Page 14 of Sinner's Fury

“She takes after Issac.”

The man didn’t reply to that.

Instead, he stepped to the side and allowed us entry.

“Is everyone gathered?” Mother asked while the butler stepped forward to take her coat; I noticed the man didn’t offer to take mine. Not that I would have let him. The dress, or lack thereof, Mother threw at me was see-through and left nothing to the imagination.

“Yes. They are all waiting.”

“Good.” Mother smiled, escorting me deeper into the house. Passing several rooms, I tried to orient myself so I could remember the way out of this place; however, when we stepped into a large gathering room, I came to a dead halt and gasped when I saw people quietly talking, dressed in long black robes while they drank from champagne flutes. More importantly, what captured my attention was what was front and center in the middle of the room.

A fucking bed!

Whipping my head to Mother, I seethed, “What the fuck is going on here?”

“We need to make sure you consummate the marriage.”

Shaking my head, I tried to step back, but Mother’s grasp tightened, and she yanked me forward.

“Please, Mother. Don’t make me do this,” I pleaded as several guests smiled and others laughed.

“She won’t be shy for much longer, Sienna.”

“I remember when you were that innocent, darling.”

“He is one lucky man.”

Ignoring all the comments, I tried unsuccessfully to break Mother’s grip, but the harder I fought her, the tighter her grip became.

“About fucking time,” a large man clipped, walking toward Mother as another man, one much younger, walked reluctantly behind him. From the look on his face, he didn’t want to be here either.

“That him?”

The large man nodded. “Yes, and he will cooperate, or I will kill him where he stands.”

Mother nodded. “Let’s give them a few minutes to get acquainted. There’s been a development.”

Releasing me, Mother and the other man walked off, leaving me with the man who, within minutes, would become my husband.

Motioning to the side, the man whose name I still didn’t know allowed me to walk past him, away from prying eyes. Leaning against the wall, he stood in front of me, shielding me from everyone in the room.

“My name is Justin Peterson.”

“Carly Mitchell,” I muttered. “What do they have on you?”

He smirked. “They found out who my birth father was.”

Looking at the man, I waited for him to continue.

“Samuel Peterson.”

“Shit,” I cursed, shaking my head. “You’re the bastard son.”

Justin smirked. “Yeah. That would be me. What do they expect us to do tonight?”

I scoffed. “I think the bed in the middle of the room is rather obvious.”

“Shit, I don’t want any part of this. I spent my entire life hiding from a past that I had no part of and now I’m fucking inthe middle of it. I wish there were some other way. I am truly sorry, Charlotte. I don’t want any of this any more than you do. Like you, I am being blackmailed as well.”

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