A Debt Owed (A Dark Billionaire Romance) (The Debt Duet Book 1)

A few minutes earlier

Being alone in a room is the worst thing in the world.

A million wedding dresses surround me. None of them I want to wear, but all of them seem to stare right back at me as I turn and turn, trying to make sense of this all. Even though Jill said I should pick one, I don’t want to. Anything but that. I want to scream and shout off the rooftops, but I can’t get out of this room to even try. There’s no way out … no way to release this pent-up anger I have left inside me.

Rage boils to the surface, and I run my fingers through my hair, trying to stop myself from going insane. But I can’t. It’s too late. Before I know it, I’ve already reached into the drawers and ripped everything out; clothes, underwear, shoes, belts.

Something shimmery and pointy catches my eye, and I grab a diamond buckle and rip it off the belt. Without thought or reason, I rip it through the dresses, one by one, leaving none of them unscathed. Not even the one I’m wearing.

After I’m done, I scream so loud my lungs feel like they’re about to burst. That needed to be let out, and now I feel much better. I sink down onto the bed and breathe in and out slowly. I’m honestly trying not to lose my mind … but I guess it’s already too late for that.

Sudden footsteps stomping up the stairs have me clenching the buckle tight, ready to attack. However, the face that appears calms me down immediately. Jill. She’s still here?

“Miss, I heard some … oh, my God!” She immediately rushes to the dresses, grabbing each and every one of them right where I ripped the holes through. She plucks out the unusable pieces and holds them up closer as if she can’t believe her eyes.

“Did you do this?” she mutters. She clutches the dresses as if they’re her babies.

“I …” I can’t even answer through the guilt eating away at me. How can I when she’s looking at me with such pain in her eyes as though she made these dresses by hand? She didn’t, right? I hope to God these weren’t hers. I don’t want to do this to her. I didn’t want to do this to anyone … But I don’t wanna be forced to marry a guy I despise either.

“These dresses were beautiful,” she mumbles. “Gorgeous. And you wrecked them.”

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have, but I couldn’t stop either,” I try to explain, but I know she won’t understand. How could she when she chooses his happiness over my freedom?

Suddenly, Easton bursts through the door, wearing only a pair of navy pants. He’s completely naked from the waist up … completely ripped from V-line all the way up to his muscular chest, and my eyes can’t stop ogling him. Shit.

His eyes scour the dresses, his nostrils flaring as he witnesses the destruction I caused. He goes over each and every destroyed part until his smoldering eyes land on me. I clench my legs together as he steps farther into the room, his shoulders rising and falling hard with each breath.

“Jill. Leave us.”

She nods and leaves the room, closing the door on her way out.

Now it’s just the monster and me alone in the room. He stalks closer, his tongue dipping out to lick his bottom lip as though he’s preparing for the words to pour out. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t feeling overpowered by his menacing presence as he towers over me, tilting his head as he looks down upon me. His penetrating stare makes me feel naked.

Will it always feel like this? If so, I’ll have one heck of a time adjusting to the sight of him, especially if I continue to let a man’s chiseled, half-naked body distract me.

I swallow away the lump in my throat as he puts his hands against his waist.

Oh, boy. This is gonna get rough.

Easton

“Did you do this?” I ask, pointing at the dresses littering the floor … or what’s left of them. When she screamed, I thought she’d hurt herself, not ruined the dresses she was supposed to try on. An entire fortune ripped apart as if it means nothing to her.

She averts her eyes, refusing to even look at me. She doesn’t want to give me the satisfaction of her guilt. And I’m sure that if she did look at me, she’d turn into a meek little lamb. I know she desires me, and whether she ignores the sensations of her body is irrelevant. Her eyes already betrayed her the moment I set foot into her room.

But that does not change the fact that she acted out like the little princess she is.

I grasp her chin and force her to look me in the eyes. “Tell me why.”

“You know damn well why,” she hisses through gritted teeth, trying her best not to look at my bare chest. How amusing. I guess it’s hard to avoid looking at something you really wanna look at. Just like it’s hard not to ruin someone else’s hard work.

“Those were expensive dresses you were supposed to try on, not make a collage out of them.”

She snorts. “You think that’s what I was doing?”

I tighten my grip on her chin to keep her from turning her head. “You’re avoiding the inevitable, Charlotte.” A smile forms on my lips as her fear grows when I bend over to get on her eye level. “You will be my wife, whether you like it or not, and you will wear whatever I tell you to wear.”

“There are no dresses left. What are you gonna do?” she taunts.

“You think this will get you out of the agreement?” I retort, shaking my head slightly.

I put my hands beside her on the bed, and she leans backward just to avoid confrontation.

“Let me be straight with you. I don’t care if I have to drag you to the altar in your bra and panties. I’ll fucking put a ring on your finger in front of your family while you are naked if I have to,” I growl, leaning so close I could press her down on the mattress and force myself on her. But I’m not gonna do that. I just want her to think I could. She needs to feel the threat and remember it, so she won’t ever pull this shit again to try to get her way.

“Make no mistake, princess …” I whisper as I take a strand of her hair and curl it around my finger. “You are mine, and you will be my wife, with or without a dress. And we’ll have plenty of time to enjoy everything that comes with being a husband and wife … including having you strut around my house completely naked.”

Just the thought has me riled up enough to make my cock hard against my pants, and when I lean away, standing tall and proud, her eyes follow down toward my rock-hard length. The way she swallows right after is enough for me.

First, I’ll take her hand. Then I’ll take her pussy.

“Now … apologize to me and Jill and promise you won’t do silly things like this again. Maybe then I’ll let you have dinner tonight.”

She grimaces and looks out the window. “No.”

“Charlotte …” I make a fist with my hand. “It’s in your best interest to do what I want. Or do you want to stop eating altogether?”

I know she’s hungry. I’ve seen her clench her belly and noticed how she keeps ignoring her growling stomach. She ignores the need for nutrition because it’s her only way to control what’s happening to her, and she uses it as a weapon against me. But I won’t allow it anymore.

“Either you do this, or you can die from hunger. Your choice,” I growl.

I mean it. I’m done playing her games.

She loudly sucks in a breath through her nose and licks her lips as if she needs to get rid of a foul taste. “I apologize,” she says under her breath. Her voice soft as a feather and almost inaudible, but I heard it. “And I promise not to do it again.”

A wicked grin spreads on my lips. “Do you still want clothes? Or should I drag you down the aisle in your birthday suit?”

She looks at me at in disgust. “What?”

“You heard me.” I cross my arms over my chest. “You want to wear clothes to our wedding? Ask me, and maybe I’ll let you …”

She scowls once again and refuses to look me in the eyes as her lips part. “Fine. Please, can I wear some clothes to my goddamn wedding?”

“No,” I say, narrowing my eyes. “Beg me like you mean it.”

She takes another deep breath as though she feels humiliated. Good. I want her to feel that. I want it to sink into her bones so she’ll never forget. So she’ll think twice before she throws a tantrum.

“Can I please wear clothes?” she asks, this time without the begrudging tone.

Fuck. I love hearing her grovel. I could get used to this … I definitely could.

I approach her again and place a hand on her head, petting her hair. “Good girl. Now go make up to Jill, and then we can all get on with our day.”

When I press a gentle kiss onto her cheeks, she completely freezes. By the time I move away, she still sits rigidly on the bed and doesn’t even look me in the eyes as I open the door and close it while making the last eye contact.

I know my lips and touch can be overwhelming. She’ll get used to it soon.

Charlotte

A few days later

“Stay still. It’ll only hurt for a few seconds,” the man says as he sits down on a stool beside me.

My hands clench together in an effort to stop the tears from forming in my eyes. Easton’s standing right in front of me, and he watches while the man places the wet cotton against my ear and then a sharp tool. I can’t look away, but I don’t want to look at Easton either. Instead, I close my eyes as the sharp tool punctures my earlobe and a piercing pain emanates throughout my ear.

“All done. Easy, right?” the man muses as if it’s nothing. “Now the other side.”

I don’t even know his name or why he’s doing this to me. Doesn’t he know I’m not here because I want to be? That he’s doing something against the law?

Piercing my ears without asking me if it’s okay … exactly what I’d expect from a man like Easton. Vicious to the bone. He glares at me like a man obsessed. As though he’s marking his property. I’m like a cow getting branded, and it makes me want to explode.

But Easton’s vigilant eye stops me. He’s only here to keep watch, in case I try to say something to this man piercing my ears.

Still, I hate sitting here without saying a word while my second earlobe is pierced. It burns like fire, and my whole body shakes with rage when it’s over. With a tepid smile on his face, the man picks up a small mirror and holds it up so I can see. Two sparkling diamonds flaunt my ears. I’ve never had earrings before, and if you ignore the stinging, they don’t look so bad. Except for the fact that no one asked me what I wanted, of course.

“Perfect,” Easton says to the man.

“Clean it every day with this solution,” the man says, handing a tiny bottle to Easton. “And make sure she doesn’t touch them too much.”

Easton nods at the man, and says, “My assistant will take care of the payment. She’s downstairs.”

“All right,” he says. “Thank you for your business, and I hope you enjoy your new earrings, ma’am.” He smiles once more before packing up his things and leaving the room.

While I remain seated on the chair, Easton goes to close the door. I fiddle with the earrings while my eyes are fixed on the small hand mirror. I’m only a prize, a part of Easton’s collection adorned with diamonds and gowns. A pretty little doll he can dress and play with.

A hand rests on my shoulder. Easton appears in the mirror, wearing a lopsided grin. Like the devil himself, he brings his lips to my ears, and whispers, “Beautiful.”

The sound brings chills to my skin, causing all the hairs on my neck to rise.

Suddenly, he places a soft kiss on my neck. I freeze, my muscles tightening. His lips drag up all the way toward my earlobe, where his tongue dips out to lick up a tiny speck of my blood.

Fuck.

Why does my body send out such mixed signals? I hate it.

“They look riveting on you,” he murmurs into my ear. “Don’t you think?”

I can’t even focus on what he’s saying. My mind is still reeling from that kiss. But it’s wrong, so wrong … I can’t give in to his demands, no matter how sinful those lips felt on my skin.

I swallow away the lump in my throat. “It’s fine.”

“You don’t like them?” he asks, swiping aside my hair as he watches me through the mirror. “There are plenty of other earrings to choose from once these have healed. I can arrange for Jill to bring them over so you can choose. Would you have preferred pearls?”

“No. This is fine,” I lie. I don’t want to spend any more time on this. I don’t want to be happy, and I don’t want to make him happy either.

“Good.” He squeezes my shoulder. “I want you to be happy.”

That’s not true, and he knows that, but he doesn’t care. He wants to think I’m happy so he can live with what he’s doing to me, but I won’t ever forgive him.

He leans forward and kisses me on the cheeks again, adding, “Soon, you’ll be mine alone just as you were meant to be from the start. And then you’ll beg me to take your cherry, princess.”

My eyes widen as he leaves me and closes the door behind him, his last words repeating in my head.

Cherry … my virginity.

Something I’d completely forgotten about because I never dated guys. I was too busy working to make a living, and I was afraid my father would find out and hurt them, so I never even tried.

And now my first time ever having sex will be with my captor.

Fuck.