Page 68 of Ruthless Prince
“It’s not a threat. It’s a promise. You belong to me, Willow, and you will behaveaccordingly.”
I scoffed. “You’re so full of shit. I don’t belong toyou.”
He stood and crossed the room to open one of the bedside tables. “See this?” he said, pulling out some paperwork. “It’s a contract. You should readit.”
With wide eyes, I skimmed the contents of the alleged contract. It was dated a few weeks after my birth in 1997 and detailed the most preposterous transaction I’d ever seen. Apparently, a massive debt incurred by my father had been written off in return for my sale to the Thornefamily.
According to the fine print, I belonged to my family until I turned twenty-one. Then ownership passed to the Thornes, and I was supposed to marry Logan within a year ofthat.
It was so ludicrous I couldn’t help butlaugh.
“You need to take this seriously,” Logan said, browsfurrowing.
I tossed the paperwork onto the duvet. “How can I take this seriously? It’s a fuckingjoke.”
“It’s not. Your father sold you to us,Willow.”
“Right. Sure.” I giggled again, certain I was trapped in a vivid dream. There was no way any of this was reallyhappening.
Logan leaned forward with narrowed eyes and closed one hand around my throat, digging his fingers right into my windpipe. The laughter died on my lips as I choked and spluttered. “Stop. Logan. I can’t… I can’tbreathe…”
“You need to start taking this seriously,” he hissed. “You might not like it, but you’re mine. I ownyou.”
He let go, and I fell back against the pillows like a rag doll, gasping and clutching at my aching neck. “Logan, please,” I said in a ragged whisper. “Tell me what this is really about. Tell me what’s really happeninghere.”
“I already told you. It’s not my fault you aren’tlistening.”
I gulped down another deep breath. “My father didn’t sell me. I wouldn’t believe that in a millionyears.”
“Hedid.”
I gritted my teeth. “No. That’s ridiculous. You can’t sell a humanbeing.”
“People get bought and sold every day in this world. It’s naïve to thinkotherwise.”
I shook my head. “Dad wouldneverdo that. Also, I might not be a law student yet, but I can still tell you this contract is a load of shit. If you think it’s legally-binding in any way, you need to have your headexamined.”
To make my point, I picked up the contract and tore it inhalf.
Logan snorted with amusement. “That was just a copy, so you can do whatever you want to it,” he said, motioning toward the ripped paper. “Anyway, it was just a formality to seal the deal. I know it would never hold up in a real court, but you’ll never have the chance to take it toone.”
“I will,” I said, my stubbornness rearing its fiery head again. “The second I get a chance, I’ll call the police and tell them what you’vedone.”
He laughed. “Go ahead. The police won’t helpyou.”
“Of course theywill.”
He shook his head. “Don’t you get it yet, Willow? No one is going to help you. Not the Order, not your family, not your friends.No one. I’m all you havenow.”
I shook my head and muttered a string of curse words under my breath. Logan had lost his shit. He’d obviously experienced some sort of break with reality, and he’d invented a whole fantasy world to back his wilddelusions.
Usually I’d feel sympathy for someone suffering from a mental illness, but in this case, all I felt was burning fury. Logan had terrorized me. Tormented me. Kidnapped me. All because of some crazy belief that I belonged tohim.
“I can tell you’re still having trouble believing me,” he said, staring down at me with an impassive gaze. He picked up his phone again. “Maybe this willhelp.”
Another video started playing on the TV. It showed my father standing near one of the pine trees that bordered the Fire Island mansion. In the background, I saw the mansion itself along with the soaring obelisk which stood at thefront.
The camera was shaky, and it was clear my father had no idea he was being filmed. He scrubbed a hand over his jaw and looked up. “Please just give me one more week withher.”
