Page 12 of Stolen Matrimony

Laying eyes on my brother lifted a weight off me. I felt better now that I had showered and brushed my teeth. The hot water and heavy pressure felt amazing against my aching muscles. My wrists and ankles were still raw, bruised, and swollen from being tied up for so long. My book bag was waiting for me when I got out of the shower with everything in it, minus my weapons.

“Are you okay?” I asked my brother, searching him over. He looked clean and healthy. I didn’t notice any marks or wounds on him.

He nodded. “Yeah. Nazai told me you weren’t feeling good. Are you still sick?”

I glanced behind him at Nazai who was sitting on the couch, observing the two of us, then looked back at my brother.

“Yeah, I’m good.”

“Nazai told me we’re going to live with him and we’ll be safe now. Is that true?” Hesitation filled his face.

My brother had been through a lot of shit to be ten years old. While I tried to protect him from a lot of things, there were some that slipped through the cracks. He was often jumpy and didn’t like to be away from me for too long; I was happy to see he seemed to be managed well while I was locked away.

“Yeah, bud,” I said thickly.

Nazai spoke. “Carson, I need to talk to your sister. Why don’t you go grab your Switch and give us a minute.”

A worried expression formed on my brother’s face and he eyed me, waiting for my confirmation. A forced smile formed on my face.

“Go ahead, bud.” I nodded to assure him.

He didn’t move right away but eventually walked off.

Standing up, I scowled in Nazai’s direction and stomped toward the chair on the side of him.

“You look better,” he noted.

“Fuck you.”

He chuckled. “Don’t worry we’ll get to that.” His face suddenly turned serious. “I hope you’ll play nice and I don’t have to go forward with my threat.”

Blinking blankly at him, I crossed my arms over my chest. My brother was the only reason I was keeping my composure right now.

“The wedding will happen at the end of the month. You need to be pregnant within a month following that.”

My eyes grew and my brows shot up. “Hold up a second. Pregnant? You didn’t say anything about getting pregnant! I don’t want to have any damn kids,” I rushed out, sitting forward.

“Neither do I but here we are. The agreement is us getting married and me getting you pregnant by the end of the year. That gives us five months, the sooner the better.”

“I don’t want kids. So if that’s the deal; then you’re shit out of luck.” I shrugged.

A dark look blanketed Nazai’s face. “You’ll agree to these terms or I can have Jackson go put a bullet through your brother’s head right now.”

One of the men standing behind the couch, Jackson I assumed, moved to leave the room.

“Fine,” I gritted stiffly. “Whatever, just leave my fucking brother alone.” My skin was too tight. Every atom inside me was jittery. My nerves were twitchy and unsettled. Being backed into a corner wasn’t an ideal situation for me. Feeling helpless wasn’t something I took to well and the fighter in me wanted to push back.

One corner of Nazai’s mouth lifted. “I thought you would see it my way. Now, as I was saying. There’s a lot of responsibilities that come with being married to a Tavarez that I’ll go over later, for now you’re just meant to look pretty on my arm. Just know you better not try anything funny and don’t make me regret this.”

I was confused why Nazai even needed to force me into this marriage. He was an attractive guy and I’d seen multiple photos of him with different women on his arm. He had money, power, and looks.

“Just keep your end of the bargain and handle Maddox and his family and leave my brother alone and we’ll be fine.” My voice was toneless and void of emotion. Once again I was forced to play someone’s puppet, and if Nazai wasn’t careful, then the outcome would become as deadly as the first time.

CHAPTER 7

NAZAI

“Where are we?” Cashlynn questioned, following me with Carson close at her side. She looked around the lobby as I ignored her.