Page 13 of The Billionaire’s Contract Bride

Aria had begun to learn that patience in a man like Damien wasn’t a virtue. It was absolute certainty that time was working on his side.

“One year,” she read aloud, her voice tight. “Beginning on the date of legal marriage and ending three hundred sixty-five days later.”

“Correct.”

“I move into your residence immediately.”

“Tomorrow.”

Her eyes snapped up. “Immediately and tomorrow are not the same thing.”

“Tonight, you remain here until your mother is out of surgery,” Damien replied calmly. “Tomorrow, you become my responsibility.”

“I am not your responsibility.”

“Then stop asking me to solve your problems.”

The words cut with precision. Aria lowered her eyes to the paper before he could register the blow.

Clause four mandated her presence at public functions. Clause five prohibited speaking to the press without prior authorization. Clause six gave Damien’s private security detail constant access to her real-time location.

She tapped the page with the tip of the silver pen. “No.”

“Be specific.” His voice almost sounded amused as he watched her read the contract.

“You don’t get to track me.”

“My wife will be an immediate target for every rival, reporter, and enemy attached to my name. I need to know where my wife is.”

“Then assign me a security guard.”

“A guard can be compromised or lost,” Damien said smoothly. “A tracking signal cannot.”

“Unless you’re the person I need to escape.”

A cold stillness settled over his features. “If you ever genuinely need to escape me, Aria, a tracking device will be the least of your obstacles.”

Her skin prickled. “Is that supposed to reassure me?”

“No. It is supposed to prevent you from confusing false comfort with safety.”

Aria drew a sharp black line through the tracking clause.

Damien watched the ink spread across the page without flinching. “You are defacing a binding legal document.”

“Then print another one.”

“You believe you are in a position to negotiate?”

“I believe you need me married to you badly enough to pay half a million dollars up front,” she said, looking him dead in the eye. “That means I have something you want.”

His attention locked onto her completely. For the first time, Aria felt as if she had forced him to look at her rather than look through her.

“Continue,” he murmured.

She did.

The next section granted her a private bedroom suite but gave Damien unrestricted access to every room in his estate.