“This is crazy. You’re crazy!” I blurt out. “Let me go right now. I have to go home!”
“Let me tell you exactly what will happen if I do that. Those men who surrounded you tonight—that wasn’t a standard mugging, and you know it. That was strategic. You saw the van, right? They planned carefully, intending to drag you into that van to kidnap you. And trust me when I say you do not want to be kidnapped by men like that.”
“They… they were just trying to mug me,” I stammer, realizing as I say it that it really isn’t true.
“Did you see what they were wearing? Did they look like your average muggers?” he asks.
I shake my head, biting my lip, trying to figure out what the hell is going on.
“I don’t know why they are after you, Blair, but I can keep you safe. Or I can let you go. You’ll go home. They’ll be waiting for you. And if they aren’t there tonight, they’ll be at your work tomorrow. Either way, they will find you again, and they will take you, and I’m just not willing to let that happen.”
I stare at him, trying to process everything he’s saying. Ok fine, so it wasn’t a mugging, but why? This doesn’t make sense. What would they want with me?
“How in the world doesmarryingyou keep me safe?” I ask, wanting to ask a hundred more questions, but sticking to just that one for now. The thing is that as I stare at Simon, I realize something else. He wasn’t there by accident. For some reason, he was right where I was when those men showed up. There is so much more to this than he’s telling me, and the more I come to this conclusion, the more scared I get.
“I already told you, I can keep you safe. If you are married to me, then you carry my name, and my name carries weight in this city. No one will touch you. You can keep living your life, seeing your friends, and going to work. You can enjoy the protection I offer while still being you,” he says.
How the fuck is he so calm?
“I don’t want to do this,” I mutter.
“The alternative has been explained to you.”
I swallow hard, taking a deep breath. Ok. So, it’s marry him or get taken by those men. Men I don’t know. Men who looked damn terrifying.
I close my eyes and try to stop my thoughts from spiraling.
“I don’t…” I mutter.I don’t want to come face-to-face with those men again.Glancing at the marriage papers, I can’t believe this is all happening. This morning, my life was boring, normal, and mundane, and now, suddenly, I am in a billionaire’s mansion, arguing over signing marriage documents.
I must be losing my mind.
It’s the only thing I can think of as I take a breath and say, “Fine. I’ll sign them if you promise you can keep me safe.”
Simon looks visibly relieved.
“On one condition,” I add, and his eyes narrow as his fingers tighten on my arm again.
“What condition?” he asks.
“I want a clause added to the document. I want it to say that as soon as I am safe, I will be able to divorce you immediately, and you won’t argue.”
Simon’s eyes cloud with darkness. He glances at the lawyer.
“I can add it in; we can just write it manually as long as you both sign next to it,” he says.
Simon lets out a huff. “Do it,” he says gruffly. He lets go of my arm, and briefly, I contemplate trying to run again. But where would I go?Apparently, there are monsters after me. Monsters I don’t understand.
The lawyer steps forward and picks up the documents. He carries them to the bar and starts writing in the additional clause.
My heart is racing a million miles an hour. Is this real? Am I really going to sign?
While the lawyer is busy, I let my eyes really study the place we’re in. I notice the additional guards outside, patrolling past the view that distracted me earlier. I can’t deny his insane wealth, which means he has insane power too.
I’m actually going to do this!
The lawyer sets the adjusted paperwork down on the coffee table and hands me a pen.
I carefully read the clause he’s added.
Then, with shaking hands and a racing heart, I scribble my signature on each page where he indicates I should sign.
Simon does the same.
I feel like I’m in a movie, like I’m not the one in control of my body. Everything is surreal as the lawyer picks up the paperwork and talks to Simon. I hardly hear any of it. My head is spinning.
