Their Bridgewater Brides Boxed Set: Books 1 - 4

1 ANN "You will marry him." "I will not," I replied. My father stood, looming over me as I sat in one of the room's very uncomfortable chairs. I looked at the floor, the carpet's dark colors swirling as my eyes filled with tears. Taking a deep breath, I willed them away. My father had ruled my life, squeezed every bit of enjoyment from it until there was barely any left. "I will not have Mr. Atherton thinking you are common. We are anything but." Yes, common. My father did not lower himself to be like everyone else. God forbid I stopped and petted a dog. A pedigree dog in first class. Thomas Geary did not stop to pet a dog. He did not stop to deign anyone with his miserable presence unless it was of value to him. Including me. I was just his daughter. I wasn't a son—just a daughter who enjoyed petting dogs and helping the elderly woman on the stairs going to dinner. A daughter who refused to conform to his every wish. "I am not common, Father. You've ensured that," I countered. "But Mr. Atherton holds no appeal to me. I've told you that time and again." He walked over to me and I had to tilt my chin back to look at him. "He holds appeal to me and, more importantly, you hold appeal for him. Merging his railroad with my land holdings is crucial, Ann, and I will not have you ruining our arrangements." "So marriage to the man is part of the arrangement? What about love?" Father laughed. "Love? This isn't about love. This business venture, even this trip, it's all about money." Shame made my cheeks heat, for I believed in love wholeheartedly, while he did not. He'd married my mother because of an arrangement, and there had been no love between them. I didn't remember her, but I could not imagine any woman loving my father. She was just someone to produce an heir for him, and she hadn't even done that right. She'd made me, a female, then died giving birth to Father's true heir. The baby boy had died as well. He'd been stuck with me ever since. Why he hadn't remarried and found another woman to breed, I had no idea. I stood up and lifted my chin, met the same blue eyes as mine. I hoped that was the only thing we had in common. "I refuse." His eyes widened and the cords of his neck stood out. "You refuse?" He took a step toward me but I had nowhere to go, the chair pressing into my lower legs. "You will do exactly as I tell you." I shook my head, but my flare of defiance was weakening. "What happens if I don't?" He grabbed my wrist and pulled me towards him. His hold was unbreakable, his grip painful. I winced at the way he pressed against my bones. Tighter and tighter, until I gasped. "This will happen, Ann." Wincing against the pain, I tried to tug my arm free, but he wouldn't relent. "Do not defy me." He paused. "To ensure this arrangement is… complete, instead of waiting to dock, the ceremony will happen on this ship while you are much more docile." He let me go and I stumbled away from him, clutching my wrist in the palm of my other hand. "Tonight, Ann. The dress you wear to dinner will be your wedding dress." He opened the door. "Father," I said, ignoring the throb in my wrist and my tingling fingers. He turned to face me. "Don't you wish to lock me in?" He looked at me as if I were a simpleton. "On a ship? Where are you to go?" Where was I to go? There was no escape. I had three hours, then I was going to be Mrs. Abel Atherton.