“I said no prenup.”
My voice was flat, final. Vinny knew that tone. He’d heard it before, when I’d made decisions that defied logic, that defied caution, that everyone around me warned against. And I’d been right, every time.
Because I didn’t do things halfway.
If Zara was going to be mine, she was going to be all mine. And that meant trust. Commitment. A bond that couldn’t be broken with a piece of paper.
“Fine,” Vinny says, his voice tight. “No prenup. But I’m putting my objections on the record.”
“Noted.”
I hang up before he could say anything else.
I stare at my phone, at the thread of messages where Zara’s name sat at the top like a loaded gun.
Me
My penthouse. Tonight. After work. I’ll send a car.
Tonight, she would be in my space, surrounded by my things, breathing my air.
Tonight, I would have her.
And I would never, ever let her go.
Chapter Nine
Zara
I was useless all day.
Absolutely completely useless.
I stared at my computer screen for eight hours; the cursor blinking on a blank document I was supposed to fill with marketing copy. The words wouldn’t come. Every time I tried to focus, my mind drifted back to that text.
Me:
You have a deal.
I had typed those words hastily because if I had hesitated, I would have backed out and talked myself out of the only lifeline I had left.
So I sent it and spent the rest of the day second-guessing every decision I’d ever made.
What was I doing?
I didn’t know this man. All I knew was that he owned a bar. I was aware of his dark, all-seeing eyes and the voice that left a strange flutter in my chest. I knew he’d offered me a way out of my miserable existence with a marriage of convenience, of all things. And I’d said yes because it gave me a chance at something more.
But what if I was making a huge mistake?
What if he actually was a psychopath?
What if he locked me in his basement and never let me see the light of day again?
I shook my head, forcing myself to breathe.
It wasn’t ideal.
But it was something.
