The paper is old, and when I unroll it, it wants to curl back up.
I hold it open. My eyes fall instantly to my father’s scrawled, drunk signature. He was drunk a lot after the accident. I think he may have been drunk during it. He and my mom had been fighting so much by the end.
I look up at him, confused.
“Read it,” he commands, voice tight, eyes locked on that sheet of paper.
It’s a contract of sorts. One that would hold up in no court of law. One that buys…No, this makes no sense.
I keep reading. The script it’s written in is that of someone from another generation. But what it says, it can’t be.
There’s an exchange. My father’s life for my childhood.
But that’s not all. There’s a promise that on my eighteenth birthday, the day I am no longer considered a child, I become fair game.
“This can’t…”
I look up at Damian.
“Did you know it was my sister’s wedding day?” he asks me.
I want to ask what the hell he’s talking about. What this means. But my throat is as dry as a desert and I can’t speak.
“A candlelit wedding. Her dream.” His words sound sad, but then his face hardens, and his pupils become pinpoints as he focuses on me. “She never made it, though. None of us did.” He turns his hand just a little, and I see the scarred flesh.
I think about the accident that stole my mother and brother from me. I don’t remember it. I don’t remember much, but the one thing I wish I could forget is my brother’s face just before he went through the windshield.
I shake my head, momentarily close my eyes to block it. I can’t think about that now. Not in front of him.
When I look up at Damian the sorrow I’d heard in his words doesn’t show in his eyes. I get the feeling that sorrow has festered over time and turned into this. Because what I see is the monster he warned me about eight years ago.
I see hate inside him.
Hate for me.
The box and roses spill onto the marble floor when I rise, crushing the contract in my hand.
“This can’t be,” I whisper.
“But it is.” He steps closer, looming over me, and all I can do is stare up at him. “Enjoy your last few hours of freedom, Cristina, because come midnight, you belong to me.”
One-click Unholy Union!
Also by Natasha Knight
The Devil’s Pawn Duet
Devil’s Pawn
Devil’s Redemption
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To Have and To Hold
With This Ring
I Thee Take
Stolen: Dante’s Vow
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The Society Trilogy
Requiem of the Soul
Reparation of Sin
Resurrection of the Heart
Dark Legacy Trilogy
Taken (Dark Legacy, Book 1)
Torn (Dark Legacy, Book 2)
Twisted (Dark Legacy, Book 3)
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Unholy Union Duet
Unholy Union
Unholy Intent
Collateral Damage Duet
Collateral: an Arranged Marriage Mafia Romance
Damage: an Arranged Marriage Mafia Romance
Ties that Bind Duet
Mine
His
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MacLeod Brothers
Devil’s Bargain
Benedetti Mafia World
Salvatore: a Dark Mafia Romance
Dominic: a Dark Mafia Romance
Sergio: a Dark Mafia Romance
The Benedetti Brothers Box Set (Contains Salvatore, Dominic and Sergio)
Killian: a Dark Mafia Romance
Giovanni: a Dark Mafia Romance
The Amado Brothers
Dishonorable
Disgraced
Unhinged
Standalone Dark Romance
Descent
Deviant
Beautiful Liar
Retribution
Theirs To Take
Captive, Mine
Alpha
Given to the Savage
Taken by the Beast
Claimed by the Beast
Captive’s Desire
Protective Custody
Amy’s Strict Doctor
Taming Emma
Taming Megan
Taming Naia
Reclaiming Sophie
The Firefighter’s Girl
Dangerous Defiance
Her Rogue Knight
Taught To Kneel
Tamed: the Roark Brothers Trilogy
About the Author
Natasha Knight is the USA Today Bestselling author of Romantic Suspense and Dark Romance Novels. She has sold over half a million books and is translated into six languages. She currently lives in The Netherlands with her husband and two daughters and when she’s not writing, she’s walking in the woods listening to a book, sitting in a corner reading or off exploring the world as often as she can get away.
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Write Natasha here: [email protected]
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Thank you
Thank you for reading The Devil’s Pawn Duet. I hope you love Isabelle and Jericho’s story.