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14
FREYA POV
It had been about thirty minutes since Steve left me alone in this room. I’m actually embarrassed by how fast I polished off that full plate of grilled chicken breast glazed with honey and herbs, roasted sweet potatoes, and a crisp garden salad with cherry tomatoes and feta. He’d even left a glass of fruit wine and two painkillers on the tray. I caught myself staring at them for a second-the guy was a brute, but he didn’t miss a single thing.
Another ten minutes passed, and I was losing my patience. I couldn’t just sit in this silence anymore. I stood up to find him, but before I could even reach for the handle, the door swung open.
I jumped back, my heart nearly thudding out of my chest.
Steve was just standing there, filling up the whole doorway with that massive frame. He didn’t say a word, just gave me a look that felt like a weight.
“I wasn’t running away,” I muttered, my voice sounding small even to me. “I was just checking… I’ve been here alone for a while.”
He only kept his eyes fixed on me and smiled, then his eyes moved past me to the empty plate on the bed, and he let out a short, dark smirk.
I know that smirk is because of how I finished the whole food, because I’d basically licked that plate clean.
“Thanks for the food,” I said, trying to get some of my dignity back.
Then I noticed the small brown box in his hand. My stomach suddenly did a somersault just as I stared at the box.
I swallowed hard and calmed my nerves.
“So,” I said, looking from him to the box. “How do you plan to get my daughter?”
Without a response, he walked toward me, had his presence, taking up all the air in the room, and handed me the box. I instantly took it and dumped everything inside on the bed.
Inside, a velvet ring box rolled onto the blanket, followed by a thick brown envelope. My fingers went straight for the envelope. I tore it open, and right there inside was another stack of papers.
The first thing I saw was a divorce petition-already drafted, ready to strip Mark of everything. But underneath that was a legal contract. It stated that Luna would be returned to me in seven days, legally, through a firm I’d never heard of…
And there’s this other paper; it wasn’t a court document. It was a formal Marriage Registry Agreement for the City Hall. Our names were already typed in: Steve Hayes and Freya Sterling. At the bottom, Steve’s signature was already there.
I stared at the paper, then at the ring box, then back at him. My head was already spinning.
“Is this some kind of game to you?” I whispered, clutching the marriage agreement. “Buying me? Using this mess to get me to marry you?”
“Is this a winning game to you?”
“What the fuck do you think you are doing to me?”
“Is this funny to you?”
Questions poured out of my mouth, one after another, but he didn’t give me a single answer. I didn’t stop until I felt Steve’s shadow swallow me up as he stepped closer.
“I don’t play games, Freya. Especially not with you,” he said, his voice deep and rough. “I’m not holding your kid over your head. I’m getting Luna back because she’s part of your life, and anything that’s part of your life is mine now. You want your girl
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back? You want that prick to never touch you again? This is the way. You take the name, you get the protection. Nobody touches what belongs to me.”
I swallowed hard, looking at him. I wanted to ask how he’d done all this in an hour. I wanted to ask why a man I barely knew was acting like I mattered more to him than anyone else ever had. Was this what love looked like? Or did he just want to own me?
But looking at his face, the questions died in my throat. He looked so certain.
Steve reached out and picked up the ring box, opening it to reveal a diamond without saying anything. He looked at my hand.
“I’m not going to ask twice, Freya. If I slide this ring on your finger, it’s settled. Mark is dead to us, and your girl is home in a week.”
I stared at him, my heart hammering against my ribs as I looked from the ring to his face. Was this love, or was he just a different kind of monster than the one I was leaving?
“How?” I whispered, my voice trembling. “How can you be so sure?”
But honestly? I didn’t care. He was offering me my daughter. He was offering me a way to breathe again.
I let out a long, composing breath, trying to steady my shaking hands. “Okay,” I whispered. “Okay.”
Steve didn’t waste a second, and that dark smirk played on his lips again-that look that said he already knew what I was going to say. He reached out, took my hand in his massive one, and slid the ring onto my finger.
“Be my guest for now,” he said, his voice a low rumble.
“Guest?” I repeated, confused.
He nodded, his eyes locking onto mine with an intensity that made my knees weak. “You’re my guest until you say ‘yes’ with your own mouth, Freya. Then, you’re my wife. And once you’re mine, there’s no going back.”.
Before I could even wrap my head around that, he turned and walked out of the room without another word.
I stood there, dumbfounded, staring at the diamond glittering on my hand. My brain was a mess of What the hell just happened? I was still standing by the bed when the door opened again.
I expected Steve, but two men stepped in instead. They were huge, wearing sharp black suits that screamed ‘security,’ and they looked like they didn’t know how to smile. They stopped in front of me and bowed their heads slightly.
“Ma’am, you need to follow us. Boss’s orders,” one of them said.
“Boss?” I blinked, looking at them. “You mean Steve?”
They both nodded in unison.
I looked them up and down, then looked around the room, wondering if I was even in the same building anymore.
“How come a gym guy is now a ‘boss’?”
“Is there more I need to know?”
The two men stood there like statues, waiting. I didn’t really have a choice. I grabbed the envelope with the papers, took a deep breath, and followed them out.
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