“Life sucks, angel. Get used to it.”
I sigh. “It’s only now I realize that he was protecting his investments. With our inheritance, he could expand his empire quicker. If we weren’t there, neither was his money tree, so he tolerated us and kept us guarded inside his silk-lined prison like gold bars in a bank vault.”
The truth is biting me hard, and I’m exhausted by it all.
“Our stepmother, Morgan.”
Even her name tastes bitter on my tongue.
“I won’t let her win.”
My words are spoken with defiance, and Simeon smiles. “We won’t let her.”
“We need a plan of action.”
Despair is quickly being replaced by vengeance, and is setting light to my anger.
Simeon is regarding me with interest, and his nod of approval strangely warms me inside.
“We marry and deal with the first part of your problem and fulfill the condition of the will.”
“Marry.” My throat dries because of course he’s right. With him as my husband, I stand a chance at least, and I doubt he’d do it out of the goodness of his heart.
“For great rewards comes great sacrifice.”
His words are timely, and I nod in agreement, registering that I am the sacrifice but is he the reward? Then again, he is also sacrificing something and yet said himself he is as unwilling as I am, prompting me to ask, “Why are you doing this, and I don’t buy it’s because your father told you to? You don’t strike me as the kind of man who takes orders from anyone.”
“I know my place.” He shrugs. “In matters of family, business even, I am merely a tool of my trade. It doesn’t matter to me if I marry for a deal. I never wanted to get married anyway, so I’m not losing anything. It’s business, nothing more.”
“Business.” I smile, but his words leave me cold. I am another business transaction, and I never will be anything more than that. Is that why he is so quick to tell me I will be free one day? He doesn’t care about me, and I suppose it’s best I run with that.
“Okay, let’s do this, but first we go to the bank.”
“No, Alice.” His tone is firm. “We marry at the registrar’s office, which is our first stop in town, and then we go to the bank.”
“But why the urgency?”
He raises his eyes. “Because we may have a welcoming committee. I’d be disappointed if we didn’t because any man worth his place on earth would have worked out that is the first place you would go.”
“You didn’t.” I face him with a triumphant smile, and he actually grins.
“I was on my way there when we received the information about the gardener. When we discovered his family connection, it changed our plans.”
I slump back in my seat as understanding dawns. This man has always been steps ahead of me and probably always will be.
The registrar’soffice is an impressive stone building in a town courtyard, and as we stand in a huge room with vaulted ceilings, I shiver as I face the man of my nightmares. If the registrar thinks there is anything odd about this, he remains impassive, probably because he is intent on surviving this in one piece.
We must be scaring the shit out of him because our guests are threatening, foreboding and leaking menace.
The men making up the guests look as out of place as I do in my jeans and sweater with purple bruising all over myface. Simeon, by contrast, looks suave, sophisticated and cool in his black suit, smart shoes, wearing a gold watch and crucifix around his neck.
It reminds me how far I’ve come since the convent that is merely hours away, and I swallow hard as I recite the vows that chain me to this man until he says so.
“You may now kiss the bride.”
“It’s okay.”
I pull away and am surprised when I’m pulled hard against that infernal chest and Simeon tilts my face toward his with one sweeping movement of his index finger. His dark intent is evident as he stares into my eyes, and my breath hitches as his mouth descends on mine, making me instinctively close my eyes.
