Page 1 of Conquered

Hunted

CHAPTER ONE

Pregnant.

I sit on the toilet, the test shaking in my hand, making that one word jump and dance around, as if taunting me. A gasping sob falls from my lips, my other hand coming up quickly to cover the sound.

Funny how one small word can change the course of your life so completely that it becomes unrecognisable.

Shit. I can’t have a child with him.I think, panic flaring in my chest as images of flying fists flash across my mind.

A bang on the door makes me jump, dropping the stick which goes skittering across the expensive black marble tiled flooring.

“Coming!” I shout, standing and pulling my knickers back up my legs, letting my midnight blue silk evening gown fall to the floor. My hand traces over my stomach, as if I can feel the life growing inside of me, which of course is impossible as according to the test, I’m only a few weeks along.

“Violet,” a deep voice sounds on the other side of the door, and I shudder at the dark tone. “You'll make us late.”

“Just washing up, Ace,” I call out, turning the tap on, then picking up the test and frantically looking around for somewhere to hide it. He can't see it, not until I've decided what I'm going todo. Spotting the under sink cupboard, I quickly stash it behind all of the cleaning products.

I'll have to come back for it later.

After washing my hands, I take a final look in the mirror. My dress has a high neck and back, and you can only just see a faint purple mark peeking out from under the collar. The rest of the dress hugs my figure, with rhinestones covering down to my hips and glittering like stars in the night sky. They lessen as the skirts flare out around my feet in a swishing mermaid tail.

I take a deep breath to steady myself, wincing as my bruised ribs twinge.

Just get through this evening, then think about what to do next.

I plaster a smile on my face, grabbing my matching beaded purse off the counter, and open the door to find Ace, my fiancé, standing in a full black tuxedo and looking devilishly handsome. His hair is thick and a dark chocolate brown slicked back from his arresting face. His jaw is sharp, his nose straight like a Roman emperor’s, and there's a neat, dark beard covering his jawline.

It's a beautiful face, but a hard one, and right now, his thick brows are pinched over his dark brown eyes. Had I looked closer when I first met him, I might have noticed the deadness lurking just beneath the surface of those shadowy orbs. Not that it would have made much of a difference, I suppose. This is an arranged match, one both our parents decided when we were in the cradle. Contracts signed and sealed before our first birthday.

Those sable eyes take me in; starting at my lightly made up face, moving down my silk-clad body, assessing my appearance for any flaw, and leaving unpleasant tingles in their wake. Finding none, he nods and holds out one arm for me to take. I rush in my heels to do so, knowing that any infraction will be paid for later behind closed doors.

“I don't like to be kept waiting, Violet.” He admonishes as we leave the house, walking towards the waiting black SUV, and Tom, our driver. “You know they'll try and steal any advantage they can. Bunch of ignorant jackals.” His lip curls, tone scathing, and I wonder, not for the first time, why he went into business with the others if he finds them so distasteful. We all went to high school together, and they always seemed pretty tight knit.

Ace and I went to school here in Colorado, and Highgate Preparatory Academy is one of the best in the world, especially for meeting future business associates and leaders. The teaching is second to none, but it’s the connections and networking with the top one-percenters that is the real draw. It surprised me when my English parents suggested it, but then again, since Ace is American and was coming here, it only made sense for me to come as well given our betrothal.

Once we'd graduated, I wanted to go on and study something artistic, history of art in New York perhaps, but Ace had other plans so we ended up at Yale School of Management earning our MBAs there. I should have known then what sort of man he was, but I was too meek, too desperate for affection, after a lack of any sort from my stiff and emotionally distant parents.

We graduated this summer and moved into a large mansion about twenty minutes from Brompton Lakes, back near Highgate Prep. It’s got more rooms than we need and is secluded in the woods; nice and private just as Ace likes. No nosy neighbours to interfere with his pleasures.

Tonight, we're on our way to the official opening gala of Black Knight Corporation, the multifaceted company that Ace has set up with Julian Vanderbilt, Rafe Griffiths, Stephen Matthews, and Chad Thorn. All rich, entitled brats with pretty faces that hide their twisted and depraved personalities.

The SUV stops, snapping me out of my musings, and Tom gets out and comes to open Ace’s door.

He turns to me, dark eyes almost black and boring into my very soul. “Best behaviour, Violet. Don't show me up tonight.” He doesn't wait for an answer, just steps out of the vehicle, and then leans back to hold a hand out like the perfect gentleman.

Aplan starts to formulate in my mind as I sit through dinner followed by rounds of self-congratulatory speeches. Over the past couple of years, I've perfected the art of smiling like I'm engaged whilst my mind wanders. No one really cares, women are just arm candy to these fat cats and corrupt leaders.

I open my purse, looking around to make sure that no eyes are on me. As usual, they're too focused on themselves to notice as I slip some powder into Ace’s champagne flute whilst he’s in the bathroom. I've got about fifteen to twenty minutes before the effects kick in, so I've made sure we're getting towards the end of the evening.

It's Rohypnol, and until recently, he was using it on me without my knowledge. Some mornings I'd wake up with new bruises and an ache between my thighs, yet have no clue how they got there until I saw him drugging my drink a few months back.

We were at a function, not dissimilar to this one, with rich men trying to line their pockets and Ace schmoozing his way around. I’d popped to the bathroom, returning sooner than he clearly expected, and saw him slip something into my glass. I managed to ditch the drink when he wasn’t looking, only to face his puzzled anger later on in the evening once we’d arrived back at the house.

It didn’t take much to put two and two together, and realise what he’d been up to and why I had gaps in my memories.

A few days later, when he was away for a business meeting, aka a prostitute orgy, I stole his stash. Black Knight Corp has a pharmaceutical arm, run by Rafe Griffiths, which explains how Ace managed to get a hold of the drug in the first place. Bunch of bloody criminals hiding behind lily white family reputations, bought of course. I knew I couldn’t just take the drug without risking his notice. I’d need to replace it with something, so I replaced it with a placebo, that way I was at least aware of what was happening.