No. No. No. I will not be manipulated by this intoxicating man.
I press my fingers to my lips where they tingle. “I shouldn’t have done that.”
“Why not?”
“Bronx—”
“Tell me you didn’t enjoy that,” he asks, his hand jumping to my jaw and squeezing a little. “Tell me you’re not turned on and I’ll never touch you again.”
I stare at him, heart pounding in my chest and an ache buried so deep that it hurts.
“That was a mistake.”
“A married couple making out on the couch is a mistake?” he asks, voice low enough to catapult a shiver over me. “It’s not like I have you stripped and laid out on the coffee table.”
I shake my head and yank his hand away from my face. “We married because my father sold me for secrets. And you’re only doing this because your family bought me to keep those secrets locked away. This—” I gesture between us “—isn’t real.”
“What if it is?”
My stomach knots because part of me would like to believe him.
“It’s not.” I get to my feet and fix my dress. “I refuse to be collateral damage in all of this. You’re not gonna use me to pass the time.”
I round the couch and only when I think he’s finished messing with my head, his voiceslips over my shoulder. “How about I tell you something that will one hundred percent make you smile?”
“We’re getting an annulment?” I spin around and press my hands to my cheeks, dramatizing my fake shock. “Wow, Bronx, it’s like you read my mind.”
He doesn’t get up from the couch, just looks over at me and takes a slow sip of whiskey, holding the moment in his silence.
“If you genuinely smile for me, princess, then you have to shower with me every morning.”
Oh, this guy.
“There is nothing you could offer me that would?—”
“Your brother’s called Connor, isn’t he?” he asks.
I take a step closer. “You know he is.”
“Right…” Bronx takes another sip and my chest tightens. “Connor will land at JFK tomorrow.”
A surprised and helpless grin stretches across my face. “Connor’s coming here?”
“Well, he is not coming to our apartment. He’ll be staying in one of the apartments I own in this building since it is secure and has protection. It’s easier to keep on eye on things if he’s close.,” he says. “We need our privacy to shower together.”
As the new settles in, so does the suspicion. “What’s your angle?”
He shakes his head. “Shouldn’t you be thanking me, princess?”
“Don’t deflect. Why are you bringing him here?”
Bronx sighs and rises to his full height. “Maybe I thought you’d be less miserable with him around while I’m busy.”
“Bullshit. You don’t care if I’m miserable.”
“Don’t I?” he shoots back, sliding a hand into his dress pants pocket and heading my way.
“All you care about is control. And having my brother here is another way to control my family.”
