Page 36 of Married to the Devil

Her grandmother is gone. Her mother abandoned her a long time ago. She has other friends and acquaintances, but none that care about her enough to call the police if she doesn’t check in for weeks.

She doesn’t even have a normal job that will miss her.

“You can’t just make me disappear.” She whispers the words, and I watch the full weight of her situation settle over her.

I smile, lips curling with delight despite myself. I should hide my joy, but in this moment, it’s hard.

Yes, yes, that’s exactly what I can do: make her fade away.

Her shoulders slump. Her face goes pale.

What else does she have? Who else is going to miss her?

Nobody.

She’s all fucking mine now.

“Return to our room, wife. Come to grips with your new reality. I will make preparations for your stay and join you shortly.”

For a moment, I think she’s finally broken, but there’s another surge of defiance. “Like hell I’m going to sleep in the same space as you. I’ll go to Hattie’s room.”

“If that’s what you want, but it will only be temporary. Here’s the most important rule of all, the only rule that guides my life: strength and power are everything. I will not look weak because I can’t keep my own wife in my own bed. Do you understand? Everything we do, every word we speak, every action we take, will reflect back on the family. I will ensure you do not sabotage everything I’ve built.”

I tilt her chin up. She trembles, rage in her eyes, and I know what she feels right now. I know it better than almost anyone. The desperation, the anger at her situation, the denial, the hate. She’s wondering how the universe could do this to her. How she could find herself in this hell.

But ah, my love, she’ll come to accept it soon.

“I don’t care what kind of two-bit criminal you are, I am never going to be yours, and neither will Hattie. Do you understand? Never.”

She turns and storms off, dress brushing across plants in her hurry to escape.

God, she’s beautiful, especially when she hates me.

But she’s wrong about that.

Because she may not realize it yet, but I’ve already won.

11

JUNE

Iwake up stiff and exhausted, Hattie still asleep beside me, her cute mouth hanging open, drool staining her pillow, and I start trying to convince myself yesterday was a nightmare.

There’s no way I got married.

Rafe didn’t find us.

A man wasn’t murdered in my house while trying to kidnap me.

I’m not trapped in a mansion in the middle of the Jersey pine barrens.

Except as the sun rises and the windows glow brighter, I can’t deny my situation.

“Mommy?” Hattie yawns and curls into me before sitting straight up. “I’m hungry.”

That’s my little monster. She goes from a sleepy little angel to a straight-up beast instantly.

There’s no easing into the day with her.