Chapter 4

Isabella Roosevelt

As he reached for the handle, he looked back at me one last time, his eyes cold and devoid of any warmth. “And, Isabelle…” His voice was low, chilling. “Don’t think about running. I’ll find you.”

Panic surged through me, and before I could stop myself, I screamed, “Wait!”

Lucas paused, his hand still on the door, his expression inscrutable as he turned back to face me. My legs felt like they were going to give out from under me, but I forced myself to stay upright, to confront the reality of my situation.

“Please,” I begged, my voice breaking as the tears spilled over once more. “I’m not scared of prison—I’m scared of my father. If he finds out I got caught… he’ll never forgive me. He’ll disown me. He will kill me.”

Lucas’s gaze remained steady, unyielding. I could see the wheels turning in his mind, calculating, assessing the worth of my words. I knew I had to convince him, had to make him understand that my fear wasn’t of the cold, hard walls of a prison, but of the cold, hard man who had shaped my entire life.

“I’ll do anything,” I choked out, the desperation clear in my voice. “Just don’t let him find out. Don’t let him know I failed. Please…”

Lucas’s eyes narrowed as he slowly re-entered the apartment, the door clicking shut behind him. The sound was final, like the closing of a trap. He approached me, his movements deliberate, controlled, as if he were a predator stalking its prey. He stopped just inches away, his presence overwhelming, suffocating.

“Sit,” he ordered, gesturing to the couch.

I hesitated for a fraction of a second, then complied, sinking onto the cushions as my knees finally gave out. He remained standing, towering over me, the power dynamic between us clearer than ever.

“What are you willing to do to avoid prison, Isabelle?” he asked, his voice soft but laced with an undercurrent of danger. “Because that’s what I can save you from. Your father is going to find out one way or another, but you… you don’t want to spend the rest of your life behind bars, do you?”

I shook my head, unable to speak as the tears continued to stream down my cheeks. My entire world was collapsing around me, and he was the only one who could save me from the ruins.

He crouched down in front of me, his face level with mine, his eyes searching mine for something—weakness, fear, submission. “I have enough proof to put you away for decades,” he murmured, his tone almost gentle. “But I’m offering you a way out. I’m offering you a life.”

My breath hitched as I stared into his eyes, seeing the truth in them. He wasn’t lying. He had the power to destroy me, to take everything from me, and I had no choice but to trust him, to submit to whatever he wanted.

“Please,” I whispered, my voice trembling. “Don’t send me to prison.”

His expression remained unreadable as he studied me, and for a long moment, the only sound in the room was the ticking of the clock on the wall. Then, slowly, he stood up, towering over me once more, " Again, remember, you have your whole life ahead of you," he said softly, his voice a dangerous whisper. "I am so angry that I will make sure you never see the light of day again."

The tears flowed freely now, hot and unrelenting as I shook my head, my breath coming in ragged gasps. "No... please, no."

He reached out, and for a moment, I thought he might wipe the tears from my cheeks. But his hand stopped just short of touching me, hovering in the air as if he were deciding whether or not I was worth the effort. "There is a way to avoid it," he murmured, his eyes darkening with something I couldn't quite place. "But you'll have to agree to my terms."

Desperation clawed at me, and I latched onto his words like a lifeline. "Anything," I repeated, my voice trembling. "Just tell me what to do."

His smile widened, but there was no warmth in it. "Marry me."

The words hit me like a physical blow, knocking the air from my lungs as I stared at him in disbelief. "Marry you?" I echoed, my voice barely more than a whisper. "How... how would that help?"

He leaned in closer, so close that I could feel the heat radiating off his body, smell the intoxicating scent of his cologne. My pulse quickened, a mixture of fear and something else—something I didn’t want to acknowledge—coursing through my veins. "Your father has always called my family 'the dirt people,'" he said, his tone dripping with contempt. "Because my ancestors started out with nothing, while yours were born with silver spoons in their mouths. The entire feud between our families started because of your family's arrogance, their refusal to acknowledge us as equals."

I flinched at the venom in his words, guilt twisting in my gut. "I... I'm sorry," I whispered, though I knew it would do nothing to lessen the hatred in his eyes. "But I still don’t understand why you want to marry me."

His gaze hardened, and he straightened, his expression one of grim satisfaction. "How do you think your father would feel if I married his only daughter? If the very people he despises became his family?"

The truth hit me like a ton of bricks, the weight of it pressing down on my chest until I could barely breathe. My father would be devastated. He’d always prided himself on his family’s lineage, their pure bloodline, their untouchable status. The thought of his daughter marrying into the Harrington family, becoming one of the 'dirt people,' would be a blow he might never recover from.

I felt a lump rise in my throat as the full implications of Lucas's proposal sank in. "He'd have a heart attack," I whispered, the words slipping out before I could stop them.

Lucas’s eyes gleamed with satisfaction. "Exactly."

I stood up, walking around a little, needing distance from the man who had just turned my entire world upside down. "But... why would you do this? Why would you want to marry me, of all people? Don’t you want to marry someone for love?"

He took a step forward, closing the distance between us, and I felt my back hit the wall. I was trapped, and he knew it. His hand finally made contact, his fingers grazing my cheek in a touch so light it sent shivers down my spine. "Because I can," he said simply, his voice like velvet, wrapping around me, pulling me in despite the terror coursing through my veins. "Because it will destroy your father in a way nothing else could which more important to me. Also I’ve never really been the kind of guy who has believed in a fairytale love story.”

I hated myself for it, hated the way my body reacted to his nearness, to the dark promise in his eyes. He was toying with me, manipulating me like a puppet, and yet... there was something undeniable between us, a spark of electricity that crackled in the air, threatening to ignite at any moment.

“You don’t have a choice, Isabella,” he murmured, his lips hovering just inches from mine. “It’s either marry me… or spend the rest of your life behind bars.”

The tears welled up again, blurring my vision as I realized the full extent of my predicament. He had me cornered, trapped with no way out. My fate was in his hands, and there was nothing I could do to change that. I knew I couldn’t take this to my family, I had to make the decision.

With a trembling breath, I nodded, my voice barely audible as I whispered, “Yes… we have a deal.”

Lucas’s smile was triumphant, and he leaned in, his lips brushing against my ear as he whispered, “Good girl.”

A shiver ran down my spine at the heat of his breath against my skin, and I knew then that this was only the beginning. The dark chemistry between us crackled in the air, a dangerous current that threatened to pull me under. I had made a deal with the devil, and there would be no going back.