Page 31 of Ruthless Savage

“I’ll tell you more in a bit, my love. Why don’t you go relax, and I will join you shortly?”

Her eyes follow me with melancholy until we grow distant.

I just wanna run far away from here. Every cell in my body is screaming to get away, but I can’t. No one would help me.

My father loops an arm through mine and leads me down a narrow corridor, with Devlin close behind.

One turn leads to another, my father’s men all around us, and when we enter the den, I find my brothers standing around. Tynan, the oldest, appears serious as always, but somehow more so than normal. My other brothers, Fionn and Cillian, don’t appear happy either.

What’s going on?

As my eyes scan the rest of the room, I find two strangers here too, seated on a sofa. I didn’t see at first, not when my brothers were blocking my view.

One is around my brothers’ ages, and one is older, like my dad.

That’s when I know what I feared is finally happening.

That’s my fiancé.

It has to be.

Nausea curls in my gut.

I’m gonna throw up.

I glance behind at Devlin, but he avoids me, and my heart sinks into despair. He comes to stand across from me behind an empty sofa, and I can’t stand to look at him right now. He knew and he didn’t tell me! He’s letting this happen!

“Darling, this is Mason Reynolds and his father, William.” My dad winds an arm around my back, and I try not to tremble from my overwrought emotions.

The elder one nods curtly while the younger man assesses me through hazel eyes, like I’m a car he’s buying. He’s handsome with short brown hair and high cheekbones, but there’s something about him, something deeper, that makes him unattractive.

The sharpness of his gaze has me growing uncomfortable, and the air around him makes it clear he comes from money. Lots of it, and he wants the world to know it too.

“It’s nice to meet you both.” I feign a smile like the good Quinn girl that I am, but sorrow fills my veins.

“Please sit,” Mason tells me with a hand slicing through the air.

As though I need his permission to sit in my own damn home! Asshole!

Devlin’s gaze hardens, and a muscle in his jaw pops as he glares at the man I’m supposed to spend my life with.

My lips thin as I lower onto the leather, crossing my legs while my heart pounds in my ears. I try to shut down the tears from forming, but it’s getting harder to breathe.

“So, I’m sorry to make you two drive here on such short notice, but this was important,” Dad says. “Mason and his father are busy with business, so this had to get done today.”

I swallow the nausea down.

“What had to get done, Daddy?” My voice quivers, hoping I’m wrong about this, but of course, I’m not.

Mason’s mouth twitches on one side, like he enjoys the meekness in my tone.

“Well, my darling daughter…” My father faces me. “After your marriage to Gio fell through, we needed to find you a new husband. And I found you one.”

He takes my hands in his, blocking my view from the man I already hate.

“It will be okay,” he says quietly. “You will be okay.”

Please, I mouth silently. No.

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