Jasper pursed his lips and shrugged. “Accidents happen.” I hated how he started rearranging the pens on my dad’s desk.
My hands were shaking as I scrubbed them over my face. “Jasper. Stop. I know you’re not that type of person.”
His past threats started to echo in my head. Or maybe he was, and I hadn’t seen that side of him.
Jasper lorded behind my father’s desk like he had every right to be there. “You know nothing about me, Storm. Not really. The agreement stands.”
I raised my hands off the desk and shot him an imploring look. “Why do you want to marry me so much? Do I have something you want?”
He tilted his head with a smirk as he said, “Social standing, my dear. And certainly not your overused cunt.”
Blood surged up through my cheeks to my hairline.
“How dare you!”
He ignored my outrage. “Always so dramatic,” Jasper chuckled before his expression turned deadly serious. “It’s all about appearances. Being married to you will make me appear like one of the good guys.”
My pulse was thundering with humiliation and rage. How dare this man insult me in my own home? His voice was a blur as he rambled on. “A normal, upstanding citizen. With a normal life and normal needs.”
“And you’re not that already?” I was so sick of taking this man’s shit lying down, but what could I do?
“Not quite. Not as far as the older, more traditional supporters are concerned. If they were to know the truth about me…” I so wanted to show him that he’d fucked with the wrong family. Jasper confirmed my assumptions that he was gay with that last sentence.
“What? You mean your sexual preferences?” I snorted. “No one will give a shit in this day and age.”
Jasper smiled at my comment and looked impressed. “You’re wrong. But I’m glad you’re aware that my tastes run more masculine in the bedroom.”
“The fact that you’ve never touched me kind of gave me an inkling. But people don’t care, Jasper. Not anymore. Don’t you want to be yourself and not live a lie?”
I saw a flash of vulnerability, but it was gone too quickly to know if it was genuine. Realisation pumped into my gut. “It’s because of Theodore, isn’t it?”
His face screwed up as I mentioned his esteemed parent. Theodore had attended Brown University with my father before they joined forces and combined their two businesses. He was old-fashioned, uptight, and extremely set in his ways. And Jasper was the frontman.
“I suggest you keep your voice down,” Jasper whisper-shouted, glancing at the closed door. “If I were to come out to my father, he’d disown me, and I can’t allow that to happen. That’s why I need you. As my wife, you will eradicate any of those rumors that my sexual tastes are anything other than what is deemed normal by this fucked up, blue-blooded society. Especially once I put my child in you.”
“You must be joking. I wouldn’t let you near me,” I fired back in horror.
“Oh, it won’t be done the usual way. The thought of fucking a woman makes me sick to my stomach. We’ll do it the artificial way, nice and clinical.”
Yes, artificial, just like our marriage. I could feel the signs of a headache coming on.
I started to pace in front of my father’s desk. “This is nonsense. It isn’t just about keeping up appearances. There’s something else in it for you, there must be.”
The only sign that my comment ruffled him was the way he lifted his hand and started to adjust his tie. “I wouldn’t worry about that, Stormy. I’d worry about what will happen to Loverboy if you don’t go through with it. If you try to go against me, I won’t stop, and I can be very nasty when I don’t get my way.”
“You’re a monster.” The scar across my collarbone started to throb in time with my heartbeat.
“And you’re out of time,” he stated, pushing to his feet as the door to the office opened. My eyes drifted around as I turned to see his father stroll into the room. He was clutching Jasper’s now tatty green folder under his arm.
I had seen Jasper poring over it a few times. I knew it was the same one. It had a stain in the top left corner. I remembered when I’d asked about it in the car one day, he batted my question off without answering. I wondered what was inside it.
“Am I interrupting something?”
“No, we’re done. Storm was telling me about the button holes she’s had designed.” Button holes, my ass.
Theodore’s ruddy face lit up. “Ah, super. It’s all in the detail,” he said with a smile. They were both staring at me with patronizing smiles. Like I was the little woman of the house when I was anything but. I was a doctor for Christ's sake.
I walked out of that room and left them to their business with my head high, when I really felt like I was sinking into the depths of hell. And there was no one to pull me out.
