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Saint rolled his eyes. "Oh, let me guess. The woman who left is aformerstudent?"
Xander kept laughing. "Oh, this is even better. No, the woman who just left is mywife."
And I couldn't help but wonder what it would take to put that look of astonished bewilderment on Saint's face and keep it there.
KAYA
While the decision to accept the proposal made sense to me. It took Gemma a little convincing when I met her at the campus café like everything was in fact normal. Even though things were far from normal, given my casually dressed armed guard at the next table over.
I’d dropped the marriage bomb as soon as she sat down, but her brain was in full does-not-compute mode.
"Explain this to me again like I’m in primary. You're going to do what now?"
I sighed, desperate for her to catch up so I could get a little help processing how I felt about all of this. "I'm going to get married, Gemma."
"The hell you are. What are youreallydoing?"
I took a casual sip of my smoothie as if it was perfectly normal that I’d be telling my best mate about my impending nuptials at school.
"I'm getting married to Jasper Saint."
Gemma laughed, throwing her head back. "Oh, come on. The billionaire? You're marrying him? But you broke into All Saints. Is this some sort ofI caught you, now you have to marry me before I expose yousituations like in my Mafia romance novels?"
"I’m serious. And no he’s not forcing me. He’s offering me his name as protection. Don't be so dramatic. Whoever is after me, whatever I did, they are going to have a hell of a time getting past all the security. The Saints are powerful. It would be like picking a fight with Goliath."
Gemma was silent for a minute. "Hmmm. Actually, it does sort of make sense."
I frowned at that. "What do you mean, ‘It makes sense?’ Has everyone around me lost their mind? I expected you to be all, 'This is insane. Come stay with me. I'll smuggle you out of the country.' But you're saying marrying a flipping billionaire I met two days ago makes sense?"
She shrugged as she sucked on her smoothie. "All I’m saying is that it totally makes sense. Is it crazy? Yes. But at the end of the day, he's filthy bloody rich. If anyone fucks with you, they fuck with him. They could easily disappear a university student. I mean, a lovelorn Andrew and I would miss you and be really fucking pissed you were gone. But he’ll have the power and juice to turn over every stone looking for you. It's actually the perfect level of crazy ideas, but only if you go splashy and make it public."
"Oh God, you sound like him."
"Why? What did he say?"
I rubbed my temple, trying to force myself to calm down. I would not have a panic attack in the café with my fellow students watching.
"He just said that we're going to have to announce it publicly on television. That way, it will get whoever's coming after me to back off. At least for the time being that should work."
"I mean, look, I'm all for practicality, I am, but sometimes you need the fantastical."
"I am spinning, Gems. Spinning. A week ago, I was in classes and life was normal. But now everything is flipped upside down."
"Listen." She had her best friend voice on, the one where she was going to fix everything. "Your name is going to be Saint. Or at the very least, your fiancé's name will be Saint. The university will make you any accommodation you need, and I'm pretty sure that he will make sure that you're covered and protected."
"But the center... my life."
"Well, your life has to be on hold for the time being. Although, the other upside to all of this is he can help you find your mum."
"That’s part of our deal. I just… I’m not sure how much to trust him. With my safety yes, but… It just feels like Mum should be my thing."
"Honey, asking for help is not a bad thing. I promise."
That made my stomach turn. Because Saint finding everything out, including how I'd lived before, always on the run, would make me more vulnerable to him. And while I had told him a little bit, he didn't know the whole picture. I’d never let anyone in that far, not even Gemma. "Oh God, Gems, this is… I don't like being backed into a corner."
“You aren’t being backed into a corner. This is a lifeline.”
"Easy for you to say. It feels like I'm a sitting duck."
