"Marry him....or lose everything"
The words echoed in Isabel Lawson's ears as she sat across the mahogany desk, her trembling hands gripping the edges of the cold leather chair.
The man before her - Damon Blackwood - didn't flinch. His sharp grey eyes, colder than steel, were fixed on her like a predator studying it's prey. He looked like a man carved out of stone : expensive suit, emotionless face, and an aura so dominant it suffocated the room.
"I won't do it", Isabel whispered, her voice cracking. "You destroyed my father's company... and now you want to marry me?"
Damon leaned back, steepling his fingers as if he had all the time in the world.
"I gave you a choice," he said, voice smooth and lethal. "Your brother's medical bills are piling up. Your mother's house is already under foreclosure. I'm offering you a lifeline, Miss Lawson."
She slammed her hands on the desk, anger replacing fear. " Why me? Out of all the women in this city, why me?"
A flicker of something - pain? amusement? - flashed in his eyes, but it vanished as quickly as it came .
"Because you owe me", he said simply. "And I always collect."
Isabel's lips parted, but no words came. She wanted to scream, to cry, to slap the smugness off his face. But deep down, she knew he was right.
She was drowning -and Damon Blackwood was her only air.
With trembling fingers, she picked up the pen and stared at the marriage contract. Her heart pounded in her chest, each beat screaming Don't do this. But her brother's pale, unconscious face in the hospital haunted her more.
Her signature slid onto the paper like blood on a blade.
"Good girl," Damon murmured, rising from his chair. He walked over, towering above her. "You belong to me".
She met his gaze, fury burning in hers. "I'll never be yours. Not truly."
He smirked.
"We'll see."