Chapter 32: : Chapter 32

“Where’s your ring?” I ask furiously as we leave my parents’ home.

“Can we just focus on the fact that you’ve just told your entire family we’re marrying within a month, and how fucking crazy that is?” she hisses in reply.

I encroach into her space, pushing her back against the car.

“I’m the one running the show here, and you better learn to fall in line,” I growl. “Why were you late tonight?” I demand because that’s what pissed me off the most.

She looks away. “I’m not some dog that jumps just because you said so.”

“Oh, but you’ll happily let me fuck you like a dog.”

Her scornful gaze meets mine. “You’re such a fucking asshole.”

I smile at her now, the urge to snap her neck strong. “You humiliated me in there. You were not only late, but then you walked in to meet my parents without wearing your engagement ring?”

She tries to shove me, but I crowd her even more now that we’re out of sight of any onlookers. “I never asked for any of this!” she shouts.

“We have an agreement, and if you want to see your father’s fucking guns again, you’ll do as you’re told.”

I’m livid because I know she’s hiding things from me, even though I accepted that fact when I chose to blackmail her into this situation. Despite that, I still can’t help but want to break her into submission.

“Your such an ass,” she says defiantly. And that’s when I see it, the glisten in her eyes. My heart falls to my stomach, and my brow furrows in confusion because I can’t even understand it myself.

I go to touch her cheek, but she slaps my hand away. “Don’t fucking touch me.”

My rage morphs into something else. It turns itself on me. For as fierce as this woman is, there’s still something precious inside her to break.

I take a step back, confused by my swirling emotions. “Get in the car,” I say quietly as I open the door. She shoves past me, and I slam the door behind her.

I’m so angry.

At her.

At myself.

At these raw emotions clawing at my chest that I don’t entirely understand. And for some reason, they’re only rearing their ugly head because of this woman.

My family is everything to me. And the reminder that she could hurt them or disappoint them in any way butts heads with the idea of simply using her. Tonight, only momentarily, I wondered what it might be like if my family accepted Jewel as my real wife.

It wouldn’t be difficult for her to fit in. As quickly as it entered my mind, I closed that thought down, knowing it’s not reality.

Perhaps it’s the guilt for tricking my family with this ruse because I know it’ll certainly break my mother if she ever finds out this is a lie. Four months from now, when I either kill Jewel or pay her so much money so she can flee and never see my family again, how will it impact them? Perhaps it’s best I only have them around her for necessary events so they don’t become too attached.

I never really considered how other people might feel after this marriage. I’ve been focused on my empire, which is now within reach. No, I insist to myself. I’m not burdened by that. This is a means to an end to take over the family business. No more, no less.

I open the driver’s side door and slide inside.

I grip the steering wheel tightly to keep from placing my hand on her knee. I become strangely addicted to the idea of being able to touch her whenever and wherever I want.

We sit in silence for the entire drive to her place, the tension palpable. She’s removing her seat belt before I even pull over.

“Wait, Jewel.” But she’s already out of the car and slams the door in my face.

A tic flares in my jaw as I wind down the window and call out to her. “I’ll pick you up tomorrow. You’ll be shopping for a wedding dress!”

She flips me off without looking back, and I curse under my breath.

This fucking woman is driving me insane.

“Fuck!” I slam my hand down on my steering wheel, for some reason considering how much of an asshole I might actually be. I’ve never questioned how that might be a bad thing until now.

But seeing her eyes glisten with the hint of tears, knowing she would never cry, made me realize I pushed her too far tonight. And I’m already trying to figure out how to make it up to her.

The next question is, why am I even trying to make it up to the woman who’s supposed to kill me?