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Nine
Natalie
Two men walked in and it was obvious they were likely David’s brothers. The tallest gave me hard eyes. The other gave me a cheeky smile as he came over.
“Hey, future sister-in-law. Everyone calls me Dean,” he said, before coming in for a hug.
“Oh,” I said in shock, wondering what his name was if he was just called Dean.
“David may be the oldest, but I’d marry you,” Dean said before pulling back and giving me a wink.
I couldn’t stop a giggle because he was cute. Though all three brothers were handsome, they weren’t Liam. And to be honest, the third brother scared me some.
His stare wasn’t flat, it was downright hostile. I gave him a half-smile and focused on Declan since he hadn’t introduced himself.
David smiled back. “My brother Declan isn’t always this rude. Please excuse him.” He turned to them. “I said I wanted to speak to her alone.”
“I thought we should get to know the woman you’re giving up your life for,” Declan sneered. If I hadn’t known how he’d felt about the situation before, I did now. I wasn’t welcome in his eyes.
I opened my mouth to speak when the door came crashing open.
“Father,” I said as he appraised the situation.
“This isn’t what I agreed to,” he said, his disapproval of my appearance obvious.
David didn’t back down. “Barely five minutes has passed.”
“Yet here you are in a room with my daughter unescorted with two other men. I don’t run a brothel.”
David aimed hard eyes at him. “It’s hardly the dark ages. Your daughter is fine.”
“My daughter is untouched, and I won’t allow that to change.”
I opened my mouth, but David beat me to the punch. “I wouldn’t care if she was. This is the twenty-first century. Your daughter’s worth is not between her legs. I would be a hypocrite if I thought that was true.”
Score one for David.
“Easy for you to say, but you’re not married yet. If this deal doesn’t work, there are other men who value such things.”
If my father knew I wasn’t a virgin, would he stop using me as a pawn? Or would it be worse? David didn’t seem to care either way and I respected him for that. But what about what I wanted? A man no longer available to me. I quickly pushed thoughts of Liam in the closet tucked away in my mind so I wouldn’t cry. A day of reckoning was coming. My father could count on it. I promised myself I would ruin him.
I allowed Father to haul me from the chair I was in because I knew I would pay for any more embarrassment he may perceive I’d caused him.
David stopped him. “I want to see her this weekend, alone. We need time to get to know each other.”
“The wedding—”
David cut my father off. “The wedding can’t happen anytime soon—at least the grand one you wanted. There are restrictions of no gatherings larger than ten or at most fifty people. It’s changing every day. I swear I won’t touch her. But I’d like to know the person I’m marrying.”
“I’ll think about it,” Father said and pulled me through the door he opened.
My head spun with how unorthodox and probably illegal this situation was. What choice did I have? If not for my mother, I wouldn’t do it. Then again, if not for her, I would have never reached out to him. And for her, I would do anything.
Father waited until we were in the car and on our way home before he laid into me. “Were you trying to embarrass me? Look at yourself. You’re a sopping mess.”
“I’m pleased to report he preferred me this way. Overpriced escort wasn’t exactly his taste.”
Father nailed a look at me that could make anyone wither. “My patience with you is wearing thin.”
“Yet, you need me. So I suggest you stop what you might say next. I am not an object to be sold or traded. That’s called human trafficking—which is a felony by the way. I’m agreeing to this because I do have a choice, whether you believe it or not. What you paid to help my mother is far less the outstanding child support you should have paid. You can push around your house staff and maybe your wife, but not me. I won’t be locked in a tower anymore. Eventually, I’ll come out and call the authorities, if that’s the way you want to play it.”
I didn’t think it was possible for a person to turn purple while still alive. My father was doing a good impression. “Know your place.”
“I do, which is why I’m not going to take it anymore. I’ll marry David and call us even. But I won’t be treated like a prisoner anymore.”
It was a calculated risk. David seemed like a decent guy. I had a feeling if I told him my father was blackmailing me, he wouldn’t stand for it.
