Bound by Vows and Lies

CHAPTER TWO

A Deal with Shadows

Elena's breath hitched as Victor's virus look slid over her, his sneer twisting like smoke in the faint porch light. He stepped inside without a greeting, the air around him turning weighty with implicit dangers. Charles stepped back, his shaking hands grasping the door jamb.

"Who is this?" Elena asked, her voice more keen than she planned, though she couldn't veil the quiver underneath it.

Victor's eyes sparkled with a dull amusement. "I see your little girl is pretty much as mean as you depicted, Charles. That's what I like."

"Victor, this isn't the time," Charles stammered, his voice frantic.

Victor disregarded him, moving closer to Elena. The fragrance of costly cologne blended with something more evil, similar to explosive after a shot. "I believe introductions are perfect," he said sharply. "Victor Marlowe. An intimate… colleague of your dad."

Elena folded her arms, declining to allow him to see her anxiety. "A colleague? You don't seem like the type my dad could be connecting with."

Victor chuckled, the sound low and disrupting. "You're insightful. Well, let's simply say your dad and I have a common history. One he'd prefer you not know about."

"Victor, please," Charles begged, his voice breaking.

However, Victor hushed him with a look, his demeanor solidifying. "I'm here because our little game plan has a few loops. And I hate leaving traces"

Elena's stomach beat as she looked between Victor and her dad. "What sort of arrangement?" she asked, though she didn't know if she needed the response.

Victor inclined casually against the wall, but the tension in his stance gave a false representation of his calmness. "Your dad didn't tell you? Tsk, tsk. Secrets tear apart families, Charles."

"Stop," Charles asked, his face pale as debris. "She doesn't have to be aware."

Victor disregarded him, his look fixed on Elena. "Let me give you a hint. Your dad owes me. Huge one. And, he thought offering you to Damian Blackwood would get him off his worries."

Elena's heart plunged. "Selling me? Is that what this is?"

Victor gave a broad smile, but there was no humor in it. "Well, marriage is a bit more exquisite than a bill of offer, come to think of it. Wise up!. Damian doesn't want a spouse. He wants a pawn."

"Why are you so concerned?" Elena snapped, her voice shuddering.

Victor moved nearer, and Elena instinctually made a step back. "Since your dad owes me more than just money. And, if this little marriage plan of his doesn't work out, I'll be the one holding the pack. Do you know what happens when somebody crosses Damian Blackwood? It's not pretty."

Margaret whimpered from her seat on the sofa, her hands caught in quiet petition. "Victor, please. Let her stay out of this," she murmured.

"Stay out of this?" Victor scoffed. "She's already in it. Neck-dipped."

Elena felt the walls shutting in, the heaviness of her family's betrayal and Victor's words pushing down on her. "You're saying this marriage isn't just about saving my family. It's tied in with saving you, as well."

Victor tilted his head, his grin sharp as an edge. "Now you are getting the idea."

Elena turned to her dad, her voice breaking. "Is that real? Did you drag me into this wreck to save him?"

Charles opened his mouth, but no words came. The quietness was cursing.

Victor clapped his hands together, the sound reverberating in the little room. "So far, this has been fun, but I didn't come here to chitchat. I came to ensure you keep up your part of the deal."

"What deal?" Elena requested.

Victor's demeanor turned cold. "You marry Damian. You play the role of a perfect spouse. And you don't hint even the slightest bit about me. Get it?"

"And if I decline?" Elena snared back, though her voice shuddered.

Victor's grin returned, but it was emptied of warmth. "If you decline, your family loses everything. Their home, their wellbeing, their lives. And trust me, I can go to any length to unleash that danger."

Elena's blood ran cold. She felt like a chess piece being moved contrary to her will, the game already in play long before she even knew the guidelines.

"I'll give you some time to think," Victor said, changing his sleeves as though the discussion exhausted him. "But not too long. Damian is definitely not a patient man."

With that, he turned and stepped out of the door, leaving a stifling silence afterward.

Elena stood frozen, her heart beating as her brain dashed. "How could you?" she at last murmured, her voice shaking as she scowled at her dad.

Charles dropped into the closest seat, his face covered in his grasp. "I didn't have a choice," he mumbled.

"There's always one," Elena shot back.

Margaret wailed discreetly, her delicate casing shaking. "We didn't have the idea what else to do, Elena. We're caught."

Elena felt the rage and betrayal bubble over. "And you chose to sacrifice me instead of seeking another way?"

Her dad lifted his head, his eyes red and enlarged. "I committed an error," he conceded. "But it's done now. And if you don't play along with this… we are all messed up."

The heaviness of their desperation squashed her. No matter how much she needed to run, to shout, to retaliate, she knew the reality. They were relying on her.

But as her dad's words reverberated to her, she understood there was more to what she had thought. Victor wasn't just a danger to her family. He was a threat to Damian, as well. And if Damian found out…

Elena took a temperamental breath, trying to calm herself. She didn't know Damian Blackwood, but she had seen the look in his eyes. Cold, calculating, perilous. He wasn't the sort of man to let betrayal slip by.

"I'll do it," she said discreetly, her voice scarcely perceptible.

Her mom heaved, her tear-streaked face illuminating with relief. "Omg!, Elena — "

"Don't," Elena cut in, her voice firm. "I'm not doing this for you nor for him. I'm doing it since I don't have a choice."

Charles gestured, his appearance inauspicious. "You're making the right choice."

Elena didn't answer. She turned and headed towards the steps, each step appearing weightier than the last. As she got to her room, she jolted the door from behind and leaned against it, her legs giving out beneath her.

She had no idea what she was getting into. But, one thing was clear. This wasn't just a marriage. It was a trap. And she was the bait.

As the night extended on, Elena lay alert, gazing at the roof. Some place in the shadows, Victor's statements lingered. And somewhere far away, Damian Blackwood waited, his frosty dim eyes burning into her memory.

Briefly, she contemplated outsmarting them both. But the idea evaporated as fast as it came. She wasn't strong like them. She wasn't heartless.

She was only a young lady trapped in the crossfire.

The clock ticked on, constantly reminding that tomorrow was coming. And with it, her new reality.

A weak sound outside her window caused her to sit up, her heart beating. She moved to the edge of the bed, stressing to

hear. A shadow passed across the drapery, and she froze.

"Elena," a voice murmured from the dimness.