Page 66 of Forget Me Not

Alaric stands up and grabs my left hand savagely. He separates my fingers and slides the band on my ring finger. “You can take all the chances you want, but I’m not willing to take any when it’s your life on the line. You will marry me, or I’ll bring all the evidence I have to Sheriff Guthrie and have him lock you up where Iknowyou’ll be safe.”

The ring fits perfectly and I hold my hand up, admiring how beautiful it is.

“Did you hear me, Rhea? Those are your options. Pick one.”

Snapping out of the trance I fell in, I lift my eyes to his. “I pick neither. But thanks for the ring.”

I could sell this baby for a pretty penny and go wherever the hell I wanna go. Alaric says this Ian guy is in Mexico, then I’ll go on the other side of the world just to hide from him.

I spin on my heel and walk to the door. Pulling it open, I step to the side. “You can leave now.”

“For fuck’s sake, Rhea,” Alaric shouts, storming toward me. I jolt, taking a step back. When he slams the door, I press my back to the wall. “Have you heard a goddamn word I’ve said to you?”

Once the shock of his outburst wears off, I trudge slowly toward him. “I heard you very clearly and I’m not okay with the options you gave me. I don’t need your help and I’m certainly not marrying you.”

“Fine.” He shrugs his shoulders. “Have it your way. But when you end up in a body bag at the age of twenty-five because you’ve been used and abused so badly, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“Oh,” I sneer, “I thought you were gonna go to Sheriff Guthrie.”

Seems Alaric barks a lot, but his bite is weak. He won't follow through with turning me in. He cares too much about me to turn over evidence of my wrongdoings.

“Is that what you want? Would you prefer to live a life in prison?”

“I dunno. Is that what you want? Because if I go down, you’re going down with me. You killed Nick, not me.”

“Didn’t you have clients that would turn up dead, Rhea? And let's not forget about the man who flew off his balcony in New York City.”

“Prove it!” I snap back.

“I can prove a lot of things,” he grits out. “Don’t test me.”

“Oh yeah. Like what?”

“I can prove that you killed your father.”

In an instant, all the blood drains from my face. I put a hand on the door, bracing myself. “What did you just say?”

“You heard me. I followed you to his house. I watched as you slowly dragged that knife across his throat while he was sleeping. You thought by killing him you were voiding that contract, didn’t you?”

“Shut up!” I howl. “You’re lying!”

“Am I, though? You murdered your own father in cold blood and never even batted an eye as you were doing it. You call me crazy, but it takes a psycho to know one.”

Nostrils flared and fists balled, I lunge at him. “You don’t know what you’re talking about!” I bring my fists to his chest, alternating hands as I pound on him over and over again. "He wasn’t a good man,” I cry out, tears falling down my face. “There’s no excuse for him giving me away like that. No reason will suffice. I was his daughter, dammit! He was supposed to love and protect me, but he failed me. He failed me, and he failed my mom.”

Alaric grabs me by the wrists, squeezing them as his knuckles turn white. “I’m not judging you, Rhea. I’m just stating what we both know to be the truth. All I ask is that you please stop judging me.”

I jerk one of my hands from him and aggressively swipe away the tears on my face. “How do you even know all of this?”

“That’s not important. None of this is. What’s done is done. All that matters is what you’re going to do now.”

“Oh, yeah.” I sniffle. “And what is that?”

“Marry me.”

“Fuck you!”

In one swift motion, Alaric pulls me to his chest. One arm wraps around my waist while the other grabs the back of my neck. “If that’s an invitation, then I accept.”

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