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“I’ll be home in a couple of days,” I mutter.
“See you soon. And, Coleman?” I hum, not answering him as I wait for him to continue. “You have earned this. She was promised to you, no matter how that comes about. Make her realize that this is exactly where she’s supposed to be.”
“That what you’ve done?” I ask.
He chuckles. “Yeah, it is. Parker was always meant to be mine. Even if I didn’t think so at first. Dad pushed the marriage, but I’m glad. She’s exactly who I was supposed to have. Call it fate or whatever.”
Ending the call, I think about telling him that it wasn’t fate—it was Dad trying to cover his ass. It was Dad being selfish as fuck. But it doesn’t matter as long as he’s happy, and he really seems to be just that. Happier than I’ve ever seen him in our entire lives.
Something catches my eye, and I notice that Claire is moving through the house, except she’s not just going into a different room. She’s headed for the front door. She looks over her shoulder as if to check if anyone is watching her.
It’s late afternoon, moving into evening, and I decide I need to know exactly where she’s going. Nobody notices that she leaves, and she closes the door behind her carefully. Much too carefully for someone who has announced her departure.
Deciding that she’s probably going somewhere that her parents possibly wouldn’t approve of— she appears to be on a mission—I make my way down to the lobby of the casino I’m staying in and then to the street.
I don’t think she’ll get in her car. There is something different about the way she tried to get out of that condo. She charges forward, and whatever it is, she doesn’t want anyone else to know about.
Just as I anticipated, she steps out onto the sidewalk at almost the exact same time that I do. As I follow behind her, I make sure to keep enough distance so she won’t look back and find me stalking her.
She hitches her purse on her shoulder as she moves through the foot traffic on the Strip. People are loud, shouting, drunk, and not paying attention to her. But that doesn’t mean she’s safe out here by herself. This is Vegas, after all.
Frowning, I continue behind her as she makes her way down the Strip and then veers off it. The sun begins to set. Frowning, I watch her move farther and farther away from the heavily populated area and more toward the desolate streets that surround the outskirts of the touristy parts of the Strip.
When she does stop moving, I don’t realize where she is until I follow her gaze. She’s staring at a building. It’s a two-story, brightly painted purple building. It looks like it was an old motel at one point, and now it’s a… club.
But it’s not just any club. It’s a fucking swingers’ sex club. Normally, I would never have a problem with this. In fact, I would be down for having a little fun, but this is the girl I’m supposed to be marrying in a couple of weeks… and she’s supposed to be a virgin when we take our vows.
Her parents promised me that she was.
What the actual fuck?
She doesn’t walk inside immediately. Instead, she stands on the sidewalk, watching the building. I stay several feet behind her, hidden in the shadows of the other buildings, and keep my eyes solely focused on her and around her.
Watching and waiting for anyone to even attempt to approach her. I’ll kill them. Maybe even kill her, too. I’m not sure what I’m feeling in this moment, but I don’t like any part of it. I assume that this sensation is jealousy, but I’ve never felt it before now.
As the seconds turn into minutes, I wonder if she’s even going to approach the front door, let alone walk inside.
Maybe she’s just testing the waters, rebelling slightly. But then she turns and looks over her shoulder, almost as if she can sense me watching her. I sink back into the shadows a little bit more, and then, as if something has pushed her, she twists forward, straightens her spine, and begins to move toward the door.
ChapterFour
CLAIRE
I can’t believeI’m here. I don’t know what possessed me to do this. No, that’s not true. I know exactly what possessed me to do this. My virginity and my forced marriage. I want control over something, and this is the exact thing he wants so badly from me. This stranger I’m marrying.
Well, too fucking bad.
He can’t have it.
This is the last place I ever thought I would be.
A virgin in a sex club?
That’s weird, right?
I don’t even have to ask anyone that because it is.
Really weird, but I don’t care. I don’t give a shit at all, not anymore anyway. I am going to own this, control it, and for once in my life, I’m going to do something for just myself. I know it’s going to piss a lot of people off.
