Chapter 46

CHAPTER FORTY-SIX

QUINN

The soft glow of the early morning light basks through the window as I rub my hand over my swollen belly. The soft, rhythmic flutter against my hand is a beautiful reminder of our baby growing inside of me.

Climbing from bed and standing in the window, I stare over the Long Island Sound behind the home that Declan and Iare rapidly filling with children. The shouting, laughter, and children running are all nearly constant. It's loud, but it's beautiful. A home bursting at the seams withlove,just as Declan had promised me.

The loudest of the bunch are the twins, two rambunctious little boys who stare up at me with the same beautiful oceanic eyes as their father. Fiona, who is growing so fast, looks more and more like her beautiful late mother every day. And this little girl in my belly, I can't wait to see if she bears her father's dark hair or my red locks, as we add a little sister to our ever-growing home.

I dreamed of the life I wanted with Declan for years. But the life he has given me is beyond anything I had ever imagined.

Waking, I splay my hand over my belly, unable to shake how real my dream felt. With my palm pressed against my flat stomach, the flutter of a kicking baby beneath it tickles my pain, and I sigh contently for a moment.The beautiful flutter of our baby.

I don't know if it's real or if it's just a dream, but the thought of a little girl growing inside of me is one more reason to be strong.

I will be going home.

…To my family.

"Sweet dreams, mochéadsearc ?" Emil smirks as he watches me sleep on the couch.

"Please don't call me that," I snip. He's not allowed to fuck me— rape me —and I think he'sequally ashesitant to leave a mark on me. The worst he has done to me is wrap his hands around my throat and watch me shower and dress. "I am not your first love. I am not your love. I am nothing more than a hole you're waiting for your boss to give you permission to put your cock in."

"You're more than one hole," he snidely replies as he walks toward me and hovers over where I sit. "You're three holes and a remarkable pair of tits. All of which I lookforward to putting cock in and covering in cum. Unless, of course, thePakhan decides to keepyou… Or you aren't strong enough for what he's going to want."

Strong enough?

He's baiting me. I know it. Yet I can't stop myself from wanting to know more, even though I know the answer will only add to the terrifying images I'm already trying to keep at bay. I look up at him and ask, "What he's going to want?"

"ThePakhanmaintains a harem of women for a reason," Emil shares. "He enjoys inflicting pain on his whores . Those who find his sadistic needs tolerable—or survivable—become a challenge, and he needs to break them." Emil reaches down and gathers my hair into his hand as I try to recoil from his touch. Fisting it hard, he yanks my head backward so roughly that I cry out in pain as the burn radiates at my crown. "If he decides he wants you, you'll spend the rest of your life wishing that you'd only have to bear the wrath of me and my men."

Nothing makes you question your mental health quite like the moment a non-consensual gang bang seems more appealing than being gifted to the sadistic owner of a harem.

He releases my hair and pulls me from the couch by my wrist. "You need to get ready. He'll be arriving shortly, and as much as I would prefer to keep you and watch your cunt squirt at my hand, I'm going to be a good soldier and prepare you for him."

Shoving me intothebathroom, he turns on the shower and holds a razor before me. "Can you trim your cunt yourself, or do you need a little help?" I snatch the razor from his hand, not wanting him anywhere near between my thighs, as he snickers.

Fuck, men can be appalling.

"Your cunt is perfect as is," he croons asheeyes my pussy. "Use it for your legs."

After showering, Emil has me put on a much too-tight and too-short black dress, topping it off with a pair oftoo-tall stilettos. Having all my weight on the balls of my feet, currently covered with abrasions from running barefoot, makes the shoes practically unbearable.

Walking past a mirror, I amcaught off guardbymyreflection. The mini dress is a far cry from theway I walked out of my home yesterday afternoon.

And my face…

While I'm trying desperately to keep my fear buried deep, it's still the first thing I see when I look into my eyes. No matter how hard I try, I cannot force the smile I had, knowing I was on my way to the church to marry Declan.

We were so close…

A heavy knock at the door startles me, tearing me back to the present.

Emil'sgaze meets mine in my reflection, and he firmly instructs, "I expect you to behave yourself."