Strictly Taboo(213)

“I hate you,” Penny glared at her father, although she knew in her heart she didn’t really hate him, but she hated that he’d trap her like this, force her to marry.

“Penny, I’ve done everything I can for you. I made sure I found you a good, honorable man who didn’t need your money. He’s marrying you because he thought you sounded interesting.” Her father told her quietly. He reached out to give his daughter a hug, but she pulled away.

“How do you know he wants me? He doesn’t know anything about me, for all I know he’s going to keep me chained in a dungeon somewhere, popping out babies.” She said and crossed her arms, glaring at her father.

“Would babies be so bad?” Her father raised a brow, and then smirked. The idea of a man keeping his daughter in chains tickled him. She needed a strong man, not the kind of man quick to temper or abuse, but one who could keep her in check. He’d tried over the years, but the girl was so headstrong… she made it difficult.

“Not when I was ready for them. I just want a chance to make my own life daddy, is that too much to ask?” Penny gave her daddy the sad eyed puppy dog look, the one that almost always got her what she wanted.

Ignoring her face, he averted eyes. “You can choose to make your own way in life, within the boundaries your husband sets. Once you are married to him, it’s on him to decide what you can and cannot do. Win him over, maybe he’ll let you have more freedom than I would. You never know.”

“Or, he won’t let me do anything and I’m supposed to be seen and not heard.” Penny pointed out. “Fine, but if I murder him, it’s your fault.”

“If the man cannot handle you he deserves what he gets,” her father said laughing.

Penny flounced out of the room, and didn’t hear her father tell the maid to make sure all the bags were packed, since they were leaving first thing in the morning.

When she woke, first thing in the morning her father was standing over her bed, his hat on his head and his jacket on.

“We have to leave in an hour. Get up, get dressed, eat some breakfast. Your bags are already packed. Come along Penny.” Her father said and when she just laid there, he ripped the covers off her bed.

“HEY!” Yelling at him, she sat up and glared. “What are you doing?”

“Getting you up. We have to go, your husband waits for you, get dressed.” He told her, and pulled on her arm until she got up out of the bed. “I’ll be waiting for you downstairs, don’t make me come get you.

“Fine.” She said and waited for him to leave. The maid came in to help her get dressed, but she wasn’t happy. She noticed almost all of her clothes but a couple of dresses were already gone out of her closet, and wondered when they’d managed to do this without her noticing.

After breakfast, she left with her father, but refused to say a word. It was a long ride to a train station that would start them on their journey. She wasn’t happy, she didn’t want to get married, her father and her had gotten into an argument about her staying a virgin forever and refusing to be a wife.

It just hadn’t worked. Her father had found her a husband, and put her in a position where she had no choice but to go meet the man her father had picked out. A few hours later, she finally caved and asked him a question.

“What happens if we meet him in person and he’s not at all what you thought he’d be, or he’s not suitable for me?” She asked her father, raising a brow.

Her father startled, looking as if that had never occurred to him. “He’ll be fine. Stop trying to find problems where there aren’t any.”

“It’s not your life you’re throwing to the wolves, it’s mine.” Penny retorted and sat back with a thump, glaring at her father. “You don’t care what happens to me.”

“Penny, I do, a lot actually, that’s why I’m insisting you get married. If something were to happen to me, god forbid and you were still unmarried, your assets, and our business would be a target. I know in our society it’s not fair, but unless you have a man to help you, life will be impossible for you. Everyone will try to take advantage of you, men will try to seduce you or get close to you or get their hooks in you for your money. At least with a father alive, I’ve been able to keep most of the sharks at bay. If you’re alone in the world, you would be a lot worse off.”

Penny hadn’t heard her father talk like this before and she tilted her head, looking oddly at him.

“You aren’t sick, are you?” She asked him quietly. He didn’t seem any different than usual.