Bloodbound: The Alliance
Landen Vacheron, heir to a fortune built on oil and ambition, has lived his life as a wealthy playboy, the world bowing to his every whim, thanks to the empire his billionaire father, Colton Vacheron, forged. But as his older brother Vance steps into the role of CEO, Landen begins to see that the true cost of power and privilege is far greater than he ever imagined. Avara Du Pont is a devoted daughter who set aside her own dreams to bolster her father’s political aspirations. Unaware of his dark secrets. When it comes to light, Colton Vacheron offers him a proposition he cannot refuse; a marriage alliance between Avara and Vance, as a way for him to garner more political influence. And Mayor Du Pont will receive a king’s ransom as payment to stave off the shadows spilling into his life. Avara agrees to the fake relationship in order to protect her family from her father's criminal ties.
Chapter 74
He releases and the echoes of my panic wilt on my tongue as tears pour from eyes, streaming down my temples. The last thing I want is for him to see me cry but I can't help it—I can't stop the deluge.
"It's a nice dress," he breathes with a hellish and hypnotic lilt in his voice as his fingers curl around the modest chest cut out. "You look like a king's queen, when I need you to look like his—mistress."
He wrenches the hole wider, the force lifting me an inch off the backseat as I ground my jaw to hold in any sound—the fabric ripping, tearing a plunging neckline to create a gaping slit to expose my breasts and glimpses of my strapless bra.
"Better."
I thud back down, flinching when his finger comes near my face. Landen's thumb then swipes away at a streak of tears with a whisper of menace in the movement that was made to be loving. "Wouldn't it have just been easier to listen the first time, hm? Instead of trying to make a monster of me."