Page 6 of Capturing the Ruthless Billionaires

Even though her mother would escort her down to the dungeon and then leave, she took comfort in knowing that her parents and the entire council of old, unknown faces weren’t going to witness her losing her virginity to three men who would rather kill her than fuck her.

Oh god.

Why did she still have to be a virgin? Because if she weren’t, her parents would slip Rhea into her place in a heartbeat.

Shallow gasps escaped her mouth. She was truly going to pass out, and it had nothing to do with being hungover.

“It’s time.” Melle nodded and guided her out of her bedroom, where she met her mother and an entourage of priestesses, who then led her down to the dungeon.

Oh god. Oh god. Oh god.

She couldn’t stop trembling. She was utterly certain she was going to throw up until her mother dug her fingers into her arm, thinking she was offering her daughter support.

“You are a Swan House princess, Alexandria, and I cannot believe you dared to get drunk while everything is riding on this ritual. So no, you'll do nothing as crude as pass out. Sometimes, I think you don’t deserve this honor, and I’m glad your father and the elders aren’t here to witness this ungrateful, distasteful behavior.” Her mother sighed in discontent.

“I’m fine,” Alexandria said, standing up straighter and raising her chin.

“Good, because you will not embarrass our family,” she hissed, cruel and harsh. “Our livelihood depends on this.”

“Do your duty,” Melle said from the other side of her. “And then it will all be over,” she added, softening her voice.

They approached the cylindrical chamber once more. Her mother kissed her cheeks before turning around and leaving. Melle squeezed her hand and followed her mother out. The guards fell back, staying in the other vault, their backs now facing the inner chamber where her life would come apart.

The High Priestess—a woman as cold as ice—led her to the altar, and then it was only Alexandria, the assembly of priestesses, and them.

Fear littered her body; she was truly going to collapse. She couldn’t do this. Even with their plans in place, this was the part that frightened her the most.

The urgent need to call her mom back died with the rest of her salvation. Her mother would never save her. She was on her own. Her inner resolve, momentarily broken, returned. This was just one unfortunate and necessary step she had to take to free them from Swan House forever.

Standing on the bed of the altar, the body of a swan above her head, she squared her shoulders and raised her eyes to the men she was going to take against their will. And hers. She would do anything for Rhea and Cara to have a normal, joyful life. She could make that happen.

Her breath stuttered and died in her throat at the sight of them. The guards had taken them out of the cells and placed them on three separate stone pedestals, their wrists chained above their heads and their ankles resting on the stone floor, naked.

They were completely naked.

Her gaze dropped in embarrassment, but the sight of them would remain etched in her mind forever.

They didn’t rattle their chains. They didn’t spew vitriol at her or the priestesses. They make lethal threats and demand to be released. They sat like kings, the heat of their gaze singeing her, drowning her in a pit of liquid fire.

She wasn’t accustomed to men like them. The men she did know were boys her age, and they didn’t have murderous looks in their eyes when they looked at her.

She had to find a way to let them know she wasn’t a willing participant in this ritual. Maybe they would hate her less. But deep down, she knew they'd grant her zero mercy if they ever got their hands on her.

A thought struck her. What influence did her family have on these men to justify their cooperation when the silent fury in their gaze had enough power for them to rip the restraints out of the stone and break every person's neck standing in their way?

They were being blackmailed with something that meant the world to them. Just like Alexandria was.

A bell sounded somewhere. Two priestesses came forward, unfastened the bow on her cape, and removed it from her shoulders.

Cold air stabbed at her nerves. She clenched her fists together to stop from hugging herself and shielding her nakedness, transparent beneath the fabric, as their thick-lashed eyes swept down the length of her body, slowly, deliberately peeling away the tiny semblance of modesty she had tucked away.

She didn't want them to witness her trembling or the way her typically docile nipples pebbled and peaked through the sheer fabric. But nothing could stop her body from betraying her as their dark and dangerous gazes deepened their perusal of her, turning her world upside down and causing an unfamiliar tug in her womb that slid down between her legs. A feeling she couldn’t name or understand but knew she shouldn’t be condoning in any shape or form.

The same two priestesses who had divested her of the cape each took one of her hands in theirs and led her toward them. The scent of soap hit her first, and she knew their baths had been nothing like hers. Melle had told her they’d been hosed down with ice-cold water and soap thrown at them, all while they were still securely restrained.

Her family and the people who carried the same Swan name were a bunch of cowards.

They placed her in front of the first man when the bell struck for the twelfth time.

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