Chapter Twenty Eight - Tavisha

I stared at the locked doors. His two goons had dragged me here from the bedroom, and now they expected me to walk down the aisle as if this were a normal wedding. One of them opens the door, and I start to fight wildly, screaming that I will not get married. One of the goons grabs me and throws me over his shoulder and marches down the aisle. I beat his broad, muscled back with my fists, but I'm so small that they do not affect him. 

I'm dropped at the feet of that damn man, and he's smirking at me with his beautiful eyes, running over my body hungrily, and I can't help my body's reaction to him. To hide my attraction, I resort to anger and tell him that Papa will kill him if he goes through with this. When he grabs me and spins me around, I come face-to-face with my father. Hope burns through my veins so quickly that I have to fight the tears that sting the back of my throat. I try to take a step toward him, but the Priest is talking, and my Papa finally looks at me and says in Russian.

'Worthless female. If only you had been born a boy.'

He gives his head a small shake, and then his eyes burn into mine.

'You have always been a disappointment, and now you have cost me a multi-billion-pound deal. You deserve this punishment. I hope he hurts you tonight. I've even offered to hold you down. Stupid bitch. You are no longer a daughter of mine. Watch your back, little traitor.'

He sneers at me before turning to the Priest, and taking my hand, he gives it to Killian O'Hara and says, 'I do' My shock at his betrayal had me frozen in place, but his words spoken in my native tongue send molten lava through my veins. Before I even know what I am doing, my fist is flying through the air, connecting with my father's nose, and there is blood everywhere.

'You have never been a father to me. I hate you.'

I want to curl into a ball and cry, but Killian turns me to face the Priest again, and any desire I had for him dies in my heart when I see the look on his face.

He orchestrated this.

Understanding dawns on me, he was burning all my bridges. Showing me there was nowhere left for me to run. He had me trapped just the way he planned, and I could see the triumph in his eyes. He thinks he has won. 

I won't let these men dictate to me any more. They have ruined my life for the last time. I start to speak, telling them no again and again, but no one is listening to me, as usual, and the anger builds like a volcano. Words spill out of me as I try to back away from him, and finally, the Priest has stopped talking.

'Please repeat after me. I, Tavisha Khushanov, do take you, Killian O'Hara.'

'No.'

I screamed as loudly as I could.

'No, no, no, I do not. I do not want to marry this man. Stop this farce, right now!!!!'

It was no use, I fought, and I screamed, but he spun me into his arms and held me against his chest, holding me so tightly I knew my wrists would be bruised tomorrow. He took over the ceremony, leaving the Priest out of large sections. When it came to the rings, I clenched my hands into fists, but he was much stronger than I was, tugging my finger free and pushing it onto my ring finger. Then he pushed his own ring on and kept my hand in his fist so I could not remove the ring he had placed there. My ears were buzzing so loudly that I heard nothing but the sound of my own racing heartbeat, so I missed the Priest telling everyone we were man and wife until he spun me around to kiss me.

'No, no, no. I was not going to let that happen. How dare he think he could kiss me if this were a real marriage?'

I turned my head away from him, expecting to have it wrenched back so he could plunder my lips, but he didn't do that.  He lifted my chin and looked into my eyes, his beautiful dark navy eyes stared back at me full of kindness and something else that I did not understand, and then he placed a very gentle kiss on my cheek. 

When he turned us to face the congregation, my father stepped forward and made it clear he felt his debt to Killian was paid, and the Alliance was over. He did not even look at me as he condemned me to my life with the Bikers, telling Killian I was a whore and only fit to work in his whorehouse. I barely heard his insults; exhaustion was dragging at my limbs, and it was all I could do to remain standing. I watched the door of the church swing shut behind him and his men and felt my legs buckle, grateful that Killian was holding me so tightly, or I would have collapsed onto the hard granite floor of the church. 

I felt nothing as he led me out of the church and back into the warm afternoon sunshine and placed me in his SUV.

I was empty, numb, yet again, my life had been dictated to me by the one man I should have been able to trust. What little I had felt for him was gone, dissipating like the early morning mist.

As far as I was concerned, I was an orphan.

Both my parents were dead to me.

If I were ever given the chance, I would willingly take his life with my own hands.

He had betrayed me, and one day, somehow, I would make him pay for breaking my heart.