Page 117 of Merciless Prince
“Maybe the lab made a mistake, then,” I said, throat clogged with tears.
“They ran the test three times to be sure. It says so right there in the email.”
I clenched my jaw, trying to stop myself from hyperventilating. My whole world felt like a house of cards that was collapsing around me.
I didn’t want to believe Cooper, but deep down, I knew he was right. I’d known for years that my dad wasn’t genetically related to me. I just assumed it was because my mom cheated on him.
I never, ever thought that neither of my parents were related to me. That they stole me from another couple.
“I know it’ll take a while for this to sink in,” Cooper said in a soft, soothing tone. “That’s fine. I understand completely.”
I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. My mind was still whirling like crazy, making me feel as if I were stuck on a carousel that was spinning out of control.
Marko’s message suddenly flashed in my head, and my eyes snapped open. “Oh my god,” I whispered. “Killian wasn’t lying.”
Cooper frowned. “About what?”
I clenched my jaw and narrowed my eyes at him. “You ran Cori off the road, didn’t you?”
He rubbed his forehead and let out a heavy sigh. “Yes. But you have to understand. Cori is a crazy, possessive bitch. She acted like she was my friend. Then she suddenly turned on me one day and told me she didn’t trust me around you. She said she knew I was lying about who I was, and then she said she was going to look into my background and find out the truth. So I had to get rid of her. She was trying to keep us apart, and I couldn’t allow that to happen.” He smiled faintly and touched his fingertips to my forearm. “You’re my soulmate, Shay. We were always meant to be together.”
“We’re notsoulmates.You’re just a sick, delusional piece of shit,” I hissed, wrenching my arm away from him. “You almost killed my best friend!”
“I meant to kill her,” he said, expression turning stony. “She’s lucky she only ended up in a coma. Lucky all the nurses and doctors are always hovering around her too. I’ve gone in there ten times to try to finish the job, but I’ve never been able to get them to leave me alone with her.” He paused for a second and shrugged. “It’s all right, though. If she ever wakes up, she probably won’t remember anything. And if she does…”
He trailed off, letting the implied threat hang in the air.
Nausea swirled in my guts, rising up my throat in a hot, acidic swell. I didn’t recognize this version of Cooper at all. He was so eerily calm despite the horrifying things he was saying. So cold and soulless.
I should’ve known there was something off about him. Cori warned me about him weeks ago, and she was a good judge of character. There were other signs, too. He never seemed to know all that much about Bellingham, even though he was supposedly a student in the engineering department. I had to explain several things to him over the first few weeks, like the concept of broadening electives or the exact locations of different places on campus. Things he really should’ve known.
He never invited us to his dorm, either… because it didn’t exist. And speaking of dorms, now that I was really thinking about it, I suspected he was probably the one who slipped into my room before I arrived and wrote ‘I found you’on my mirror.
I lifted my chin to meet his dark gaze. “If you really believe that you’re my soulmate, then you won’t hurt me by hurting Cori. You’ll leave her alone.”
His eyes narrowed. “I’ll do whatever it takes to keep us together. If that involves hurting other people… so be it.”
“We’re not together, Cooper.”
He crouched next to me again and put his hand on my knee. “Yes, we are, and I’m never going to let anyone take you away from me again,” he said. “Honestly, if Killian didn’t come from such a powerful family, I’d kill him for trying to take what’s mine.”
“What’syours?” I said, eyes narrowing. “I’m not a possession!”
Cooper frowned and rose to his full height. “You need to get this through your head, Shay. You were promised to me, and I was promised to you. We’re bound by that.”
I let out a derisive snort. “It’s 2019. You can’t own women anymore, and you can’t force them to marry you just because your family said so.”
His lips curved into a thin, scornful smile. “It seems likeyou’rethe one with all the delusions, Shay. Arranged marriages still happen in America all the time.”
“I don’t care what you say,” I said, lifting my chin defiantly. “I’m not yours, and I never will be. I’ll never marry you, either.”
Cooper’s face darkened. “Do you really think I need your permission?”
Another painful lump formed in my throat. I swallowed it down and took a deep breath. “You can’t do this,” I said in a low voice. “You can’t make me do anything.”
“I can, and I will. You’re going to marry me whether you like it or not.”
“No!” I said, struggling against my bindings to no avail. “No fucking way!”
“Yes. You’re mine, and you have no choice in the matter,” Cooper said, twisted smile widening. “In four weeks, you’ll be my wife.”
To be continued…
