Two men had my arms pinned before I even knew what was happening.
"Let me go!" My voice cracked, but they didn't loosen their grip. My heels scraped across the marble floor as they dragged me into my father's office.
And then I saw him.
A stranger sat behind my father's desk like he'd been born to own it—and everything in the room. Tall, broad-shouldered, a dark suit molded to his body. His gaze rose from the papers in front of him and locked on me.
It wasn't a look.
It was a claim.
"Put her here," he said. The sound of his voice made the hairs on my neck stand up.
The men shoved me into the leather chair opposite him.
"Where's my father?" My voice was shaking, but I refused to look away from those cold, silver eyes.
His lips twitched, like he was amused. "On his way to Europe."
"Without me?"
He leaned back, swirling the amber liquid in his glass. "Without the daughter he just sold to settle his debt."
The air left my lungs. "That's not—"
"It's exactly what it sounds like." His voice was silk over steel. "He owed me millions. Now you… owe me."
I stood, but his hand shot out, grabbing my wrist, pulling me forward until the edge of his desk dug into my hip.
"Let me go!"
He didn't.
He leaned in so close I could smell the faint trace of smoke and something darker.
"No, princess," he murmured. "You're not going anywhere."
I tried to jerk free, but he only smiled, the kind of smile that promised I'd regret every act of defiance.
"From this moment," he said, "your life… is mine."
And with a snap of his fingers, the men were behind me again, already pulling me toward the door.