"We’ll talk to the team at the restaurant. Tell them it’s all lies."
"But it’s not, is it?" She drops her phone in her bag. “I married you so you could satisfy your investors. And so you could get your inheritance.”
Her features crumple. She looks like she’s about to be sick.
“I signed an agreement which said you’d pay me a million pounds to be your wife. And now, the world knows it too.”
She wipes her palms on her slacks like they’ve gone damp.
My heart seizes. I hate the fact that she looks so nervous.
"Whatever happened was our private business. No one else in the world has the right to that information.”
My fingers tighten around the coffee cup.
I hate the fact that she’s calling our marriage an arrangement. It may have started that way, but it feels like so much more. Can’t she see that? Why is she still referring to it as being fake. My chest hurts. Anger coils in my stomach.
"It did come out though.” She wrings her fingers. She’s gone so pale, I worry that she’s going to faint.
How dare Miller put her through this? I was the one who fired him.He has a grudge with me. Why is he involving her? Why is he causing her so much stress? I’m going to ensure that I make him pay for this. I’m going to make sure he can’t work again in this town.
I set my cup down carefully. Then take her hand in mine.
My muscles tense. My heart rate speeds up. I look into her eyes and hold her gaze. “When I fucked you, did it feel like I was pretending?”
She purses her lips. “What does that have to do with anything?”
I rise to my feet, pull her up, and tug her close. “What we have now is not fake.”
“But it started out as something that wasn’t real. And now, everyone on the team also knows that.” She looks like she’s about to cry.
My stomach bottoms out. My guts churn. I feel her pain like it is my own.
“I will order the team to disregard that video,” I say through gritted teeth. What can I do to make her feel better?
“Are you also going to ask everyone who saw the video around the world to disregard it?” She looks away again.
I pinch her chin, so she has no choice but to raise her eyes. I cannot bear it if she grows to hate me because of this. I will not let her career suffer because of this.
“I will do everything in my power to protect you. This arrangement was my idea. I’m the one who suggested the fake marriage as the solution to the first viral video, and so I could claim my inheritance. If anyone should be at fault, it’s me.”
She half smiles. “It’s nice you’re taking responsibility for your actions. But the fact is, I’m equally at fault. I’m the one who accepted your proposal. Those are the facts.”
I bring her close and tuck her head under my chin. As if by doing so, I’ll be able to hide her from the world. But not even I can do that. But I can do the next best thing.
“I will not let anything happen to you,” I vow.
She looks at me sadly. “Not even you can promise that.”
I set my jaw, refusing to believe that is the case.
“I am going to do everything possible to ensure this gets resolved quickly.”
She nods slowly. “I hope your investors don’t make any hasty decisions related to the restaurant.”
I’m less worried about them and how this will affect my restaurant. Instead, I can’t move past the fact that someone hurt her.
I was—am—filled with the need for revenge.
