Total pages in book: 180
Estimated words: 168587 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 843(@200wpm)___ 674(@250wpm)___ 562(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 168587 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 843(@200wpm)___ 674(@250wpm)___ 562(@300wpm)
My eyes meet her watery ones in the mirror, and I step into her back, smashing her dress in the process. Lowering my face next to hers, I ask, “What do you say, little darling?”
Her shaking hand comes up, and her fingers run along the thin material.
“It’s one of a kind. Had it made just for you,” I go on at her silence. The outside looks dainty and feminine. It’s black velvet with various sized diamonds. From the outside, it looks like any other choker. It’s the inner leather lining that makes it so unique.
She sniffs and lowers her hand to her side, her eyes falling to the floor.
I lower my lips to her ear and whisper, “You can thank me later.” And with that, I turn and exit the room, going to get ready.
LAIKYN
I can’t breathe; my heart pounds in my chest so hard it’s painful. I feel around for a chair, anything to grab, but I end up falling to my knees in the tight dress. I hear the sound of something ripping, but I no longer care if I ruin it. Not like Luke will, either.
The door opens, and my brother reenters. “Lake.” He runs over to me and kneels. “Lake, are you okay?”
I shake my head, gasping for air. My hands go to the choker Tyson just put on me, and I tug at it. But my hands are shaking too much. They fall, slapping to the silk and gripping it, and I feel my brother’s hands on the back of my neck.
“It won’t come off,” he growls, yanking on it. “Fuck, Lake.” He pulls me back by my neck, choking me. “I don’t know how—”
“Leave us.” My father’s voice interrupts us when he enters the room once again.
“Dad, you can’t be fucking serious,” Miller snaps. “Tyson?”
“I said get the fuck out,” our father commands, pocketing his cell. “I won’t say it again.”
My brother huffs, and then the door shuts with his departure.
My father bends down in front of me and grabs my hands, pulling me up on my shaking legs, also not seeming to care if I ruin my dress by the way he yanks me to my feet. “Daddy, do something.”
His eyes drop to the choker, and he swallows, his Adam’s apple bobbing before he looks away from me. His eyes fall to the things that Tyson dumped out of the bag he brought. A thick black collar that has a silver ring on the front, a chained leash, and something else that I can’t quite place. The threat he made was real. He will make me crawl on my hands and knees like a dog down the aisle and force me to be his wife.
“It’s done, Laikyn,” my father finally speaks.
“No.” I shake my head, refusing to believe that. “I can’t …”
“The Lords have given him a choice. And he picked you.”
A choice? Why would he want me? I yank my hands from his. “No. I won’t do it.” I storm over to the door, but he grabs my upper arm, pulling me to a stop. His fingers pinch my arm, making me cry out.
“I won’t let you bring our family shame!” he yells at me, making my chest tighten.
“What does our family have to do with it?” I wonder, but he doesn’t respond. “Daddy—”
“The Lords have spoken, and that’s final. You will walk down that aisle with your brother, and you will marry Tyson.”
Why do I have to give myself to Tyson when my own father won’t give me away? “Please”—a single tear runs down my face—“don’t make me do this.” My knees shake, and I shuffle from foot to foot, the heels hurting my feet.
“I will not take the fall for you having too much pride.” He straightens his shoulders.
“Pride?” I gasp. How can he even think it has to do with that?
I stand paralyzed as I watch Tyson place my mother in a chair in the waiting area. She’s sobbing, hands covering her face.
Walking over to me, he reaches out and wipes his knuckles along my cheek, and I realize I’m also crying. “H-How?” I choke out.
He doesn’t answer. Instead, he tilts his head to the side as if I asked how my sister died in a foreign language.
“How?” I grind out.
“Lake—”
“Tell me how she died!” I shout, my fists hitting his bloody chest, making him flinch. “It was you, wasn’t it?”
“I tried to …” He stops himself from telling me the truth.
“You tried to what? Save her?”
“Lake—”
“You killed her!” I shove him, but he pulls my body into his, hugging me tightly. I smell her blood on his clothes, feel it soak into my own shirt, and I start to gag.
“Lake?” He pulls me away from him.
It’s too late. I feel the bile start to rise, and my wide eyes meet his.