I watched captivated as Angel leaned closer to her and she whispered something close to his ear. It showed an intimacy between lovers and I felt like I had been knifed in the chest. She was everything I wasn’t. She was blue eyed and stunning with legs that went on forever.

Lovers. There was no doubt.

Unable to take another moment I stormed away from the restaurant, I couldn’t get out of the hotel fast enough. I only hesitated a few moments when I got outside to mask my features so Jack wouldn’t notice there something was wrong.

The bags he had been carrying were already in the trunk and he held the door open for me.

“Thanks Jack,” I said before I slid into the car.

I put the privacy screen so I could try to come to terms with what I had seen.

This couldn’t be happening. I had watched my mother deal with my father’s infidelities. With each one it chipped away at her until there was nothing left. Was I destined for the same fate?

I would never have believed Angel was capable of something like that and it just showed me how well I really knew him. Someone I had agreed to marry to save myself was just like my father.

Kaiden had warned me and I hadn’t listened, I felt like such an idiot for not believing that Angel could do something like this to me. Why had I trusted him so much? Was it because we had grown up together, despite our dislike for each other he had always stepped when no one else had?

The ring on my finger felt so heavy. Why would he got to the lengths of choosing a ring with such a sweet meaning if he was not prepared to treat our union like a real marriage?

Or maybe this was his view of what a real marriage looked like? An obedient wife at home while he had a string of mistresses, just like my father.

What did I do now?

I went around in circles trying to figure out what I was going to do? It wasn’t like I could just pack my bags and leave for fear of the Vincents but I couldn’t stay.

Back at the house, Jack carried my purchases up to my bedroom and when I closed the door I was finally alone.

The urge to pack whatever I could into a duffel bag, I had to fight. There was no running away from this but I didn’t know how I was going to handle it. Did I confront him right away or did I see if he mentioned it?

Why would he admit he was still seeing someone when he was supposed to be engaged to me? But the more pressing question I had, was why did it hurt so much? I barely liked him, it didn’t make sense. But not only was I upset I was mad, really mad.

I spent most nights having dinner on my own in the dining room with far too much for one person to eat, Angel never joined me. Come to think of it I barely saw him, unless it was to discuss something so if I wanted to see if he would tell me about the woman he met today I would have to go to his study.

I took a couple of deep breaths to steady myself before I knocked on his study after I ate a late lunch..

“Come in,” he said.

He was seated at his desk going through some papers. When I entered, I closed the door before I approached his desk.

It was only when I stood in front of him did he finally lift his eyes to me.

“Is there something specific you need?” he asked, when I remained silent trying to figure out how I was going to start the conversation.

“I’m tired of being alone in this house with no one to talk to,” I told him as I played with a pen I picked up from his desk.

“I’m not here to entertain you Kira.” He leaned back in his chair.

“Did you have a good day?” I asked, taking a seat in one of the chairs in front of his desk.

He frowned. “I don’t have time for games. Get to the point Kira.”

“We’re going to be married, surely this would be a normal conversation between a wife and a husband? I ask you about your day and then I get to tell you about mine?”

“My day was busy,” he said in a clipped tone. He wasn’t big on sharing but I didn’t know if it was because of the affair he was having or the business dealings he couldn’t share with me.

“So you didn’t do anything interesting today?” I asked, sweetly but I was fuming beneath the surface. I crossed my legs slowly.

I had hoped he would admit the lunch appointment and would explain it away, putting an end to my worst fear. But he wasn’t doing any of that, in fact he was only confirming what I believed I had seen.

Memories of the two of us having sex in the same study we sat in now tormented me.

“No, I didn’t.” He sat up straight. “Now if that’s all.”

He was brushing me off and that set me off.

I stood and removed the engagement ring from my finger and set it down on his desk, without a spoken word.

“Kira?” he questioned, when I walked to the door and left without a backward glance.

“Kira.” His voice was raised but I ignored him.

I wasn’t going to yell or scream, or let him see how much he was hurting me. No, I wasn’t going to do any of that.

Calmly, I ascended the stairs and went straight for my bedroom. I didn’t bother closing the door. Inside my wardrobe I got a duffel bag and started shoving some random old clothes that I hadn’t given away into. The new clothes he had bought for me remained in the shopping bags. I wasn’t going to take a single one of those items. I didn’t want anything from him.

“What are you doing?” Angel appeared in the doorway of my wardrobe.

I pressed my lips together and continued to shove more clothes into the duffel bag.

“Stop it.” He grabbed my wrists to stop me. I refused to look at me. “What’s going on Kira? Tell me what’s wrong?”

“I’m not going to marry you.” I wanted to yell and scream but the fear that I would cry kept me from allowing any emotion to the surface.

“Why not? We already discussed this and agreed it was the best plan to keep you safe.”

“That’s before I knew what kind of man you are.”

He released my wrists. “What are you talking about?”

I crossed my arms. I didn’t want to talk about it, I just wanted to leave.

“I don’t want to fight. I’m just going to pack my stuff and I’ll be out of here.” I didn’t know how I was going to handle the threat from the Vincent’s but I would figure something out. All I knew was that if I stayed, it would slowly kill me like my father had killed my mother.

I made a move to retrieve the duffel bag but Angel grabbed it from me.

“You are not leaving.” His jaw was tense, his anger simmered beneath the surface. “I don’t know what’s got into you but you’re not going anywhere.”

“You can’t keep me here.” I tried to hold onto the last bit of control I still had. My gaze dropped to the floor. I couldn’t even look at him right now. Every good thing he had done for me was marred by this betrayal.

“I can and will. Don’t forget who I am.” His voice was chilling. “You seem to have forgotten about the Vincents. What do you thinks going to happen if I let you walk about of here without any protection?”

“Right now I don’t care.” I lifted my chin defiantly. I would rather have walked across glass than accepted this sham of a marriage.

“What’s got into you? What happened today?”

I refused to tell him what I saw. What was the point? He would find a way to explain it away and I would be expected to believe him. I’d seen this cycle countless times with my parents.

Cheaters rarely admitted it until there was irrefutable proof. Until I caught him red handed in bed with someone I would always have a bit of doubt and if he could explain it away I would probably accept it. Because it was easier to accept the explanation than be faced with the truth.

“You are not going anywhere. I’ll get to the bottom of this.” He stormed out the wardrobe.

Moments later my bedroom door slammed close.

I let out a shaky breath and picked up the duffel bag to carry on packing my stuff.

I would not stay no matter what he said or did. I had seen them together, the intimacy between them had told me everything I had needed to know. And if it had been a harmless lunch date why hadn’t he said anything?

It wasn’t long before Angel returned. He strode into my room without knocking, tension visible in his shoulders. I watched him cautiously as I sat arms crossed on my bed with my duffel bag beside me. My security had become my prisoners and they hadn’t let me leave. I was mad, angry. If I had been allowed I would have been long gone by now but because of the man standing open legged in front of me I had been kept against my will.

He took something out of his pocket and I saw the engagement ring I had set down on his desk. He placed it on the table by the window.

“You can put this back on your finger when you’re ready to act like an adult.” The pink diamond sparkled in the sunlight.

Why did he always treat me like some kind of immature girl when I wasn’t? I ground my teeth but refused to say anything. He was expecting me to yell and shout, I was trying my upmost not to do what he expected.

He studied me and I lifted my eyes to meet his. Mine glaring at him.

“I don’t have time for your games Kira. If you want to know something then ask, that’s how adults handle things. They don’t throw tantrums or act irrationally.”

I hated him, truly hated him in that moment. Instead of apologizing or coming up with some sort of excuse to explain what I had seen away he was acting like I was the immature one for getting upset over it. How could he turn the whole situation around to make me out to be the bad guy in this situation?

I held his stare, refusing to give in and ask him about the woman he met up even if it was eating me up inside.

“I won’t marry a child.”

If I was closer I probably would have slapped him but I curled my fingers into fists, riding the urge to wipe his arrogant expression off his face.

“But you have no problem sleeping with someone you view as immature,” I countered.

“Sex is fleeting, marriage isn’t,” he shot back, making me feel like he had put me back in my place.

Sex was not fleeting for me. I know people always said women felt more emotional about being with a guy intimately than the guy. It seemed they were right. I viewed our union as something more than he did and it knocked my confidence.

I frowned at him. I think I hated him a little more in that moment.

“And if you need a reminder of the danger you are in you can look up Carol Mayer or Judith Shannon. But I must warn you there will be photos.” He walked up to me. “So make your choice Kira. And make it very carefully knowing that I won’t stand for this type of behavior.”

“I won’t tolerate cheating,” I announced. I wouldn’t ask him what he was doing with the blonde woman but he had to know from the start that it was something I wouldn’t tolerate at all.

“That will be up to you Kira. If you satisfy my needs I wont have to look elsewhere, will I?” The audacity of what he was saying annoyed me.

He was discussing our marriage like a business arrangement and I didn’t like it at all.

“Same goes for you Angel.” The words had just left my mouth when he grabbed my wrist.

“Don’t even think about it. I will be the only man in your life. Do you understand that? There will be no others. You will be playing with their lives if you don’t think there will a consequence.”

I pulled my wrist from his grasp. “That’s not fair.”

He shrugged. “Those are the rules. You have been warned Kira.”

He walked to the door and stopped. He looked back at me over his shoulder. “You have an hour. Then I want my answer.”

And with that he left.

I found myself staring at the ring. I always believed I would have been the happiest woman to get engaged to someone but here I was negotiating and fighting every point. This wasn’t how it was supposed to happen.

I stood and took a deep breath but nothing eased my anger. He had just walked into my bedroom and dictated all his rules and left. There was no negotiation, not taking any of my thoughts or feelings into account.

There was a massive imbalance of power and there was no way for me to claw some back.

I was in a situation where I needed Angel more than he needed me. My phone lay on the bed and I contemplated searching up the names he mentioned even though I was anxious about what I would see.

Did I really have to look them up to bring it home that I didn’t have a choice but to marry Angel?

I picked up my phone and searched the first name. When I saw the article about her death my knees shook and I sank down onto my bed. I couldn’t get past the third paragraph before I closed it.

I took a shaky breath before I searched the next name. This one was worst than before. I held my breath, my hands shook. She had only identifiable by her dental records. I set my phone down as far away as possible.

I had seen enough to know there was no way out of the situation but to marry Angel and he knew it.

No one wanted to die like those girls had, least of all me. And there was no way to erase what I had learned. It would stay with me always.

Reluctantly I walked over to the ring and picked it up. Before it had been beautiful but now it weighed on me like a ball and chain, reminding me of the danger I was in.

I waited until the very last moment to slide the ring back onto my finger. When I opened my bedroom door there was no security to keep me confined. Angel knew I would look up the girls he mentioned, he knew I would realize there was no way out other than to marry him. There was no real choice.

I slowly descended the stairs and found myself standing in front of the door to the study. Usually I knocked but this time I didn’t.

Angel was standing by the windows, with his back to me.

I resented that he was my only lifeline. And I hated how he was the one dictating all the rules. Would he smother me like my father had smothered my mom? Would I meet the same fate as my mother?

He turned to face me. His hands in the front pockets of his trousers. His eyes went to the ring on my finger and he knew he had won.

“You made me wait until the very last minute.” He was irritated.

I shrugged. It was my last rebellion before giving into him.

“You searched the girls?”

I took a shaky breath and nodded. There was no point in denying it. I doubted I would be able to sleep after what I had read.

“Tomorrow I will announce our engagement. And you will move your things into my room.”

I was still to angry and resentful to want to be anywhere near him. I didn’t want to share anything with him, least of all a bedroom. Not after what I had seen.

“This will be a conventional marriage Kira.” His gaze held mine.

I wasn’t sure if he expected me to argue but I didn’t. If he backed out of this arrangement I would be as good as dead.

“I need a bit of time to get used to the idea of us being together in a physical way.” I wet my lips nervously.

“Why? We have already established we have chemistry and the last time you were all over me.” He raised an eyebrow at me. “I won’t allow you to make issues where there aren’t any. That’s one avenue where we are compatible.”

I swallowed. Thinking of being with him made me hot all over but I was nervous.

“I won’t force myself on you Kira. I’ll allow you to make the first move. But remember. If my needs aren’t met within our marriage, they will be met outside of our marriage.”

I felt like I had just gone to war and lost on every battle front. I needed time to retreat and deal with my losses.

“I’m tired,” I said before making a move to leave.

“Remember, you have until tomorrow to come to terms with this marriage. I expect you to act like a level headed and mature fiancé going forward Kira.”

My hand went to the handle and refused to turn to face him. “I know.” My voice was hoarse with emotion.

I went upstairs to my room and climbed into my bed. I lay on my side hugging the pillow. There would be no sleep when I closed my eyes. The only thing that went around and around in my mind is what had happened to the two victims of the Vincents.