Page 86 of Savage Don

It’s like a dark hand has wrapped around my throat.

“Dating?”

Just like that, it all becomes dreadfully clear. Ray isn’t planning on really letting me go. Even if he takes me back home, he still owns my father. He still owns me.

Fucking hell.

The revelation is enough to disintegrate any lingering bits of arousal swirling around inside of me. The burning fist in my core unfurls, dissolving into the darkness. I’m fucked.

“You didn’t think I was just going to leave you as a single mother, did you?” Ray asks, that fucking smirk teasing me so fucking harshly. “This is my plan, Francesca. This is my wish. My desire. This is what will happen. You will be mine, in body and in mind. In every little way, I will own you. The baby is just the start. Before it comes, I promise to put a ring on that pretty little finger of yours. Then, once my heir is born, I promise to put a crown on your head. There’s no use in being scared anymore, kitten. It’s time to prepare yourself. The rest of your life awaits. I’m here to make sure nothing goes wrong.”

It’s like each booming word tightens the noose around my throat a little tighter. A mountain has been dropped on me, and I don’t know how to react.

Ray didn’t just save me from that frat party for my own good. He didn’t even just take me to satisfy his own lust.

This was all put into motion behind my back. A nefarious plan to steal away the future that I’ve worked so hard for, to snuff out the light I’ve been chasing. To use me as a pawn.

But why? Why me?

What good could I be? Ray said it himself, my father is a disgraced don. He’s going broke.

Am I payment? A debt?

Does it matter?

No matter what happens now, the underlying truth of my twisted situation is clear.

I belong to Ray Byrne.

And he’s not going to let me escape.

18

Ray

Well, that was no fun.

Still, I know it had to be done, and I couldn’t dance around a single word of it.

Now, Francesca knows her fate. She can prepare for it. Lean into it. She can learn to love it.

There’s no escaping the wheels I’ve set in motion.

Even if she breaks our deal and tells her father everything, it will only push her deeper into my hand.

It almost makes me feel guilty, especially as I glance in the rear-view mirror at my little slave. One last look before she becomes so much more than that.

Now, it’s time for her to become my forbidden lover.

“We’re here,” I announce, turning down a driveway I’m sure Francesca recognizes all too well.

I’ve brought her home.

No response comes from the brooding little girl sitting in my back seat. God, she’s so fucking beautiful.

Part of me almost wishes that I hadn’t been so direct with her. It must have been overwhelming to hear her entire future laid out before her like that.

But it had to be done.