Forbidden Bloodline

Chapter 3: The Desperate Loophole

Seraphina POV

The words echoed in the silent room, turning my blood to ice. State control. Stripped of my inheritance. Stripped of my freedom. They wanted to lock me away in a facility or hand my father's empire over to a corrupt board, leaving me a helpless prisoner in my own life.

"No," I whispered, shaking my head as panic rose in my throat. "No, Gideon, they can't do that. My father built this. Every single share belongs to me."

Gideon didn't answer right away. He stood by the window, his broad shoulders tense beneath his suit jacket, his jaw clenched so hard I thought it might crack. He looked like a coiled spring, ready to snap and tear the whole world apart. But right now, even his terrifying power couldn't stop a judge’s signature at sunrise.

"They are moving fast," Gideon said, his voice dangerously low. "By dawn, the courts will freeze every asset we have. You won't just lose the company, Sera. You'll lose this house. You'll lose me protecting you."

The thought of losing him, of being ripped away from this dark, safe cage he built around me hit me harder than the threat of losing the money. I needed comfort. I needed someone to tell me it was going to be alright, someone to touch me and remind me I wasn't entirely alone in the dark.

Without thinking, I turned on my heel and bolted out of the drawing room.

"Seraphina! Where are you going?" Gideon barked behind me, his boots hitting the marble floor as he started to follow.

"Leave me alone!" I said back, my voice shaking.

I didn't want his cold, military logic right then. I ran down the dimly lit corridor toward the east wing, heading straight for the staff quarters where Callum, my childhood friend stayed when he visited late. Callum always knew how to make me laugh. He was easy, warm, and safe.

I pounded on Callum’s door. It clicked open almost immediately, revealing Callum in a loose black t-shirt and jeans, his messy brown hair falling over his warm hazel eyes.

"Sera? What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost," Callum said, his easygoing smile fading as he took in my pale face. He reached out, his hand sliding warmly onto my bare shoulder. "Hey, come inside. Talk to me."

I leaned into his touch, desperate for an anchor. "Callum, my mother is gone, and the board is trying to take—"

I didn't get to finish the sentence.

An explosion of raw, violent force hit the doorway. A massive hand slammed into Callum's chest, shoving him backward so hard he crashed into the wall behind his desk, knocking a stack of books clattering to the floor.

"Get your hands off her," Gideon growled.

The sound wasn't human. It was the low, lethal growl of a wild predator catching another male touching its mate.

I gasped, stumbling back as Gideon stepped between us. He towered over Callum, his steel-blue eyes practically glowing with pure, murderous rage. His chest heaved beneath his shirt, and his fists were clenched so tight his knuckles were white. The dark, terrifying jealousy rolling off him was thick enough to choke on.

"Gideon, stop! What are you doing?!" I cried out, grabbing his arm.

Gideon didn't even look at me. He kept his deadly glare locked on Callum, who was slowly pushing himself up, wiping his shoulder with a sharp, dangerous smirk.

"Easy, boss," Callum muttered, raising his hands. "Just comforting the lady. Looks like she needed it."

"If you touch her skin again," Gideon whispered, leaning down so his face was inches from Callum's, "I will put a bullet through your skull and bury you where the satellites can't find you. Get out of my house. Now."

Callum didn't argue. He shot me one last apologetic look and slipped past us into the corridor, vanishing into the shadows.

The moment the door clicked shut, Gideon spun around.

Before I could take a breath, his hands shot out. He grabbed my waist, lifting me completely off my feet with terrifying ease, and marched me out of the guest wing. I didn't fight him. My breath hitched, a hot, forbidden thrill spiking straight through my terror as his hard body pressed against mine.

He carried me all the way down the hall to his private study, kicked the heavy oak door shut with a loud bang, and slammed me down against the edge of his wooden desk.

"Gideon—!"

"Shut up, Seraphina," he snarled, trapping me.

He planted both hands flat on the wood on either side of my hips, trapping me completely. His face was inches from mine, his breathing hot and heavy. The air in the private study instantly turned thick with a heavy, electric tension that made my skin tingle and my core ache.

"You ran to another man," Gideon accused, his voice dropping into a rough, dark rasp that sent shivers down my spine. "When your world is burning, you run to him?"

"I wanted comfort," I breathed defiantly, tilting my chin up even though my heart was hammering a million miles an hour. "You only know how to give orders and lock doors."

"I know how to keep you alive," Gideon snapped, his eyes dropping to my lips before locking back onto my eyes. "I know how to worship you in ways that man could never even dream of. But you test me, Sera. You push me right to the edge of insanity."

I swallowed hard, feeling the heavy, suffocating heat radiating off his massive frame. I could feel the hard lines of his chest and the heavy scent of his skin wrapping around me like smoke. Every cell in my body screamed for him to close the distance and crush his mouth against mine.

"You're angry," I whispered, my voice trembling. "Why are you really so angry?"

Gideon’s jaw tightened. He didn't step back. Instead, he leaned in closer, his heavy thighs pressing against mine so tightly I couldn't move a millimeter.

"Because," he murmured, his voice dropping to a low, raw growl against my cheek, "I am spending every second of every day fighting the urge to throw you across this desk and ruin us both. And you standing there crying in another man's arms nearly broke my last bit of control."

My breath caught. The raw, possessive hunger in his tone sent a shockwave of heat straight through me. I gripped the edges of the desk behind me, my knuckles turning white.

"Then do it," I whispered recklessly, the fear of losing everything making me bold. "If we're going down, why are you holding back?"

Gideon went completely still. For a second, the look in his eyes promised he was going to take me right there, laws and bloodlines be damned. But then, with an agonizing shudders, he forced himself back. He ripped his hands off the desk, stepping back just enough to let me breathe, though the air between us was still scorching hot.

He turned away from me, walking over to his leather chair. He didn't look at me as he opened the top drawer and pulled out a thick, official document.

With a slow, calculated motion, Gideon slid the document across the polished wood of the desk toward me.

I looked down at it. My eyes scanned the bold text at the top: Certificate of Marriage.

My head snapped up, my violet-gray eyes wide with shock. "What is this?"

Gideon looked back at me, his expression hardening back into cold authority, though his chest was still heaving.

"The corporate board wants to lock you away and steal your legacy," Gideon said, his voice cold and steady. "State control strips you of all legal rights. But under British law, a married spouse has absolute legal immunity against third-party control."

He took a slow step back toward me, his steel-blue eyes locking onto mine with terrifying possession.

"The loophole is simple," Gideon said quietly. "If you are my wife, they can't touch you. They can't touch your assets. They can't touch anything that is mine."

I stared at the paper, my breath hitching in my throat. "You... you want us to get married? A fake marriage?"

"Not fake on paper," Gideon corrected sharply, resting his hands on the edge of the desk again, leaning over me like a predator claiming its prize. "Legally binding. Ironclad. Bulletproof."

He reached out, his warm thumb gently brushing against my lower lip, tracing the shape in a slow stroke that made my entire body melt.

"The papers are already drawn up," Gideon whispered, his voice dropping into a dark, commanding tone. "The officiant is waiting at the gates. You will marry me tonight, Seraphina. Or by sunrise, you won't belong to yourself anymore."