“I won’t,” I snap, wanting an end to this conversation. I don’t need a reminder of the fact that I had clearly found myself becoming increasingly infatuated with Zahra. I thought the feeling was mutual, with all the stolen glances she’d aimed at me when we were together. Instead, she’d been convinced that I was the one who had killed her father. Clearly, we’d been on completely separate pages the entire time.
Aidan is right. I can’t delude myself into thinking this marriage will be anything more than a business arrangement.
“I appreciate your concern, both as my brother and as my second. But I have the situation under control. I promise.”
Maybe Zahra: Hi, it’s Zahra. Lawyers are working on our marriage contract, any non-negotiables?
I blink at least a dozen times before responding
Declan: How did you get my private cell number?
Zahra: Is that serious question?
Zahra: You do recall I’m a trained hacker, right? :P
I—Was that a tongue out emoji? Is this the most relaxed conversation we’ve had? What emoji was I supposed to send in response?
Declan: Righhhttt obviously
Zahra: So the contract?
The only thing that came to mind was including a clause that prevented any man from coming within a ten-foot radius of her. For her safety. Obviously. Not because I was jealous of every red-blooded male with a pulse. Though I doubt she’d go along with it, so instead I say,
Declan: Let me think on it and get back to you
Declan: What are you up to today?
I hit send before I can talk myself out of it. Double texts were a known sign of desperation, weren’t they? Dammit.
Zahra: My trainer’s putting me to work
Her text is followed by a video of her deadlifting weights in the gym, and damn if that didn’t turn me on. Watching her lift my weight with ease was probably meant to intimidate me, but instead it just made my cock incredibly hard.
Declan: Practicing so you can throw me around?
Zahra: Obviously…need to make sure I can keep you in line ;)
If only she knew how tightly she had me wrapped aroundher finger already.
“We have a problem. A big one.”
I slam my father’s will on the desk, wishing I could bring him back to life just to strangle him. Two days after Zahra’s proposal, her lawyer called me asking if I had taken the time to read all the stipulations of my father’s will surrounding the marriage. I’d started shifting through this morning, and I still had five pages to go through. The sun was starting to set.
“Leave it to dad to refuse to give up any control even from the grave,” Aidan grumbles, legs draped across the armrest of the couch in front of me as he jots down key takeaways from each page. “He really did everything in his power to make sure you couldn’t fake your way out of this.”
“Living in the cottage house with my wife, having dinner together at least five times a week, no international trips longer than a week apart from each other…Is this man crazy?!” I rest my head against my desk, exhausted.
“Sounds like all the things he did with mom. Sans living in the cottage. You know that would’ve been too small for her.” Aidan smirks. Our mother certainly had expensive tastes, not that it bothered my father one bit. He lived to spoil her.
“Yeah, but they were married because they loved each other, not because they were trying to stop Uncle Lorkan from ruining our legacy.” Yanking the bottom drawer of my desk open, I grab the bottle of whiskey, unscrew the top, and take a large gulp.
“He probably figured you would try to cheat your way out of this clause. This is his way of holding you accountable.” Aidan walks over and grabs the bottle from my hand, also taking a drink. “Dad did shit like this to me all the time. Only difference is my punishments included being cut off financially or kicked out of the house, not sleeping with a super hot, though admittedly super scary, woman.”
“There’s nothing in the will about sleeping with Zahra,” Iscoff, then groan at the stack of papers in front of me, “...right? Or did I miss that? God, I swear if he wrote something in here about an heir?—”
“Relax, I'm just busting your balls. Did Zahra’s lawyer give you a sense of how she’s feeling?” Aidan asks, looking at me with pity.
“I think she assumed I had kept all these clauses hidden from her, which her lawyer talked her down from. Probably told her I hadn’t bothered to comb through Dad’s will, which is true. From our texts, I get the sense she’s pissed, but less at me and more at the whole situation.” I shrug.
