I'll do it

Isla~

Terror. That was all I felt as he grabbed hold of my wrist, pulling me back into the house.

"Let go of me, you monster!" I screeched.

"Go ahead, little princess. Scream all you want!" Dante mocked, his eyes reflecting something sinister.

With every attempt I made to free myself, his grip only seemed to get tighter. I was absolutely no match for his raw strength.

"Nobody's coming to save you."

I panicked even more as he dragged me up the flight of stairs. I was only beginning to notice that he didn't come alone.

He was accompanied by an entourage of masked men in black coats, all armed to the teeth. It made me realize that he was even more dangerous, more powerful than I've been made to believe.

I'd rather die than be his bride.

We soon arrived at my family's living room and he forcefully shoved me onto a nearby sofa. Where the hell was everybody? Weren't they hearing my screams?

Dante plopped himself down on a sofa just across from me. Even sitting, he still looked like a mountain of a man. There was a dangerously attractive mix of dominance and power in the air around him.

It didn't help that his men were standing motionless like shadows around him. I felt like nothing but prey in his presence, and that was what I probably was to him.

"I see you got my present." He spoke up, leisurely crossing one of his leg over the other and relaxing in his seat.

His eyes roamed my body and that was when I realized that he was talking about the dress I was wearing.

"It's a shame you don't appreciate it." He clicked his tongue in mock disappointment.

"Fuck you!" I spat in defiance, refusing to be intimidated by him.

Dante let out a low, dark chuckle and there was that skin crawling sensation again.

"Trust me, my little spitfire. There would be enough time for that." He grinned suggestively at me and I almost couldn't help my urge to gag.

"I'd rather die." I hissed.

"I'd rather die than marry a monster like you!"

He was suddenly in front of me, grabbing my chin and tilting my face upwards.

From this sudden proximity, I could see the colors in his eyes more clearly. There were more shades of grey in them than I thought, and a part of me found them strangely attractive.

I could also smell his musky cologne. Why was I expecting him to smell like death?

"You haven't seen even a slight bit of monstrosity yet." He whispered in a darker tone, making me swallow hard.

"I take really extreme measures to get whatever I want."

"...and what I want is for you to be my bride." He declared.

This man had never even met me before tonight, and here he was obsessed about the idea of making me his bride. It confused and scared me at the same time.

"Why?" I managed to whisper as he slowly pulled away from me.

"Why does it have to be me?"

Dante said nothing. He sat himself down on the sofa again, before snapping his fingers at his men.

I watched as my entire family was dragged out to the living room, one after the other. My father, mother, Miss Neagley and the rest of our household staff were made to kneel in front of Dante and I.

I watched them tremble in fear as they looked anywhere but at us. Not even my father was bold enough to look at me now.

"So...who should I kill first?"

I shifted my attention back to Dante, who now had that smug, sadistic grin on his face. He was clearly enjoying this sick display of his power.

I suddenly felt a wave of guilt wash over me. If I hadn't made an attempt to escape earlier, maybe my family wouldn't be in this mess. I brought this upon them and I felt like I had to fix it.

Sounds of gunshots suddenly echoed in the room and I turned to see my father writhing on the floor. He had been shot in both legs.

"No! Father!" I cried out, springing up from my seat in an attempt to run towards him.

I was however pulled back to my seat by one of the masked men.

"Why are you doing this?" I seethed at Dante as I was being held down on the sofa. I had the urge to lunge at him and gouge out his eyeballs.

His dark chuckle echoed through the room, despite the fact that my father was still crying out in pain.

"The next bullet is going into his head." Dante suddenly deadpanned.

"...then I'll do the same to the rest of them, one after the other."

"Then I'll go for Matteo."

A gun was suddenly pointed to my father's head by one of the men, and that was when our eyes finally met.

For that brief moment, I didn't see anger or hate in his eyes. I didn't see that manipulative man who always wanted to use me as a means for his every end. And it wasn't just fear I saw in his eyes. My father knew something I didn't.

"Wait!" I suddenly blurted out, cutting through the tense silence in the room.

They all turned to look at me. Somehow, it felt like I was deciding the fate of my entire family, deciding if they live or die. That was how they all looked at me.

"I'll do it!"

I turned to to look at Dante, who was watching me with an amused expression.

"I'll do what you want. I'll marry you." I said in a shaky breath.

Dante's grin widened and I watched him stand up from his seat. He took slow steps towards my father and I could have sworn, my heart stopped for a moment.

When he was finally in front of my father, Dante crouched down so he could look him in the eyes.

"Hear that, Santos? I'm going to be your son-in-law." He said tauntingly.

His hands suddenly shot out to cup my father's face.

"Don't you worry. I'll take good care of her."