To Marry A Monster
the door of the bedroom slams open so hard that it's as if the walls
fur
fur
raw anger. He strides into the room, his gaze falling on me and I'm suddenly aware of ho
enched, and his chest rising and falling in shallow, regul
he wraps his fingers around
with
e mess they made in the kitchen or something. My heart beats fast in the inside of my chest, but I do not beg or plead for him to release me. Instea
takes us to his study, where bookcases line the walls and a single desk light illumin
ow and controlled, but I
folder and th
I ask trying not
s debt." He r
r and open it. My eyes run page after page of legal terms, and so many words
,023
split second I wa
d did
with money, that he'd gamble and owed important
ssible. This is
page once more, forcing
that I have seven days from today to
a second
iage c
deeply at Dante, my hands curled around the
f he expected me to react like this and he had
this?" I bang the folder shu
ther felt he could take my money and just disappear
raw at the marketplace. My siblings were barely able to attend school becaus
ather," I snap, bu
ad slightly. "You're not. Which
e he no longer sees me as a person, but some business
ontact with him. "You can't seriou
ve me the money then i
e check my savings account real quick. Perhaps
dow of self-satisfaction curling on his lips. "Beca
e has to be something
isn't
up, several thoughts are running through my brain all at once.
en get from thi
rrying you, it's not just a payment of debt. It's giving me the e
ant everything. Even w
s coolly. "And you, Isla, are
ittle, and it isn't just his smug smirks, but
d for a woman her age, doe
e trying
The young ones can't even attend sch
nly softer, almost reasonable, "I might be p
makes my skin crawl. Like
us of you,"
. Your family would be under my protection. A generous monthly s
yes. "And wha
his wickedness. "The catch is they become mine too. My responsibility. My people." He pauses, letting the words sink in. "Your m
y spine. "You want
imply. "And soon, they'll be pa
mily would trade one prison for
f I re
s then turns it around to face me. Security footage appears on screen-my mot
me," he says casually. "We're not protectin
ately some ki
ldn't,"
y intervention, how long before your mother's health gives out? How long before your siblin
twists
atly typed beneath a blank line to sign. Th
shake as I
moment when my life is no longer mine. The moment I of
m. Of everything I wanted.
re clothes. The predatory men who eye our apart
t my
ey're filled with unshed t
ry penny they receive. Eve
his face. He reaches for another docume
dy pre
choose my family over myself. He
makes my stomach turn. "The Romano family shall be recognized as depend
now reduced
savouring the last moments of my freedom. Each
diamond. The girl who dreamed of Brown University is gone. In her place stand
force myself to hold back and not ta
you're s
s the signed contracts. "Satisfaction c
cup my cheek with his hand, his t
sla. I take excellent
erything I hold dear: one day