It wasn't long before Angel returned. He strode into my room without knocking, tension visible in his shoulders. I watched him cautiously as I sat arms crossed on my bed with my duffel bag beside me. My security had become my prisoners and they hadn't let me leave. I was mad, angry. If I had been allowed I would have been long gone by now but because of the man standing open legged in front of me I had been kept against my will.

He took something out of his pocket and I saw the engagement ring I had set down on his desk. He placed it on the table by the window.

"You can put this back on your finger when you're ready to act like an adult." The pink diamond sparkled in the sunlight.

Why did he always treat me like some kind of immature girl when I wasn't? I ground my teeth but refused to say anything. He was expecting me to yell and shout, I was trying my upmost not to do what he expected.

He studied me and I lifted my eyes to meet his. Mine glaring at him.

"I don't have time for your games Kira. If you want to know something then ask, that's how adults handle things. They don't throw tantrums or act irrationally."

I hated him, truly hated him in that moment. Instead of apologizing or coming up with some sort of excuse to explain what I had seen away he was acting like I was the immature one for getting upset over it. How could he turn the whole situation around to make me out to be the bad guy in this situation?

I held his stare, refusing to give in and ask him about the woman he met up even if it was eating me up inside.

"I won't marry a child."

If I was closer I probably would have slapped him but I curled my fingers into fists, riding the urge to wipe his arrogant expression off his face.

"But you have no problem sleeping with someone you view as immature," I countered.

"Sex is fleeting, marriage isn't," he shot back, making me feel like he had put me back in my place.

Sex was not fleeting for me. I know people always said women felt more emotional about being with a guy intimately than the guy. It seemed they were right. I viewed our union as something more than he did and it knocked my confidence.

I frowned at him. I think I hated him a little more in that moment.

"And if you need a reminder of the danger you are in you can look up Carol Mayer or Judith Shannon. But I must warn you there will be photos." He walked up to me. "So make your choice Kira. And make it very carefully knowing that I won't stand for this type of behavior."

"I won't tolerate cheating," I announced. I wouldn't ask him what he was doing with the blonde woman but he had to know from the start that it was something I wouldn't tolerate at all.

"That will be up to you Kira. If you satisfy my needs I wont have to look elsewhere, will I?" The audacity of what he was saying annoyed me.

He was discussing our marriage like a business arrangement and I didn't like it at all.

"Same goes for you Angel." The words had just left my mouth when he grabbed my wrist.

"Don't even think about it. I will be the only man in your life. Do you understand that? There will be no others. You will be playing with their lives if you don't think there will a consequence."

I pulled my wrist from his grasp. "That's not fair."

He shrugged. "Those are the rules. You have been warned Kira."

He walked to the door and stopped. He looked back at me over his shoulder. "You have an hour. Then I want my answer."

And with that he left.

I found myself staring at the ring. I always believed I would have been the happiest woman to get engaged to someone but here I was negotiating and fighting every point. This wasn't how it was supposed to happen.

I stood and took a deep breath but nothing eased my anger. He had just walked into my bedroom and dictated all his rules and left. There was no negotiation, not taking any of my thoughts or feelings into account.

There was a massive imbalance of power and there was no way for me to claw some back.

I was in a situation where I needed Angel more than he needed me. My phone lay on the bed and I contemplated searching up the names he mentioned even though I was anxious about what I would see.

Did I really have to look them up to bring it home that I didn't have a choice but to marry Angel?

I picked up my phone and searched the first name. When I saw the article about her death my knees shook and I sank down onto my bed. I couldn't get past the third paragraph before I closed it.

I took a shaky breath before I searched the next name. This one was worst than before. I held my breath, my hands shook. She had only identifiable by her dental records. I set my phone down as far away as possible.

I had seen enough to know there was no way out of the situation but to marry Angel and he knew it.

No one wanted to die like those girls had, least of all me. And there was no way to erase what I had learned. It would stay with me always.

Reluctantly I walked over to the ring and picked it up. Before it had been beautiful but now it weighed on me like a ball and chain, reminding me of the danger I was in.

I waited until the very last moment to slide the ring back onto my finger. When I opened my bedroom door there was no security to keep me confined. Angel knew I would look up the girls he mentioned, he knew I would realize there was no way out other than to marry him. There was no real choice.

I slowly descended the stairs and found myself standing in front of the door to the study. Usually I knocked but this time I didn't.

Angel was standing by the windows, with his back to me.

I resented that he was my only lifeline. And I hated how he was the one dictating all the rules. Would he smother me like my father had smothered my mom? Would I meet the same fate as my mother?

He turned to face me. His hands in the front pockets of his trousers. His eyes went to the ring on my finger and he knew he had won.

"You made me wait until the very last minute." He was irritated.

I shrugged. It was my last rebellion before giving into him.

"You searched the girls?"

I took a shaky breath and nodded. There was no point in denying it. I doubted I would be able to sleep after what I had read.

"Tomorrow I will announce our engagement. And you will move your things into my room."

I was still to angry and resentful to want to be anywhere near him. I didn't want to share anything with him, least of all a bedroom. Not after what I had seen.

"This will be a conventional marriage Kira." His gaze held mine.

I wasn't sure if he expected me to argue but I didn't. If he backed out of this arrangement I would be as good as dead.

"I need a bit of time to get used to the idea of us being together in a physical way." I wet my lips nervously.

"Why? We have already established we have chemistry and the last time you were all over me." He raised an eyebrow at me. "I won't allow you to make issues where there aren't any. That's one avenue where we are compatible."

I swallowed. Thinking of being with him made me hot all over but I was nervous.

"I won't force myself on you Kira. I'll allow you to make the first move. But remember. If my needs aren't met within our marriage, they will be met outside of our marriage."

I felt like I had just gone to war and lost on every battle front. I needed time to retreat and deal with my losses.

"I'm tired," I said before making a move to leave.

"Remember, you have until tomorrow to come to terms with this marriage. I expect you to act like a level headed and mature fiancé going forward Kira."

My hand went to the handle and refused to turn to face him. "I know." My voice was hoarse with emotion.

I went upstairs to my room and climbed into my bed. I lay on my side hugging the pillow. There would be no sleep when I closed my eyes. The only thing that went around and around in my mind is what had happened to the two victims of the Vincents.