CHAPTER 20
ALICE
Itake an unsteady breath and glare at him. “I’m not yours. What an arrogant statement to make.”
The fact that my lips are bruised from his rough attention should appall me. It doesn’t. I liked it. What the hell is happening to me?
He smirks. “That ring on your finger says otherwise.”
“That ring is a business arrangement and nothing more, so don’t get ahead of yourself.”
“Yes, business. The deal we made that involves you carrying my baby. Shall we get on with that?”
I am momentarily stunned, wondering if he’s joking, but from the look of him, joking doesn’t come naturally.
“What, here?”
“If you like.”
“You’re not very romantic, are you?” I scoff and he shrugs. “It’s business. You said so yourself.”
“Possibly, but not here. Of course not here. What do you think I am?”
“A virgin, I’m guessing.”
Heat floods my entire body because he’s not wrong there, but I’m not giving him the satisfaction of knowing that.
“What makes you say that?”
This time I shrug nonchalantly, and he has the audacity to laugh.
“It’s a pretty calculated guess. I mean, you fled from an all-girls school to a convent where only two men worked. If you’re not a virgin, I’m one of those nuns.”
Despite the mortifying conversation, I laugh out loud, imagining this man as a figure of religion is too funny for words.
If anything, it decreases the tension, and I shake my head. “You’re a strange man, Simeon.”
“In what way?”
“Ineveryway. I mean, you kill people for a living and cover your tracks as if you’re merely taking out the trash at the end of the day. You breeze through life with a wad of cash, expecting everyone to do your bidding, and you stifle those around you by suffocating their freedom to suit your agenda.”
“I agree with your analysis.”
He shrugs, seemingly unbothered, and I peer at him with curiosity.
“Take this marriage. You went along with your father’s wishes, seemingly unconcerned that two lives, if not more, are affected by this. Marriage isn’t something that should be taken lightly, and yet it’s just another business transaction to you.”
“Life is a business transaction, angel. It’s the best way.”
“What about love, emotion, happiness?”
“Business brings me all of those things, anyway you digress.”
“In what way?”
“You told me you’re not a virgin. How did that happen?”
I raise my eyes, causing him to smirk. “I want to know because, quite frankly, I don’t believe you.”
