“No.” I glare at him.
“No?” His eyebrows shoot up. “Can’t you see that this is about something serious? This isn’t the time for bravery. Nothing will happen to you or your parents if you cooperate.”
“What do you want?”
“Your father signed a contract when he took a loan from me. It’s time to pay me back... one way or another.”
“What loan?” I gape at him.
“Didn’t he tell you? He was about to lose the restaurant, and maybe even this beautiful home.” Blue looks around.
“You’re lying.”
My dad would never go to a criminal for money. He would’ve found another solution. And there’s no way my mom and I wouldn’t even know about it.
“Why don’t you call your dear old dad and ask him?”
I shake my head. What if it’s true? It’s a good thing my parents are safe at my uncle’s.
“Fine. I’ll track him down myself, and in the meantime... you and I are getting married.” He grins.
“What?” My voice is high-pitched as my throat constricts.
“When your father signed that deal, he also gave you to me as my wife. It has all been arranged. I was waiting for the right moment to activate that clause.”
“My dad would’ve never agreed to that!” I can’t imagine my dad ever signing a contract like that, unless he was forced to do it.
But then he would’ve gotten us all away from here a long time ago. My dad adores his restaurant, but he would never give up his family for it. I’m sure of it.
“Do you want to see his signature on the contract where it says so? It’s all on the same page too.”
“You tricked him! Such a contract can’t be legally binding!” It’s pure nonsense. It has to be.
“Legal. Illegal. Those are just words. I’m Adriano Gaviani and I don’t care about such things. You either comply or you die.”
“Adriano...”
It’s him. He’s the guy who wants to destroy my neighborhood. I slept with the monster who... Nausea rises at the back of my throat.
“You can’t do this! You’ll gain nothing if we’re married! Just leave and I won’t tell anyone about anything, okay?” I give him a pleading look. “We’ll pretend this never happened.”
“We’ll see about that. I need you, so you’re coming with me, and your father will have to make a hard choice. But first...” Adriano smiles as he looks at one of his men. “Rocco, the paperwork.”
Rocco steps forward with a piece of paper and a pen, and the guy holding my wrists lets go. But even though I’m free, there’s nowhere to go. Nowhere to run. They’ll just grab me again, or worse, shoot me.
“Sign this,” Rocco says.
I stare down at the paper. Marriage papers? Hell, I don’t want to sign anything. This isn’t how things are supposed to go.
But as I look up into Adriano’s cold eyes, he moves his hand toward his gun that’s in the holster at his hip. If I don’t sign, he’ll make me. Does it even matter if I sign a piece of paper confirming I want to marry him? No, it doesn’t. It’s not even on the list of my problems.
I take the pen and place the paper on the glass table, and then I sign whatever he wants me to.
Adriano turns to his men. “Take her.”
“No!” I scream, but the men surround me and I feel a pinch of a needle. Things start to go blurry around me, my movements slow and uncoordinated as I try to fight. My eyelids droop.
“No. I’ll do it,” Adriano says, but I have no idea what he’s talking about.