Chapter 45
Chapter
Forty-Five
KAYLANI
Aweek at the Harrington estate felt like a year. I had once believed my own family to be overbearing and insufferable. I was sadly mistaken. Every interaction here felt like a mini interrogation.
The ocean was beautiful, and the sun rose warm over the cliffs each morning. The villa itself glittered like something lifted from a travel magazine. Yet each day the walls seemed closer. The decorative vines felt like they were creeping up my body, trying to squeeze the life out of me.
Julian had settled into a rhythm he expected me to follow. I tried to ignore him at first, but he sent a six-man escort along with my father to retrieve me for breakfast on the terrace.
He didn’t speak to me other than a polite good morning. Instead, he discussed security briefings with his father or Luca, dropping places and names like little breadcrumbs for me to follow. After the meal, I was dismissed like a good girl and told to explore the property and the stables.
The Andalusians were something out of a fairytale. I had never seen the breed up close until now. They reminded me of the horse figurines I played with as a child. Long manes and tails. Glossy coats. Proud creatures that seemed to enjoy showing off for anyone watching.
Julian never came to see me during the day, but I caught him lurking nearby a few times. I wasn’t sure which scenario was worse: having to speak to him or having him trail me like a stalker.
Dinner appearances were unbearable. The whole family gathered for the evening meal. My mother had been lucky to get everyone together for a Sunday dinner, but here it was ritualistic.
The rest of the time, Julian just existed. He took meetings and moved through his day and business as if I wasn’t here.
It was an awkward sensation to feel trapped and suffocated while also being utterly alone at the same time.
My first two days were spent testing the property. I mapped hallways, counted cameras, watched guard rotations, and noted blind spots that weren’t truly blind. All the things that Goran had taught me over the years.
Unfortunately, Julian’s security rotated with professional precision. They left no gaps and made no mistakes.
Sven was always present without hovering. I had no idea when he slept, ate, or changed. It felt like he never left my door or my side.
By day four, I understood something. This wasn’t temporary. This was my new life. Imprisonment disguised as luxury.
Today was day seven. Breakfast had finished, and I stood on my balcony like I had every day since arriving, watching the waves, jealous of their freedom.
Julian knocked once before entering my suite like a man who owned the space and everything in it, including me. Not even my father dared to do that right now. I had melted down on day four and thrown everything I could reach at him until he ran for his life.
Not exactly my finest moment.
I glanced over my shoulder and saw Julian’s cream suit between the sheer curtains drifting in the breeze.
He paused in the middle of my bedroom and stared at me. With a sigh, I walked inside.
“I don’t recall saying you could enter.”
“You’ll be my wife soon. Privacy between us is no longer tolerated.”
“Yes, and yet I’m sure that rule only applies one way. Doesn’t it, fiancé?”
A faint smile appeared as he rubbed his bottom lip.
“I don’t think I’ve ever met a woman who speaks so freely.”
In a very unladylike manner, I snorted.
“Then, you don’t get out much. It’s the twenty-first century. If you expect to hold me under your thumb, then you had better be prepared to lose it.”
The corner of his mouth lifted with amusement as he moved deeper into the room. With hands clasped loosely behind his back, his gaze swept over the space before settling on me.
“And yet here you are in your pretty box where you belong.”
My nostrils flared, and my hands balled as fire burned in my gut. I bit back the words ‘For now’, even though I wanted to spit them at him. He had to believe I wasn’t a flight risk if I had any shot of escaping.
“What? No sarcastic remark?”
“Give me a moment, I’m sure I’ll come up with one.”
He chuckled. “I’m sure you will.”
Julian continued his inspection, sliding around me to the balcony. He caught the sheer curtain in his fist and held it there, as if the fabric’s freedom irritated him.
“Your father leaves in three days.”
My pulse thudded harder. “Does he now?”
“Yes.”
“And I assume that I’m to remain?”
“Of course.”
“And what exactly changes when he leaves?”
“There will be expectations.”
It wasn’t what he said but how he said it that sent cold terror slithered down my spine.
The air seemed thinner and harder to breathe.
The sunlight at his back transformed his figure into a dark silhouette that felt almost demonic.
Julian was not simply dangerous, he was something else entirely.
I couldn’t pin down the word, but I felt it in my bones.
“Clarify,” I said, trying to mask my unease.
“You will continue with our daily routine until the wedding. After that, you will move from this room into the master suite with me. You are expected to be available whenever I require and to produce a minimum of three children.”
My back stiffened.
“Oh, is that all? Be your sex slave and pop out however many babies you want? How kind.”
He chuckled. “Don’t worry. Once a pregnancy is confirmed, I’ll find someone else to handle my needs.
And if for some reason you cannot produce the heirs needed then I will find someone who can stand in and produce them for us.
Of course, you will raise the children once they are born.
” He smiled lewdly and stepped closer. “If you’re well behaved I’ll even let you join.
You know, to make you feel part of the process. ”
I tilted my head, almost impressed with the gall it took to stay that to my face.
“Well then, I guess it’s fortunate you’re marrying me.”
His eyes narrowed. “And why is that?”
“I don’t care.” I paused long enough for the words to sink in. “That kind of threat might hurt a woman who is stupid enough to fall in love with you, but I will not. All I heard was peace and quiet. Sweet, merciful distance. And the promise that I will not have to endure your insufferable touch.”
Any amusement vanished from his face. His jaw ticked, and rage burned in his eyes. Men like Julian couldn’t handle their egos being bruised.
He closed the distance between us and wrapped his hand around my throat. This was who he really was. Who I sensed lurking behind his eyes. I’d pushed him enough to reveal the darkness under the facade.
I didn’t grab his wrist even as he squeezed until I could barely breathe.
“You had better learn to mind that tongue of yours.”
“Sc…rew youuu,” I hissed out through my constricted airway.
“Mr. Harrington.” Sven’s voice cut through the room. “Unhand Ms. Mikhailov.”
Julian’s eyes flicked up to Sven. He hesitated a second longer and then slid his polished mask back into place, hiding the monster before he released me. He adjusted his cream suit and smiled widely, continuing as if we were in the midst of a civil discussion and not a domestic violence dispute.
“I guess there is no reason to delay the wedding.”
“When?”
“Two weeks,” he said, leaning in closer but not touching me. “I’ve given you plenty of space to come to terms with your new living arrangement. You will accept what is required of you, or there will be unpleasant consequences.”
My eyebrow cocked.
“I appreciate your generosity.”
His eyes flashed, and there was something entirely too satisfying in knowing he had to keep his rage bottled with my guard in the room. At some point, I would pay for it, but I planned to be long gone before that happened.
“Tomorrow evening, there will be a celebration in our honor. You will be ready to leave at five and not a moment later. Make sure you wear another one of those pretty dresses.”
Great, I was his dress-up doll.
I kept my mouth shut this time.
He reached out with clear intent as his fingers brushed what I was sure had become a red mark on my throat. He lifted the delicate gold chain, and I felt the ring shift.
“Who gave this to you?”
“My mother,” I said, not missing a beat.
“Are you sure?”
“Are you calling me a liar or questioning my memory?”
“Just answer the question.”
I straightened my spine.
“It was a gift for my eighteenth birthday. It belonged to my grandmother before she died, then my mother gave it to me. It’s a family heirloom. Do you have a problem with that?”
He let it drop and stepped back.
“That’s good. Otherwise, I would have told you to take it off.”
My pulse roared in my ears.
“Why?”
“You’re no longer a child, Kaylani. You understand symbolism. If you were wearing another man’s ring in my house…I would consider it disrespectful.”
“Well, it’s a good thing that I’m not. If you give me a phone, I’ll happily call my mother to confirm it for you.”
Julian grinned, not bothering to hide his evil side from me.
“Oh, Kaylani. I think we will get along quite well.” He moved past me, and our shoulders brushed. “Once you learn to behave, that is.”
He threw that last bit out as he walked away. I glared at him and let rage fill my mind with every horrible death imaginable.
When he reached the doorway, Julian paused and looked back like he had suddenly remembered something.
“Oh, and Kaylani, you will be expected to wear my ring tomorrow for the celebration.” He looked at the box sitting on the dresser. “And, security has been expanded. For your protection, of course.”
Of course it had.
“Protection from what?”
“From desperation.”
My fingers curled so tightly my nails bit into my palm.
He left the room, and I stood there fuming. My mind raced. A fancy celebration tomorrow. A wedding in two weeks. Great. Just great. Nausea rolled through me, and my hand drifted slowly over my stomach.
Sven stepped forward a moment later and cleared his throat, jerking me out of my angry thoughts.
“May I speak with you?”
“Yes, of course,” I replied, walking toward the vanity.
The girl in the mirror looked like me. Composed. In control. But that wasn’t how I felt inside. Inside, I was a volcano ready to erupt.
“I may have received word that Mrs. Mikhailov has been made aware of your situation.”
I whipped around to face him, hope filling me for the first time in days.
“May have?”
“Yes. May have,” he repeated, winking at me. “Let me know when you’d like to go for your afternoon walk. I’ll be right outside the door.”
Then he slipped out.
Mother would go straight to Nathaniel. Goran most likely already had done that, but her knowing just made me feel better. Relief nearly made my knees buckle. I could only pray that my brother acted quickly. I didn’t want to think of what might happen if Julian struck first.
My hand went to my throat and the mark on my skin, before tracing the ring hanging from my necklace.
Help was coming. I could feel it.