"Never say his name again. I don't want to hear it from your beautiful lips anymore. You are mine now, and I hate when anything that belongs to me doesn't completely belong. I want your body, mind, and soul here, not there. Understand?"
No, Belle did not understand. In fact, she did not want to. The only reason she had so quickly agreed to come to Nightbrook wasn't only because she wanted her parents to be proud of her; it was because she believed when she got this mission done and went back, whatever she requested would be granted to her. Her parents would not question her decision to marry Mr. Marchant; they would grant her the honor to support his shop and make it into a bigger dress store with a refreshments room. She had dreamed of this simple life with him and had talked about it just before the day he proposed to her.
Belle swallowed the huge lump that rose in her throat and reached her hand to touch her throat subconsciously, where the ring Jamie had given her on the day he had proposed lay, and Rohan's dark eyes followed the action, narrowing at the ring on the chain. She felt close to Jamie touching the ring and had slid it onto a chain on the wedding day so no one would question why she had the ring on her finger.
Clenching her fingers on the ring, she parted her lips and said, "You might not know how loving someone is, but I want you to know that it can't be easily forgotten. I can—"
"Did he give you this?" Rohan snarled mockingly as his hand reached for the ring around the chain resting against her chest. It was a plain silver ring that looked like something crafted out of a smithy's door handle, cheap, plain, and utterly unsightly. He did not wait for her to reply as he tightened his grip on it.
She gasped as his fingers closed around the chain at her throat. Before she could pull away, he yanked it hard, snapping the fragile links. The sharp sting against her skin barely registered before she lunged for it, but he was faster, holding the ring just out of her reach. Compared to his height, she was dwarfed by him, with the top of her head not even reaching his shoulder. Reaching for the ring he held above his head was quite impossible, and she did not want to touch him to retrieve it. Hence, she stopped trying, clenched her fists, and waited for him to give it back.
"You're truly pitiful," he murmured, turning the plain silver band between his fingers as she stood like a child before her teacher, waiting to be admonished for a mistake she had not made. Why couldn't he be like how she had imagined he would be—someone who would stay far away from her and keep her in his house without seeing her? That would have been better for her.
"Why would you hold on to something like this when it's not even gold, nor an expensive silver?" His brows drew together as if he couldn't see the value in the ring, nor in the fact that she chose to cherish it instead of throwing it into the flames in the hearth to melt into nothing. Tsk, humans. What would he have to do to understand their stupid ways of thinking? He had tried to study many in ways that were unspeakable, but nothing had come out of it except the fact that he had wasted his precious time on useless beings who were never supposed to breathe in the same air with a man like him.
Rohan's dark gaze turned toward his wife, and he arched his brows in mock curiosity. "Did he promise you forever when he gave you this?" He held the ring up to her nose.
"Give it back," she demanded as she reached her hand for it, but he pulled it up again. Her voice was tight with anger and trembling with tears as she felt insulted by his words. The ring might be cheap, but it meant something to her.
He chuckled dryly. "Give it back?" He held the ring up to the dim light, inspecting it with a disbelieving expression and a hint of disdain for the plain, worthless thing. "Why? So you can cling to this piss-poor excuse of a token? Look at it, nothing but cheap metal, just like the spineless bastard who gave it to you."
Belle's hands balled into fists, but he barely acknowledged her outrage, his focus still on the ring. "This is what he thought you deserved? This pitiful, fucking insult of a gift? I could have a stable boy piss in a mold, and it would shine brighter than this."
His fingers tightened over the ring for a moment before he let out a scoff and tossed it out through the open window behind her like one would throw a worthless piece of trash.
"That's about what it's worth," he said flatly, his eyes flicking to hers briefly before looking away. "And if the bastard who gave it to you has any sense, he'll pray I never see his face."
She ran to the window as if to go and get it, but he pulled her back onto his chest, unimpressed that she still wanted something as worthless as that silver ring. He could not believe why one would hold on to something so plain, and why, if he loved her, he thought she deserved such a gift. Was love so cheap?
"Let go of me!" she cried as she tried to get away from him to go and look for the ring outside. She had kept it not only because she wanted to cling to past love but because she had plans to return it to Jamie. Little money might not mean anything to someone like Rohan, but to Jamie, he worked hard and sweated every day to make ends meet. Buying something like that just to propose to her when he could have done it without the ring meant a lot, but Rohan had so easily tossed it away. Even though she knew she would never be able to marry Jamie, she would have preferred to return his token of love rather than have it tossed and insulted.
"If you don't want me to have a reason to hunt down this Merchant bastard, Isa, stop fighting me and forget about that ring," he said with a calm voice as she struggled in his arms. But underneath that calmness, there was a deadly warning that pierced her disoriented mind, making her freeze in his arms. For a moment, she had forgotten the man before her was no ordinary person but a vampire who could get away with anything.
She would have doubted he could hurt Jamie when he knew nothing about where he lived if she had not realized how smart he was despite the rumors calling him mad. He had noticed Jamie among the crowd and knew there was something between them even when she did not tell him. He had also seen through her family's deceit even though they had been careful. If he said he could hunt down Jamie and kill him, she wouldn't doubt that he could.
Vampires were known to be heartless, ruthless monsters who would crush a human without blinking an eye. She had been taught from childhood never to trust the bloodsuckers, but because he had made her feel completely protected in the carriage, she had almost forgotten who her husband was and what he was capable of. Her father had even given her a strict warning not to trust him or anyone in Nightbrook.
Not to mention, she had to be careful not to let him see through the true reason for this marriage. He might have seemed to accept quickly that the bride had been changed, but she did not believe he would accept that she was here to find the weakness that would kill him and all of his kind, that the humans were planning to destroy Nightbrook and wipe them out of the lands.
If she annoyed him too much, he could report her to their king for the treason they had committed for changing the bride. He had many advantages in ruining her life and everyone she cared about. But then, she still wanted to believe he wouldn't do that when he had been nothing but kind to her on their journey to Nightbrook.
"Y-you wouldn't hurt him for this little matter, would you?" she asked as she calmed down and looked up at his shadowed face that was staring down at her, his arms still wrapped around her body.