Page 1 of Harboring Shantae

Chapter 1

Shantaelookedtothehead of the large dining room table at her father and then back to where her mother sat directly across from her. It was the exact same seating arrangement she had known her whole life, even before they moved into such a large home. There was no such thing as intimate family dinners. Not where her parents were concerned. But it wasn't the seating that had Shantae ready to flee. That she was used to. No, it was the words her father so carelessly tossed out a moment ago in between bites of chicken. Almost like what he said wasn't about to change her whole world.

"I'm not doing it." She tried to force as much authority into her tone as possible.

Shantae didn't give the first fuck about their archaic thoughts. She didn't care what wassocially acceptableamong their friends. A term her father loved to pull out every time she tried to give him pushback on anything.

There was no way she was going to marry a man that her parents picked for her so they could cement their place even further into society. Who the fuck even did that anymore?

"You will do as you're told."

Her father didn't get angry. No, that was too much of an emotion to show his daughter. Too much effort for someone who merely saw her as a pawn in his rise to power. She was female, therefore not good enough for anything other than as someone's arm candy.

"Not sure if you realize this, but it's the twenty-first century. Women have rights. Hell,everyonehas rights. And free will. So no, I won't be marrying some rich boy whose father wants to create an alliance."

"You are an Adams and my daughter." Impatience laced his tone. It was probably the only emotion she was going to get. "And as such, you will marry the man I choose. I refuse to allow my bloodline to be tainted with riffraff. My ancestors worked their way up from slaves to become what we are today. I refuse to let that be all for naught."

Her father made it sound like she planned to find the first thug she found on the street and marry him. She had no intention of doing that. Shantae had no intention of marrying at all. The last thing she wanted in her life was another man who thought he could control her.

Shantae looked to her mother for some assistance. Why, she had no idea. Her mother was everything she was not; perfectly poised, did as she was told. All her life, her mother sided with her father no matter what the topic was. So why she thought this time would be any different was beyond her.

Her mother didn't even have the decency to give her more than a passing glance before she went back to delicately stabbing her carrots and bringing them to her mouth. A Stepford wife through and through, in her perfectly tailored dress.

Prim and fucking proper.

It made Shantae want to forcefully stab her food just to show she wasn't going to conform to their way of life, but years of etiquette classes won out in the end. That shit was so engrained, her body chose to comply without much thought.

"I won't do it."

She hated that the second time she didn't sound as self-assured. The problem was that she wasn't confident she could deny her father. It was pathetic that at thirty-two years old, everything in her life was tied back to her parents.

The townhouse she lived in? Her parents picked it.

The job she held? A friend of her father’s gave her the job as a courtesy.

Hell, even the car she drove was a gift from her parents after she graduated college.

She’d allowed them to push her around for too long because it was easier than fighting them. She hated confrontation. It gave her hives just thinking about arguing with people. But this was too far. Marrying a man, whose name she didn't even know, just wasn't right.

"You will marry Zion Harris. End of discussion."

Shantae whipped her head back in her father's direction. That's who he wanted her to marry? Was he insane? The rumors surrounding Zion Harris weren't just brutal, they were absolutely vicious. Women flinched just hearing his name, and here her father was, just handing her over on a silver platter, without so much as a thought of her safety.

"Absolutely not." She forced herself not to scratch her neck as her voice grew louder. "I know you've heard the rumors around town about him."

This was Washington fucking D.C. Her father was a damn senator. The rumor mill ran rampant on a good day, but that didn't mean there wasn't some truth to what was said, especially when it was whispered by so many. Zion Harris was a monster.

"I raised you better than to listen to rumors."

No, he didn't. Her father didn't raise her at all. Neither did her mother. They just dictated what they expected her to do. The classes she was expected to take to make her a well-rounded woman. The schools she was required to attend, so their image wasn't ruined. If it had been up to her parents, she would've been raised by a nanny, but her grandparents wouldn't allow it. They fought to be the ones there for the ins and outs of the day, while she was forced to become the perfect daughter.

If it weren't for her grandparents, she would never have known what love was. She was heartbroken when both her grandmother and grandfather died within months of each other while she was in college. It left her smack-dab in the middle of her father's political aspirations. The one place her grandparents desperately wanted her away from. They had repeatedly told her after college she could finally be free. Look how that turned out.

"Rumors of infidelity are one thing. Rumors that a man likes things rough enough that it lands the woman in the hospital is another thing altogether."

She tried again to look at her mother. Surely her mother heard the rumors, and as a woman, she wouldn't tolerate such behavior toward her only daughter. There had to be at least an ounce of love there.

Except her mother never looked up. Her eyes stayed cast down, just like every other day of her life.

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