When he picks up, I growl out, “I just filled a damn cathedral at the last minute to marry this chick, so this better be good.”
“She’s a black widow.”
“A what?”
“A black-fucking-widow.”
“What the hell does that mean?”
“Not much is known about them, but they basically marry wealthy men and off their husbands.”
“There’s no way Ivy could be one. She’s a nineteen year old virgin.”
“Then you’re her first job.”
“How do you know this?”
“I was only able to ascertain it from the video you sent of your video call. That woman that entered the picture, her mother, is all kinds of bad news, and if Ivy is her daughter, you can be damn sure she’s a widow.”
I plug my opposite ear to make sure nothing he says goes unheard. “Are you saying that Ivy intends to kill me?”
“Sure am.”
“Tonight?”
“No, that’s the thing about widows. They’re careful. She’ll wait until she’s pregnant, then, at the height of your joy—BAM! Dead.”
I think over his words, and a new plan begins to coalesce.
“And you’re sure she must be pregnant?”
“Uh-huh. It’s a widow thing. It ensures they’ll get a bigger cut to your estate when you’re gone.”
“In-ter-est-ing…”
“Unfortunately, there’s no point in reporting her, because there’s no evidence and so much of what I’ve found is…seedily obtained. You just need to leave, right the hell now.”
“I don’t think I will.”
“Excuse me? She will fucking kill you, no questions asked.”
“Oh, no she won’t. She’ll give me my heir I need so desperately, even if she has to give birth in jail.”
And after she’s gone, I’ll be free.
FIVE
Ivy
It’smy mother who walks me down the aisle full of strangers. The attendees hunch toward each other and whisper as I pass, wondering who I am, what I look like, and how I managed to snag one of the world’s most eligible bachelors.
Mateo waits for me with a rakish grin that reminds me of our short time together. How he’d knelt before me and gave me that sinful kiss.
It took every ounce of willpower I possessed not to collapse.
Now everyone will know you are mine,he’d said right after he collared me. I’ve never felt so owned before, even under my mother’s watchful gaze.
Mateo graciously accepts me at the altar, and we say the words that are supposed to bind us throughout our lives together, however short his might be.
