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“Pardon me, but I don’t care very much either way whether or not she feels pressured. And frankly, she’d better get used to pressure if she’s going to be any sort of wife to you. You know this.”
“At the moment, it doesn’t matter what I know. It matters that she’s hysterical and in pain. You’re the one forcing me into this arrangement. Is it so beyond the pale that I would care whether the woman I’m being forced to marry is sobbing her heart out over something you said to her?”
“I must say,” he gloats, “I approve of the way you’ve taken this protective stance. It bodes well for your future with her.”
The man missed his calling. He should have studied tap dance since he’s already so skilled at dancing around any topic he doesn’t wish to discuss. “This is difficult enough,” I grumble. “I don’t need you making it more difficult for me. Forgive me if that’s disrespectful, but that’s the situation.”
“Let’s face facts. The reality of the situation is quite clear. You’re going to need to impregnate that girl, and soon. The only way to cement this arrangement is if she’s carrying your child.”
I could get whiplash from a single conversation with this man. “Hold on. One thing at a time, please. I’ve barely wrapped my head around the wedding—”
“You aren’t listening,” he barks. “You will get that girl pregnant, and you will do it immediately. I don’t care what it takes. I don’t care if you are fucking her morning, noon, and night. I don’t care if the ceremony is delayed because you’re busy defiling that girl. You’re going to do this, end of story.”
“Do I have a deadline?” I ask, snickering.
“Preferably, I would like her to be pregnant by the time she walks down the aisle.”
A laugh bursts out of me before I know what’s happening. When he doesn’t laugh along with me, my mouth falls open in shock. “Grandfather, I realize we’ve never had any in-depth talks about the so-called birds and bees, but I assume you understand how these things work.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning it doesn’t work that way. We’re getting married in three days. Even if she was at that point in her cycle, there’s not a test on earth that would be able to pick up something like that if I slept with her tonight.”
“Do you think I care about the specifics? She will walk down that aisle with your seed inside her, or else.”
“And exactly how would anyone know whether or not she did? Are we going to have one of those medieval rituals where a doctor comes in and examines her? Or would you prefer to do it yourself?”
“Watch it, boy,” he warns.
“Forgive me, but this is veering into bizarre territory. I understand the need to further the family line, but what you’re asking for is medically impossible.”
“It’s medically impossible for you to fuck that girl?”
“No, of course not.”
“There you are. Do it. More than once. You have to make a convincing show of this, or else Alvarez might call the whole thing off at the last moment. We can’t have that.”
This is becoming more twisted by the moment. “Am I supposed to announce to him that I deflowered his daughter, and she’ll be ruined if she ends up pregnant with my baby? Maybe he’ll challenge me to a duel over it. You’ll have to bring the pistols.”
“I’m glad you find this amusing.”
“I have never been less amused in my life.”
“If Josef Alvarez calls off this wedding, and you didn’t do everything within your power to make certain it doesn’t happen, you’ll be far less amused than you are now. Mark my words. Have I ever made an empty threat?”
“No,” I mutter. He’s caught me again. He’s always got me. No matter how old I get, no matter how experienced, none of it matters. He’s always at least one step ahead.
“You’re damn right I haven’t. Get off the phone with me and get inside that girl. I’m sure you won’t have any trouble with that—she’s a nice little piece of ass. You could have done much worse if you had to kidnap a girl.”
Even by my standards, it seems sick to accept praise for something like that, so I don’t bother thanking him.
“I’d better go. I have work to do.” It’s an excuse to get off the phone. I’m not sure how much longer I can be civil.
I have to do this. There’s no question in my mind. I have to at least make an effort.
And while I can’t exactly say the idea of fucking her is a hardship, the idea of hurting her in the process is another story.
23
