“Look what you made me do. You shouldn’t tell lies like that.”
I close my eyes tightly and try to block out the agony in my head. But I feel her pulling me up and placing me back on the bed. She’s crazy. Whatever Charles has done to her has driven her over the edge.
“The Vinemonts are filthy traitors. They’re the reason my Beau is dead. They’re the—”
“Charles killed Beau.” My voice works, but it sounds like it’s coming through a tunnel.
“Lucius Vinemont killed Beau. Charles told me.”
“Charles killed him. Slit his throat. I saw the whole thing.”
“It doesn’t matter. None of it matters. Don’t you get that? Charles is the Sovereign now. It’s ordained by all those who came before us. Charles is the pinnacle of the Acquisition.”
Charles. It all clicks now. This must be a room in that Garden District mansion where the party was held. This woman is Beau’s widow, and Charles has taken over everything. It’s so much worse than we thought. Charles has been hiding in plain sight. “He can’t be the Sovereign. The rules—”
“He doesn’t care about the rules, you foolish girl. Don’t you get it? His word is law. He’ll kill anyone who stands against him. He is the Sovereign, and not for ten years. He will reign as Sovereign for as long as he lives,” she hisses next to my ear. “Don’t say otherwise. I’ve already warned you.”
“Why am I here?” I swallow, my dry throat feeling like shards of glass.
“He wants a pure line. He wants his firstborn son to inherit his mantle.”
I’m in so much pain, but just the thought of Charles touching me makes me dry heave again. Everything hurts, and I want to scream. But no one will hear me. Lucius probably hasn’t realized I’m gone. I’m trapped.
Tears roll from the corners of my eyes as my door closes. I don’t look, but I can feel the woman left and the room is now empty except for me. Taking deep breaths, I wrestle my emotions into check. I have to be cool and calculating if I want to make it out of here. And I will—because I will never go along with this. But Charles isn’t the type to care if I agree or not. He’ll hurt me, and there’s no one to stop him this time.
I force my eyes open again. A scream sticks in my throat as I find Charles staring down at me, a smug smile on his vile face.
“Even like this, you’re a beautiful bride.”
“I’m not a bride.”
“Of course you are.” He lets his gaze travel down the length of my body, making me acutely aware of the fact I’m only wearing a sports bra and tight-fitting shorts.
“I’ll never marry you.”
“You will.” He reaches out and strokes the back of his fingers down my cheek.
“Don’t touch me.” I try to swat his hand away, but he pins my left wrist next to my head.
“You don’t seem to understand, Evie. You’re mine. To touch as I please.” He reaches for my right arm and takes hold of it near the elbow.
“Don’t—” I scream when he squeezes it, the pain like a bomb tearing through my body.
“See?” He grins. “Mine.” He moves his hand to my chest and flattens his palm there. “Your heart is beating so fast. I think it’s love.” He slides it lower and cups my breast.
Tears burn in my eyes. I can’t stop him, can’t do anything except endure it.
“You don’t have to like me, Evie. You just have to take my cock whenever I want to fuck you. I want to make heirs. Plenty of them. You’re going to do that for me. Our bloodline will be the heart of the new Acquisition.”
“They’ll never accept you.” I sneer at him. “You killed Beau. You fucked up their entire rulebook.”
“Rules.” He tsks and moves his hand to my stomach. “That’s why the Vinemonts were able to wreck the whole thing. Everyone was too concerned with following the rules, and not concerned enough with the threat they were facing. That won’t happen to me. The rules are mine to write now. You’ll see.”
“It won’t work.”
“It will. But you don’t have to worry yourself with any of that. Just do what I tell you, open your legs when I say, and give me what I want. It’s so simple, really. My aunt can’t seem to follow those instructions, but I’m sure you can. What, with all your career-girl bullshit.”
“I will never give you what you want.” I spit in his face, the final shard of my courage in that one movement.
He wipes his face clean and leans down to me. “You don’t have to give it to me, Evie. I’m going to take what I want as many times as I want. Being Lucius’s whore is nothing compared to what I’m going to do to you.” He licks my chest, his tongue hot and slimy.