Dangerous Possession

Chapter6

Mia

I am sitting in the middle of my bed, my hands left soft on my lap, without strength, like me, I have lost all my bravado, all the strength I had to fight and counter.

My gaze automatically falls on the suitcases that are ready next to the door—those that the maids brought me the day before, the cream-colored ones that match the room where I grew up.

I cried all the tears I had in my body. I felt drained and devoid of energy.

As soon as they brought my suitcases to my room, I cried, I found myself sobbing like a child clinging to my pillow. Soon, the tears stopped, and I found myself before those two open objects. I slipped my clothes into them, even though I was not convinced.

After a while, Irina came and kept me company and helped me get my clothes and things.

Noah had been out of the house for quite a while to meet the man he had sold me to. I wanted to hate it, but I couldn't because I knew that that was our destiny. For a long time I basked in the illusion that the same would not happen to me, yet now I find myself here, with my bags packed and the terror in my heart of leaving this place that raised me, of meeting a man I did not know and to whom I should have given everything for the good of my family.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, letting oxygen fill my lungs and circulate in every fiber of my body. I had to be strong and not let anything or anyone get me down, even if I would soon find myself in a place foreign to me, with people I didn't know.

Even if it was tremendously difficult.

Someone knocks on the door and I stiffen, pointing my eyes to the white-painted door just at the exact moment when it opens and Irina appears. He looks at me and then his gaze falls on the suitcases, immediately becoming darker and sadder.

"Noah is back," she says after a heavy sigh, like the air around me.

I clench my hands into fists, take a deep breath, and then get out of bed.

Without saying a word, I put on my leather boots, which reached my knee, and took the long coat that I left on the white armchair. I put it on my arm and headed towards the door. Without looking at Irina, I passed it and went out, finding one of the bodyguards waiting for me.

I pass him too and go towards the stairs.

"Mia!" Irina calls me but I don't turn around, I begin to descend the large staircase in silence, accompanied only by the rumble of my heels on the marble floor. Behind me I hear other footsteps and know that Irina is following me, but I continue to be silent.

I don't want to talk, I can't.

I reach the ground floor, but I don't find Noah. "He's in the office," Irina tells me, and I turn in that direction, my heart drumming in my chest and an emptiness slowly spreading inside me.

Giovanni opens the office door for me without saying a word, and I reciprocate, entering with soft steps while my gaze falls on my brother. Noah is facing the window overlooking the dark sky and the park around the house illuminated by external lights. With one hand, he caresses his chin while the other holds it limply resting on the wooden table.

The office remained the same as Dad kept it. Each book was in its usual position, the desk, the chair, the sofas, everything the same. I remember spending hours on Dad's lap when I was little, watching men come and go.

I had grown up there, in my father's arms. But not anymore.

"Sit down", he says without even looking at me, and I obey.

I no longer have the strength to rebel, not after everything that had happened in the last two days.

"The agreement is signed" he says simply without even looking at me "He's coming to pick you up right now" finally he turns around and looks at me.

I remain impassive, but my hands clenched into fists automatically, without me being able to control them.

"I expect a lot from this alliance" he says and I snort making him arch an eyebrow "You have an important role, Mia, don't make mistakes"

"Of course. As a good wife, I will just open my legs and say yes to whatever my dear old husband asks of me," I say without being able to control myself anymore.

Noah arches an eyebrow and then turns around, resting both elbows on the table and looking at me carefully "Do you have so little confidence in me? Do you really believe that I would feed you to someone I don't trust blindly? Do you think I'd put you in so much danger? You are my younger sister, Mia, not just any person," she says.

"If that were the case, you wouldn't have sold me," I counter.

"I didn't sell you, Mia. I put you in the hands of those who can protect you better than me" I roll my eyes bored "I can't protect you, I can't protect you right now and you don't make things easy. Someone very dangerous has set their eyes on you and it would be a matter of time before they manage to catch, Mia. This is the truth. I can't protect you, and I can't risk you falling into the wrong hands. I admit my shortcomings but Jaxon will be able to protect you"

I arch an eyebrow "Jaxon?" I ask frowning.

Noah sighs "Yes, you're going to get married to Jaxon Vance, you already know him"

"Are you giving me to a bodyguard?" I ask in amazement.

"Bodyguard by day and boss by night" he replies letting go of a smirk that makes me arch my eyebrows even more "Jaxon Vance created his empire from nothing, in fact we have never heard of him except in recent times, feared and admired by many in our world."

"And also a traitor" I comment acidly "He infiltrated our house to spy on us and now you want to feed me to him?" I say stunned.

"Who tells you that he has infiltrated? Can't you think that it was me who let him do it?" he asks me, his gaze lets me understand something that I can't grasp, as if my brother knew much more than what he lets see and I'm not sure I wanted to find out everything.

Silence weighs in the air like a boulder. Noah's words get under my skin, digging into me like sharp blades. I feel my heart beating in my ears, my breathing scratching my throat.

Jaxon.Jaxon Vance.The man I hated for months.

The man who has spent the last year tormenting me with his impassive gaze, with his orders that did not admit of replies, with the way he always seemed to know everything before me. The man who stopped me from doing what I wanted, who forcibly brought me home when I tried to escape, who looked at me with his usual contempt every time I tried to rebel.

And now... My husband?

I feel a knot form in my throat, the anger that rises in my stomach, expands like poison.

"Tell me it's a joke." My voice is a scratched whisper, as if I'm trying to convince myself that this is all just a nightmare.

Noah shakes his head, his eyes impassive, devoid of any emotion. "It's not."

"You could have chosen anyone." My laughter is bitter, sharp. "And did you choose him? The bastard who never misses an opportunity to make me feel stupid?"

Noah leans forward slightly, staring at me with a gaze that leaves no room for discussion. "He's the only one I trust enough to entrust you with my life, Mia. It can protect you in ways I can't. And you know it."

I try to control my shaking hands, but it's useless. I clench them in my fist, trying to release the tension.

"I don't want his protection!" I jump to my feet, my heart pounding in my chest. "I don't want this marriage! I am not a piece of merchandise to be exchanged!"

Noah sighed and ran a hand through his hair, exasperated. "Mine, whether you like it or not, your life is no longer just yours. You are part of this family, of this world. If you want to survive, you have to adapt. And Jaxon is your only chance."

I shake my head, incredulous. Is my own brother, the person who should have protected me more than anyone else, telling me that I have to agree to marry that man? Jaxon doesn't want me. I know. And I don't want him. It has always been clear between us.

I feel my breathing accelerate, the pressure on my temples increasing. "What if I refuse?"

A long silence falls between us. Noah looks at me momentarily, then slowly rises from his chair. It is a controlled, calculated movement, as if he had predicted my reaction. He goes around the desk until he stops in front of me. He is taller, more imposing, and for a moment, in those cold and determined eyes, I see our father again.

"You can't refuse." His voice is calm, but every word is a condemnation. "It's already decided."

It is a sentence. A prison with no way out.

My fingers clench against my palms, my nails dig into the skin with force, almost hoping that the physical pain can lessen what I feel inside. Heavy breathing through my nose, desperately trying to stay in control.

"I hate it," I hiss, my voice full of venom. "I hate it with every fiber of my being."

Noah looks at me in silence for a long moment, then shrugs. "Then it will be an interesting marriage."

His words are a blow straight to the stomach.

I'm about to answer him and scream all my frustration in his face when suddenly the door opens wide.

A shiver runs down my spine.

The heavy footsteps resonate in the room with a menacing echo, as if every movement was designed to impose itself in the space, to make its presence felt even before speaking.

Jaxon Vance is here.

His shadow stretches over the threshold of the goal, high and imposing. His hazel eyes scrutinize me coldly, expressionless as always. The black shirt he wears is unbuttoned at the first buttons. The fabric adheres perfectly to his sculpted body, and every line of his figure exudes confidence and dominance.

I remain motionless, my heart beating fast in my chest.

My destiny has just crossed the threshold.