I blinked at him; the breath completely drained from my lungs. "What?" I managed to wheeze.

This couldn't be happening. Logan Sternato was asking me to marry him. After his hint a few days ago, I should've expected it, but seeing him sat beside me, cupping a box that held the most beautiful ring I'd ever seen, I was speechless. The band of the ring was encrusted with delicate, sparkling diamonds that caught the light flooding through the window behind Logan. In the centre was a large rock that twinkled brightly.

"Marry me, Mia," he said again, staring at me with so much intensity in his eyes that I squirmed.

I swallowed the lump in my throat. "Aren't you going to get down on one knee?" I asked him teasingly. "This isn't a very romantic proposal."

My lips twitched as I looked back to him. I pictured what he would look like, this powerful man on his knees in front of me. The thought sent a shiver down my spine but Logan only shook his head. "I'm not proposing." My heart pattered for a moment and I looked back at the ring. "It's an order," he continued, grabbing the ring from the box and sliding it onto my finger before I could even open my mouth to speak. "You're going to be my wife," he stated with a smile before pouncing.

His lips smashed against mine and every thought in my head screeched to a halt. Anything I was about to say died when his lips lapped and sucked at mine. He took control of the kiss, guiding my head towards him before plunging his tongue into my mouth. He explored my mouth completely and I moaned at the feeling. His hands roamed my body, grabbing and squeezing my breasts before venturing further. They came to rest on my stomach and I felt him smile against me.

When he pulled away, I was left panting for breath while he trailed kisses downwards. He started at my jaw and licked at my burning hot skin on my neck before brushing aside my shirt and latching onto one of my nipples. I shuddered underneath him. My breasts had been particularly sensitive lately and his hot breath and the graze of his teeth had me writhing. He continued his journey downwards and brushed the shirt upwards before planting numerous kisses on my stomach.

I stayed silent for a moment, watching him kiss every inch of skin that encased his children, before I let my gaze flicker to the ring on my finger. My chest twinged. He was my fiancé. I was his and he was mine.

I was his.

For some reason, the thought caused a lump in my throat and I had to blink away a few tears that dotted my eyes. "I love you so much," he murmured against my skin. His words should've made me happy. Every time he told me he loved me, I felt like I could fly. But this time was different, I felt like the words caused my lungs to tighten and it suddenly became more difficult to breathe.

"What's wrong?" He asked, finally pulling away to look up at me. His eyes were soft and his mouth downturned in a frown as he looked at me with worry. I wanted to reassure him. I wanted to tell him I was fine; that I loved him too. But the words wouldn't come out. "Mia?"

I sobbed, feeling my heart squeeze in my chest. "I can't marry you," I found myself telling him before I even realised that was why I was crying. The words burned the back of my throat and the second they were out, I cried harder. I couldn't look at Logan. I didn't want to see his reaction so I buried my face in my hands.

He was silent for a long time and I felt the bed dip as he shifted his weight, moving further away from me. I didn't blame him. "What?" he eventually asked. His voice sounded different. Heavier. Strained. Emotional.

I sniffled, wiping my tears away and taking a deep breath, trying to gather the courage to speak. "I'm sorry," I told him sincerely, "but I can't."

"Why the hell not?"

I flinched at his tone – not because I thought he would hurt me. I knew he wouldn't. But because he sounded so hurt, so angry, and the idea that maybe, he wouldn't forgive me for this, it burned.

"I love you," I told him, peeling my hands away from my face so he could see my eyes. So he could know that I meant it. "I really do and... I want to be with you. If you'd have asked me to be your wife, I would've said yes." I wiped away my tears and straightened my spine, hoping that I could make him understand. "But you didn't ask me."

He scoffed, shaking his head. "Is that what this is about? You want me to get down on one knee and give you a more romantic proposal?"

I shook my head. "No, I wanted you to ask me. I wanted you to love me enough to give me the choice." He opened his mouth to speak but I cut him off. "I thought things between us had changed, but if you have to order me to spend the rest of my life with you then I don't think that I should. After everything that's happened with my mother-," I said, the tears spilling once again, "-and my father..."

"I'm not your father, Mia!" he snapped, shaking his head. "I would never do what he did. You have to know that."

I nodded. "I do know that. But what I don't know is whether you would let me leave. If I wanted to walk away from you, if I never wanted to see you again, would you let me?"

I could see his fists clench at his sides. "I won't ever give you a reason to want to leave."

I nodded slowly as his words sunk in. "That wasn't the answer I needed," I told him. I shuffled along the bed and he reached for my hand, holding me in place. "I really am sorry, but after everything that's happened, with my parents, with us, I just- I can't trust you, not with this. I'm sorry." And with that, I pulled my wrist from his hold, removed the ring from my finger and walked away.