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She laughs and sits back, pulling away from me with a satisfied look in her eyes. Elena Rousseau… she’s an enigma.
I lean back, my eyes roaming over the room, settling on a girl that looks vaguely familiar. Isn’t she one of Jennifer’s friends? I look away and take a sip of my drink, hiding my smile behind my glass.
“Hey, I wanted to thank you,” Elena says, her voice soft.
I look at her with raised brows.
“I know we have a mutually beneficial agreement, but even so, I… I’d have lost my mother if not for you.” She swallows hard, an anguished expression on her face. Elena blinks and forces her lips into a smile. “You saved her life, and you saved mine.”
I push her hair behind her ear and shake my head. “I did no such thing.Yousaved your mother’s life. As for yours… your life Ibought.”
I expected my words to wound her, to remind her that I’m not doing her any favors, that she’s paying a hefty price for her mother’s life. But Elena merely smiles, her expression serene.
“Yes,” she says. “But I’d rather belong to you than be at Vaughn’s.”
The thought of her there infuriates me. Had I come in just a few minutes later, who knows what might have happened to her? John would have had her naked, his hands over her body. Who fucking knows how he might have touched her, what he’d have made her do.
I cup the back of her neck, my thumb on her throat. I almost walked away from her. When I saw her standing there, when I realized that she’d deceived me,fuck. I almost left her there, and Vaughn would have let his members use every part of her body. Because of me. Because he thought he’d be avenging me.
“You’re mine now, Elena. No one is touching you but me.”
I lean in and kiss her, her full bottom lip caught between mine. A soft sigh escapes her lips when I pull away, her throat moving against my thumb as she swallows.
“No one touches what’s mine, Elena. No one will even dare think of you, dream of you. You belong tomenow, and I don’t share.”
Chapter 22
Alexander
I groan as I turn off my computer. This work day has taken far too long—it’s nearly 10pm. My phone buzzes just as I’m finally on my way home, and I unlock it with a sigh, assuming it’s more work waiting for me. Instead, I find a text message from the last person I expected to hear from.
Jen:I think I made a mistake, Alec. I miss you so much. Please, can we talk?
I stare at my phone in disbelief, my heart twisting painfully. How dare she text me after all this time? She’s engaged to fucking Matthew Rousseau. She’s marrying him on the day she was supposed to marryme. What the fuck does she meanshe misses me? I guess rumors about Elena and me reached her ears. I know what Jennifer is like—even if she doesn’t want me, she won’t want anyone else to have me either.
I clench my phone in my hand, sorrow filling my heart. She fucking broke me, and now she has the gall to text me? The worst thing is that my first instinct is to text her back. To ask her if she’s okay. If something happened. If she needs me.
But I’m no longer the person who fulfils that role. I’m not the person she chose.
I’m absentminded and angry as I walk into my bedroom. Elena sits up in my bed, and I freeze, feeling guilty as hell all of a sudden. When Jen texted me, for just a couple of seconds, I forgot I even got married.
Elena smiles at me, and my heart wrenches. She looks so fucking beautiful sitting in my bed like that, the sheets at her waist and her sexy silk nightgown on display. “Hey, you’re home,” she says.
I nod and force a smile onto my face. Elena Rousseau… I married Matthew’s sister for a reason, so why haven’t I made use of her yet? Why haven’t I thrown her in Matthew and Jennifer’s face yet? Part of me wants to keep her hidden, keep her here in my home, where she’s safe from the press, the rumors, the pressures she’ll face as my wife. But I can’t. I didn’t marry her to protect her. I married her so I could use her. So I could use her as a weapon against Matthew, as a shield against my grandfather’s terms.
My eyes roam over her face. She’s so damn beautiful, and she looks so fucking innocent. But then again, she knew what she was getting into by marrying me. I’ve never made her false promises.
I start to unbutton my shirt and pause when I feel her gaze on me. I look up to find Elena staring at me, a sweet smile on her face. There’s not even a hint of ruthlessness in her eyes, only innocence. She might have known what she was getting into, but she didn’t have much of a choice, and I bet she underestimated how hard life would be as a Kennedy—as my wife.
I sigh and walk out of view to undress before walking into the shower. I press the water curtain button, obscuring myself. Water pours down on top of me, and I lean back against the wall.
If I hadn’t married Elena, what would I have done? Would I be going running to Jen right now? And if I did, would it matter? I’ve spent months missing her and hating her, wanting her. Now that she’s finally reached out, I’m in no position to even reply.
I close my eyes as memories assail me. I fucking loved Jennifer with all my heart. I never used to believe in marriage, considering what my parents’ marriage looks like. I don’t even know a single happily married couple, and I wanted no part of that. But then there was Jen. She was merely one of my employees when we met, but she became everything to me. She was different. She saw life through different eyes, and she taught me to enjoy the little things in life in a way I’d never done before. I still don’t know if it was all a sham, if any of it was ever real.
My mood is ruined as I get out of the shower. I can barely even face Elena. My conscience is weighing heavily on me tonight. I’ve got Elena in my bed, but it’s Jennifer that’s on my mind. It should be my wife that I’m focused on, but all I can think about is whether Jen is okay.
The way Elena looks at me as I walk towards the bed wearing nothing more than boxers would usually have me rock hard already, but today all it does is increase the guilt I feel. The thought of using her makes me feel filthy. I lie down in bed and grab my tablet, using it to close the curtains and turn off the main lights.
