The instant she appeared on Anton Kozlov’s radar they knew she was going to be trouble for them. Claiming her as their bride had been an easy enough undertaking.
They had summoned Adam King while he was on holiday and the man had no choice but to answer their call. He also had no choice but to give his daughter to them as their bride when they sat him down in their office and told him they were taking her for themselves.
The man owed them his life, his entire fortune and if it came to ruining Adam King to get to his daughter, that was an approach they would willingly take. They weren’t called cold-hearted bastards for anything.
Adam King had blown his top in outrage, but then he soon relented and begged they take care of her and treat her fairly as he signed her over. There was an interesting clause in the King family history that dated back generations when it came to their female members. Their fathers or another appointed male relative held complete power of attorney over them until they reached the age of twenty-five.
The patriarchs had the power to marry them off to whomever they wished as a right without any say from the female herself. Damien and his brothers had forced Adam King to exercise that right. And like he already said, the man couldn’t refuse him.
“You can’t leave. You belong to the Shlykov Bratva now. As our bride.”
Her laugh echoed softly off the walls of the room and went straight to all three of their cocks.
“You’re joking. Good one especially with the wedding gown and everything.”
“It’s not a joke,” Leonid said and handed her a few sheets of paper. As her beautiful eyes roved over the script, her breathing grew harsher and the redness in her face escalated.
When she raised her head, shock and disbelief lined her features. And then fury.
Chapter Seventeen
Ansley was so mad she wanted to tear the place down with her bare hands. She still couldn’t believe what had happened to her. The events seemed as if they had come out of an exaggerated tale of fiction.
She was going to get married.
It was pretty much genuine and legally binding. More so when it was confirmed by her father and her mother over the phone. She just wanted to go home but she couldn’t, they weren’t allowing it and half of her didn’t care if she electrocuted herself in the process.
They had asked her father to marry her, and he had said yes and signed her over, just like that. She was very aware of that antiquated legal clause that remained regarding the females of the King family, but it hadn’t been practiced in more than a hundred years because everyone knew it was a stupid rule but one that remained. After all, it was part of a stipulation of their inherited fortunes.
But the most heartbreaking thing was when her father asked her to please listen to him and marry the Shlykov brothers. His tone had been so defeated, so sad and filled with sorrow that she knew something was wrong. And when he finally spilled that the Kings owed their entire fortune to the Shlykovs, she fully understood. The brothers had called in their favor. If she didn’t obey her father, they could lose everything.
He already had some crisis with one of his companies called Comtech.
Ansley threw herself on the bed and tried to weep but she was too mad to cry. She wanted to throw things at them. She wanted to hurt them for hurting her father. Was this their way of getting back at her?
Restless, she had gone in search of leftover champagne and downed as much as she could. Somewhere along the line, she had passed out because when she woke up it had been with a start.
As if she had drunk the whole night before, she felt as if she had a hangover. A deep throbbing pain hammered her temples and her body was incredibly sore. Oh, that was because she did drink the night before. And today she was meant to get married to them.
After they had blackmailed her father.
She couldn’t wrap her head around anything. It was too much. She had made a mistake. She dropped back down in the bed and told herself to breathe.
First things first, she didn’t have a choice. She had to marry them today. And then she still had to find a way to save Cupid’s Toys from being demolished. Valentine’s Day was in a few days. At least that would give her some time, surely. She had to believe she could still persuade them to leave Marjorie’s shop alone. But she was getting married. To her enemies. And she was repeating things.
She jumped from the bed, sure she was having a massive possibly fatal panic attack.
What was she going to do? She was so screwed.
A knock on the bedroom door startled her and she sighed in relief when Sahara entered. Except behind Sahara was an entourage of people she had never seen in her life before.
It was her wedding day. She glanced at the clock and realized she had slept the day away.
“Miss King. Breathe,” Sahara said. It was the first time the woman actually said something personal to her and Ansley was so taken aback she started to breathe. “One thing at a time. You are getting married today. I have let you sleep in long enough but now you must save your family and marry the Shlykov brothers because you have been claimed by them. Understood?”
Ansley nodded and gave herself over to Sahara who treated her like a puppet and pulled all the strings to get her moving. Which was just as well because Ansley was numb.
She couldn’t recall her wedding for the life of her. Just that the three men present, who had turned her world upside down, and continued to play havoc on her body were now her husbands. Because she didn’t have a choice. And they still hadn’t even removed that damn monitor on her ankle. What kind of a life was she going to have?