Contract marriage with the ruthless billionaire ceo boss

ly'

y upstairs," she a

ts have?" More out of hab

spoke to m

udy. There was something dragging at me. One breath, a whisper, a flutter

the door. My chest seized. His confessional, his war chamber, his haven ha

oment, his laughter, his voice calling me pumpkin, the sound of his glass clinking

hind me. Not anything there

d reached. My fingers swept something metallic, an ancient ke

ng heartbeat. Let it

cli

r sighe

o me Aging parchment and t

chessboard midway through the game. Still hanging on the hang

sk's bottom drawer. a str

ck

cut on the handle. The symbol of

ally, something invi

ps behi

f. Her dark hair was tied tightly into a bun that hurt. Pearls like a rope hung to her

voice synthetic honey

while smiling. That is w

cing at me like I was a

t suiting his towering body, hair slicked back precisely, smile sharp enough to cut glass.

hout asking, "Look who's back." His look stayed a se

ing up my neck. "Jack

laugh. "That's what

ribbons on silver dishes. I put none of it in taste. Under Ed

e she was operating. "Business promises a better future than literature. Thou

etween here. "My father a

pped tones. Indeed, and ch

t to have. Jack's hand slid over the table, fingers

ved

kling my ear. "We ought to disc

stead of the steak knife

he table, calm delight curlin

than required beneath the table. His grip was st

e murmured, soft th

this was not dinner. This was a rehearsal. A forerunner to something mo

was lettin

eep my glass from shaking, my f

wn. "Exc

trailed fingers along the wood-panelled walls. The house still looked the same. Not in its most basic form. Still

and locked files along a passage covered in dark velvet drapes soiled with time. Nobody ever mentioned his ac

lanned to visit here, my steps had guided me as tho

d the

rant

ling, mahogany shelves piled volumes with age-worn cracked spines. Half full of brandy, a decanter res

ther. I went gently around it, eyes glancing over the papers left behind. Some were old account

w it

. Not recent, not ancient enough to let gather dust. A

to look

about in

h came t

discussion of. I examined the paper, my fingers shaking. Married by twenty-th

only a formality in cruelty. Control. Their waiting for

me, foo

za's tastes. Too r

s, I turned automatically and

at a

nsation slid

follow

urned toward the desk. My fingers

low, low, demanding,

. Give it a few months; she w

ed. You are pushing just too softly. She was twenty-one alre

ause. My bre

he clause; he never considered she would survive without him. She is here, nonetheless, and vul

brought them closer to the corner fr

with irritation tumbling through his wor

next month," John stated calmly. She will

tupid." She looks at me like

you," John said squarely

harsh and deep, like a

e fail as wel

once more, darker now. Then we present it as an accid

at tigh

he wall, but everything around slanted. The air seemed to weigh more. Eve

stride away from the study door was like sludging throug

parents died i

adows. Turning the corner and walked for the

d me kept on

plied with certainty. Even if she

nd the corners. I had wept myself to sleep in the same four-poster bed my parent

r. My breathing came irregular and shallow. Though it didn't help, I counted it o

voices in my head. Ever

r duress. an ex

ndow. My gaze turned down the street. void

was a real clause here. Not paranoid here was this This was not a hunched

ight stepp

ed to look lik

rknob h

ped fr

re, it

d on the door. It ha

his one more ac

omeone tryi

the paperwork beneath the mattress. I then stretch

No weapo

d once more. Th

other side, dripping. "Why'

a ste

xi

er pitch. "Are you co

d the r

ie

tle laugh

you should know, this house has