Seven

RAVEN'S POV

"This can't be real." My voice was a thin, strangled whisper. "This is insane. I didn't sign this. I couldn't have."

My mother grabbed the papers away from me and with fright filled eyes began reading to herself quickly. Cameron froze beside the kitchen counter, one hand against her lips. Eric was absolutely white, his habitual easy smile gone.

"Raven." Mom's voice cracked. “Darling, this is … this is indeed …”

“No.”I pushed back from her, shook my head so violently my eyes watered. "No, no, no. There's been a mistake. I signed partnership papers. Business papers. Not… not this."

Kade D’Angelo filled my small living room like a dark thundercloud, giving the ground even less to stand on. And at his reaction to my response, he did not seem surprised. If He felt anything, it looked to me like boredom, as if He had expected this reaction and was a little bored with it.

"There's no mistake, Miss Statham." His voice was slick, cold as winter rain. “You put your name on the paper that I handed to you. My attorneys have confirmed its authenticity. The contract is binding."

"I want a lawyer." I lunged for my phone sitting on the coffee table, my fingers shaking so violently I almost lost it. “I’m calling a lawyer as we speak. You can’t just… you can’t make somebody marry you. That's illegal. That’s kidnapping or … or like human trafficking or something.”

“Please do, call anyone you want. Kade retrieved his own phone and double tapped on the screen before raising it in the air. "But I'm fairly certain that every decent law firm in this city is already on retainer with D'Angelo Enterprises. The few that are not…" He stopped, his grey eyes catching mine. “Well, let’s just say they’re not going to be so quick to face me.

Cameron finally found her voice. "This is insane. Raven, we'll figure this out. We’ll call the cops or … or the newspapers. Someone has to help."

One of Kade’s men, the big one who’d stood beside the door, chuckled low. One look from Kade had him shutting up.

"The police?" Kade’s mouth twisted in a motion that was not exactly a smile. “What would you tell them, exactly? That Miss Statham signed a document of her own free will and now has buyer’s remorse? Sorry, but that’s not a crime.”

“I had no idea what I was signing.” The shock was finally shattered, and my voice spiked. "You tricked me. You showed me that paper when I was scared to death, after you’d just made me watch you…” I broke off, some part of my gut twisting at the bloody memory of concrete on concrete.

"Watched me what?" Kade took a step closer. "Please, finish that sentence. Let your family know what you saw in that garage.”

My mouth went dry. He was threatening me. Telling me to keep my mouth shut about the murder, and all that I’d seen. If I said the truth, if I confessed what I saw would he hurt them too?

"Nothing." The word tasted like ash. "I didn't see anything."

Mom had the contract out and was staring at it again, but something in her expression was different. The initial shock was wearing off, giving way to something else. Something that sent a chill down to my bones.

"Raven, honey." She raised her gaze to me, and there were tears in her eyes, but they weren’t the shocked tears that I’d been expecting. They were tears of relief. “This might be … I mean all those D’Angelos would have to ….”

"Mom, what are you saying?" I could not trust my ears! “You can’t believe this is acceptable in any way.

“I’m thinking perhaps this isn’t the worst thing that could have happened. She tried to take my hand and I pulled it away. God rest your father’s soul. He would’ve wanted them to take care of you. And the bakery, Raven. With the Dangellian resources you have, you could definitely salvage it. You could save everything."

“And you hear your words, don’t you?” I looked at Eric and Cameron, praying someone would get a grip. "Tell her this is crazy. Tell her I can't just marry someone that’s a complete stranger because he orders me to.”

Eric's mouth opened, but Kade stopped him before he could answer.

“‘I can’t exactly say that I’m a stranger to you, Miss Statham. We've met twice now. Where you attacked me in a side street.” He rubbed his jaw where I'd kicked him. "And in my own office once, when you were very glad to come for my help. I’m just giving you a different kind of partnership than the one you were expecting.”

"This isn't a partnership. This is … this is …” I didn’t even know what to say.

"Marriage." Kade said the word as if it was unimportant. As if he were talking about a business merger, not two people’s lives. "A marriage of convenience for us both. What you get is that much-needed financial support.” I mean….” He took a beat, glancing over me in a way that made my skin crawl. "What I need."

I bolted for the door. I never thought of it, planned it. It was as if my body had a mind of its own and reacted from pure fright and the need to get away from this man, this situation, this horrific nightmare that threatened to consume me entirely.

I had taken three steps when a pair of men in black suits appeared directly in front of the door. I spun in the direction of the kitchen, thinking maybe I could go out the back way; but there were more of them. They were all over, obstructing every conceivable exit as though they had coordinated this extremely well.

"Let me out." My voice broke. "Please, just let me out."

"Raven, calm down." Cameron attempted to take my arm, but I shook her off.

What do you mean, calm down? Now I was bellowing, all the fear and anger and disbelief spewing out of me. “He’s trying to force me to marry him. He's threatening me. Someone has to do something."

Kade was standing at the edge of the couch, utterly unmoved. He simply sat and looked at me, into my very soul, with those deadly looking cold grey eyes. but I could see its flame burning behind the glassy glaze of both gray and white watching but waiting for me to give in like some trapped animal.

I don't mean to oblige you, Miss Statham. His voice was so cool that it made me mad. “I’m just trying to tell you how the matter stands. You signed a contract. That contract is legally binding. This can be easy, or this can be hard. The choice is yours."

"And if I refuse?" I raised my chin, searching for some semblance of bravery. “You’re not going to drag me down the aisle, are you?”

"If necessary." He said it so matter-of-factly, like he was discussing the weather. “But I don’t think it will reach that point.”

“If you think I’m going to be joining right in on this, well, you really don’t know me at all.”

"Don't I?" Kade pulled out his phone from inside his jacket once again. This time, he scrolled through a few more photos before passing the screen to me. “I actually know a lot about you. Raven Marie Statham. Twenty five years old. Only child. Father passed when you were ten years old from what the police report states as an accidental death, however the case file reads there are some discrepancies that weren’t properly looked into.”

My blood turned to ice.

“Three years ago, when your grandmother died, you inherited her bakery. The building is mortgaged to the gills and you’re six months behind in your payments right now. You have forty seven thousand in student loan debt, twenty three thousand in credit card debt and your mother has been all over you for the past year to sell that business." He scrolled to another photo. “You have a 2008 Honda that is in the shop every month or so. One Sunday a month you help out at the animal shelter. Your favorite color is yellow, you’re allergic to shellfish, and you haven’t had a serious boyfriend since Carter Pierce dumped you eight months ago.”

The room was spinning. How did he know all of this? How long had he been observing me?

"Speaking of Carter." Kade scrolled to another photo, and my heart leapt. It was Carter, stepping out of his apartment building, unaware that he could be photographed. That’s not what made my knees buckle, however. It was the tiny red dot that had formed on his chest, directly over where his heart was. A laser sight.

“No.” It was a low whisper. "No, you can't. This has nothing to do with him.”

“It’s all about him.” Kade pocketed his phone. “You care about him and that makes him leverage. That's the way it works, Miss Statham. You’re going to do what I say, or the people you love are going to suffer.”

Cameron made a strangled sound. Eric stepped up beside me, his wrists balled, although we both knew he stood no chance against the men holding us at gunpoint.

"You're a monster." The words tasted like poison.

"Yes." Kade agreed with no hesitation. "I am. And tomorrow you’re going to marry me.”

My mother was openly crying now, still gripping the stupid contract. “Raven, maybe we should just … Maybe if we talk about this rationally.”

“There’s nothing to say, Mom.” I couldn't look at her. Could not believe she was even contemplating this. "He's threatening to kill people. To kill Carter."

“I haven’t threatened anyone’s life.” Kade's voice was infuriatingly reasonable. "I've merely observed that accidents occur. People get hurt. Buildings catch fire. Businesses fail. All awful but not particularly rare in this city.” He straightened his cuffs. “Unless, that is, they’re under the aegis of the D’Angelo name.Then they tend to be very safe.”

"This is extortion."

"This is reality." He checked his watch. “Now it’s eight thirty at night. That will be at two o'clock, tomorrow a'ternoon. That's about seventeen hours to deal with your new reality. My recommendation is that you use it wisely.”

"And if I run?" I had to ask, even though I already knew.

"Then I'll find you." His tone held no emotion—only cold certainty. "I have resources you haven't even dreamed of, Miss Statham. There is no where you could go that I wouldn’t find you in hours. And when I did …” He allowed the sentence to trail off.

"You'd kill me."

“No.” It was the first time anything had flickered in his eyes. Something I couldn't quite read. "I wouldn't kill you. But, you know, I could take everyone you’ve ever cared about and pick them off one at a time until you came back to me willingly. Starting with Carter. Then, maybe, your cousin Cameron here. Then Eric. Your mother would be last, most likely. I hear that the waiting is the hardest part.”

Cameron whimpered. Eric’s complexion had turned from pallid to gray. My mother sank into a chair, the contract slipping from her grasp.

Something cracked in me. This wasn't a negotiation. It wasn't even a threat. It was a promise. Kade D’Angelo would keep the promise he’d just made, and have sweet dreams as well.

"What do you want from me?" My voice was broken, defeated.

“What I desire, Moya Ptichka, is very simple.” He lowered his voice to a whisper aimed just at me. "You belong to me now. Every breath, every gesture, every thought. And tomorrow, the whole world is going to know it.”

He straightened, the mask of frosty detachment clicking back into place as he spoke to the room.

"Sleep well. The dress will be here at dawn."

He turned and strode out of my apartment, his men falling in behind him like shadows. The door clicked shut behind them and the silence they left was a cacophony.

I stood there paralyzed, my world collapsing around me. Tomorrow, I was to wed the Reaper. And there wasn’t a fucking thing I could do to stand in the way.