Page 27 of Unchained

“Isn’t that what you need, father? I kept my virginity for this exact reason; I need my husband to find me attractive to consummate this marriage, remember? You drilled those rules into my head since I was fourteen,” I whisper-hiss in case anyone is listening.

His nostrils flare. “You make it sound like punishment. I was keeping you pure, away from men that don’t deserve you.”

I choke on a laugh. “And you think that man in there deserves me?”

His face starts to redden. “If by marrying him, we secure our power. Then yes. It’s worth the payment in blood.”

My eyes go wide. “My body isn’t a payment.”

He chuckles, holding onto his stomach. “Stop acting like a child, Gianna. And stop dressing like a whore, it doesn’t suit you.”

I hug my arms around my waist, and my skin sticks to the black leather dress I have on.

He takes a step forward, and I flinch, closing my eyes.

“You represent our family name. You will let your husband do as he wishes to you to seal the deal. And you will act accordingly to survive here until I give you orders otherwise. Do you understand me, Gianna?”

I suck in a breath. “Yes. I understand, Father.”

He takes a step back, and my body tenses up even further. Only him. Only my own father can shrink me back down to a petrified child thinking her own flesh and blood might kill her. I don’t know if it’s the tone, or the nightmares that flash into the forefront of my mind, but I physically cannot retaliate. I can’t seem to use the word no.

His voice, his demeanor, everything about him triggers something in my brain that’s like a switch, and I don’t know how to turn it off.

He says jump, and I say how high. Every single time. Like a robot he created for himself.

Even when I want to fight back, my body won’t. Even when I want to scream in his face and lash out, that little girl's voice in the back of my head says, don’t do it. He will hurt you. He will take it out on Dominic. He will take everything you’ve built away from you.

His hand reaches for his tie, and I flinch backward, stumbling into the trunk of a car.

“Go and get changed and come back. Make yourself look more presentable for Colten, because if he doesn’t want to consummate the marriage, this deal is over.”

My shoulders sag as I nod.

He smiles, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. I don’t breathe for the few seconds he touches me. Because even a wrong breath can end in a punishment.

And I don’t have time for that right now.

“Good. See, it’s always easier when you listen. That’s how you will succeed, Gianna, by listening to your father.”

I swallow past the lump in my throat as he walks away.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Colten

Song- Famous Last Words, My Chemical Romance

“Shouldn’t you be dancing with your bride?” the blonde asks as she runs her hands up my chest, hips swaying to the beat of Tate’s karaoke choice. I think her name is Elsa or Ella? Regardless, she’s hot.

“Nah. My bride is fine,” I say, pulling her closer, hands on her waist.

I glance up, and my eyes meet Dom’s and the empty seat beside him. He looks less than impressed with me. He blinks slowly, drinking his bourbon.

I haven’t failed to notice my wife’s outfit. A skin-tight leather number that just about covers her ass with a corset top and red lace on the back. She’s got boots that could stomp on heads. And I got to see more of the ink, spanning down her tanned legs, crawling up her chest.

Basically, she’s everything I never knew I wanted.

Badass. Fierce. Sexy yet scary. And she ain’t here to even entertain my little show.