, scrunching it in my hands and scramble off the bed. Someone undressed me and...I start bunching up the material and, before my hands reach my thighs, I know I’m wearing lingerie that doesn’t belong to me.

Oh Jesus, it’s those crotchless panties.

I gag, clutch my stomach, and start searching for a way out of this room. I try the door and find it locked.

No, no, no.

I run over to the window, wobbly on my feet, grabbing the back of an armchair to steady me on the way.

Are they...bars? Oh, my fucking God, I’m in a prison.

Panic sets in, and I can barely breathe.

“Help! Help me.” I grab the bars, staring down at the people in the driveway.

“Ah, my dramatic bride. You’re awake,” a masculine voice says behind me.

I spin around.

Tony stands in the doorway dressed in a black suit, his hair slicked back as if ready to...attend a wedding.

Our wedding.

No.

No, I can’t do this now. He’s taken me against my will. This is not what I agreed to. My father just stood there and let him take me.

Fuck him.

He can float in the Hudson until the sea life eats him slowly. That motherfucker. Tears slide down my cheeks as the pain of that truth sinks in.

“This is kidnapping. You need to let me go,” I whimper.

“Not really.” Tony smiles, leaning against the doorway. “Your father owed me a lot of money. You are valuable to me now.”