Shackled (The Lord Series)

**This is the first book in a series of books that will be very similar in content. This series will be darker than my other books and it might not be for everyone. This book is a dark romance, reverse harem type story (meaning the girl in this book will be in a relationship with more than one guy). There will be elements of BDSM, blood and knife play, breeding kink, and other types of kinks. Torture, kidnapping, and other acts of violence will happen in this book. Consider this your trigger warning. The book contains triggers from start to finish and I won’t spell them out at the beginning of each chapter. If you decide to venture on, this was your warning and I hope you will enjoy the story.**

**Angel**

Looking over my shoulder for the hundredth time in the last half an hour, ensuring no one is following me, I walk fast on the crowded street. Attempting not to make eye contact with anyone, not wanting to be noticed. Being the daughter of one of the most powerful Dukes in Veross City makes me easily recognizable. It is not like I want to run away from home, but what else am I supposed to do when my father wants me to marry Carlos de la Torre?

Carlos, who is another Duke, is not only twenty-five years older than me—making him around the same age as my father—but he has known me since I was a child. Each time he came to visit my parents, he would usually bring me toys and sweets until I turned sixteen, and he started bringing flowers. Soon after, gifts were sent to the mansion weekly. While I thought it was creepy and inappropriate, my father started thinking that me marrying Carlos would not be such a bad idea.

I stop at an intersection, and before crossing the street, I look behind me, hoping Carlos’ men didn’t find me. If they find me… I don’t even want to think what Carlos would do to me. I not only need to find a place to hide, but I need to get away from Veross City. Away from Carlos. Today.

Even now, six years after my father’s first talk about me getting married to Carlos, I still can’t believe he would do something like this to me. While the Dukes have tried to keep it a secret, everyone knows that Carlos is a sadist who loves to torture the women he sleeps with. His torture methods are so severe that he has killed over a hundred women in the last fifteen years. Or so the rumors say. Three of them were married to him at the time of their deaths. He is still free to do what he pleases because more than half the city’s police force and judges are controlled by the Dukes. The Lords control the other half.

About three months ago, my father invited Carlos over to dinner. Little did I know that night I would become his fiancée. When a ring was forced on my finger, I was too stunned to say anything. And then he tried to kiss me, and it took every ounce of my control not to slap him. After Carlos left, I asked my father, even begged him not to force me to marry a man I did not love, but my words were meaningless.

I don’t need anyone to tell me how my life would be if I were to become Carlos’ wife. It would be a miracle if I made it past our first wedding anniversary. And the idea of having to sleep with him makes me sick.