Page 29 of Shackled

“You’re thinking what I am,” Mikhail says, his gaze locked on mine.

I nod and grip her wrist tighter. “Of course. Vows. Marriage.” I put my mouth to her ear. “She takes my name and I knock her the fuck up.”

Isabella stills. A low murmur ripples through my brothers.

“Yes,” Mikhail says. “Most of us have taken this step. It will absolutely infuriate Morales, and there won’t be anything he can do about it.”

I pretend to think about it. “I agree.”

Isabella’s gaze grows wicked and calculating. She smirks at me, fury in her glare. She’s trying to pretend like she’s above wanting to murder me. “I really, really need to talk to your sister.”

“You really, really don’t.”

Something in me thrills at having her bound to me in a way she can’t control. While “love, honor, and obey” are laughable with a woman like her, she will be tied to me in a way even she, with all her skills, can’t thwart.

My tone is cold and calculated when I look back at the screen. “She’s left me no choice. Since I can’t control her through fear, I’ll have to bind her to me with something stronger.”

Isabella seems stunned by my words. It may very well be the first time I’ve actually surprised her. She narrows her eyes and clenches her small but tight little fists.

“If you think forcing me to marry you will make me obedient to you, you are fucking delusional.”

Viktor clicks his tongue. Aleks snorts. Mikhail, however, smiles. “I have zero doubt about your exceptional ability to make this work, Lev. I have full faith in you.”

I stand, release the hold on her wrist, and bring her to my chest. She tries to pull away, to break free from the tight grip I have on her, but I won’t allow it. She fights fiercely, her desperation evident.

“Prepare for the ceremony,” I tell Mikhail. “I want this to happen as soon as possible.”

Isabella screams, kicking and struggling, but she can’t get away. “You can’t do this! I will never be yours willingly!”

Interesting that she says nothing about her brother. I lean into the screen. “Can you make that happen, Mikhail?”

He nods. “Of course. Consider it done. Get her to family headquarters.”

“Good. I’m going to sign off so I can help my fiancée… prepare.”

I click off and shove the iPad away.

I turn her around to face me. My voice is low and threatening when I grip her jaw like a vise and make her look into my eyes. “You know I have the right to kill you. But that would be a terrible way to ruin the potential benefits our marriage could bring to my family.”

Her beautiful eyes widen even as she presses her lips together and refuses to respond. “I don’t need your willingness, beautiful. I need your compliance.”

“Forcing me to marry you changes nothing!” She tries to push away but can’t. “Neither does calling me beautiful.”

That protest is weaker, though. So much weaker.

I loosen my grip and move my hand down the length of her neck. Her pulse quickens beneath my fingers, a tangible sign of her fear and defiance.

“That’s where you’re wrong. A marriage between a Romanov and a Morales changes everything.”

In one swift move, I yank her in front of me. She screams, thrashing and fighting with all her might, but her struggles barely register. My grip tightens. I hope she knows how futile fighting me is.

“You say it as if we aren’t even individuals. As if I’m not Isabella and you’re not Lev.” Her voice catches. “As if our identities are meaningless and the end justifies the means.”

I scoff and shake my head. “You don’t get it, Isabella. But you will. Who you are, who I am, that doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things. None of it does.” I grit my teeth. “And the sooner you stop fighting the inevitable, the better off you’ll be.”

Her eyes meet mine, a mixture of fury and something else swirling in their depths. Understanding? Resignation? I lean in, my lips brushing against her ear as I murmur, “We both know what we have to do now.” This forced union will ignite a chain of events almost out of our control.

She lets out a ragged breath as if she understands the gravity of our situation. “We’re in this together now, whether you like it or not,” I say, my voice softer now but no less resolute. I feel a slow smile curve my lips. Being married to me will force her to be shackled to me… and so much more. “We can either fight it…” I brush my lips against her cheek. “Or welcome it. Make it ours.”

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