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“I think if they already know who you are, if they know where your apartment is, it’s not a huge leap to guess we’d pull you back to the compound. I hate the idea of them backing us into a corner.”
Dad had never been much of a worrier. He was more of a pragmatist, something I’d inherited from him, and something that made him that much better at his business. He had never been one to fret unnecessarily, instead implementing security measures to prevent the worst. Like hiding me from the moment I was born, giving me a fake father figure, and sending security guards who followed me like shadows.
So the alarm clear in his eyes made me finally realize just how much danger I was in. It was my father's concern, not my attempted murder, not Dev killing my attacker in front of my face, not the idea of an arranged marriage for my safety, that finally made me begin to worry for my life.
“What do they get out of the arrangement?”
My years of eavesdropping on my father meant I’d indirectly met the heads - and their sons - of many other criminal organizations across the country, along with others abroad. Some were as miserable as you’d expect, trying to rope my father into the flesh trade that he refused to support. Others were better at hiding their sins, until you heard the reports of young women who worked in their household showing up with bruises or going missing.
Not that good men (‘good’ of course, being a relative term) didn’t exist. I trusted my father and most of the higher-ups who worked alongside him. Cormac’s son - who grew up alongside me like a little brother - was good, if not a little twisted and obsessive in his interests.
What worried me was my father’s desperation, which meant I likely wouldn’t get a choice of men to be married off to. It also made me that much more worried about what my father was forced to promise for my safety.
“Protection for their families. And you staying here until the wedding. Dev made that very clear.” He huffed out a small laugh, as if the latter condition were amusing. But I barely heard it, my fingers shaking as the implication of his words soaked in.
“Who am I marrying?” A stupid question, but one I needed to ask. Just to make sure my mind hadn’t made too many jumps, hadn’t mis-connected the dots that my father laid out.
“Dev. Xander would’ve been my preference, but he’s taken.” Dad shrugged, as if to say ‘oh well’ that his preferred choice of an arranged husband for me was unavailable; totally smitten with his fiancée.
“Oh,” I breathed out the syllable, just a puff of air from my mouth until more words followed just behind, escaping my mouth without any real thought, “Then I’ll do it.”
“Really?” He acted surprised at my easy acceptance, but he had to know I’d agree. It was the most rational choice, especially if I wanted to keep some semblance of freedom. Ames and Wren didn’t seem to be confined to some compound, like I would be if I left this house with my father.
I didn’t tell him that while being forced to marry Dev as part of an arrangement between him and my father wasn’t my preferred form of security; it felt right. Staying here with Dev, I felt the safest and sanest I had in years, even if it had only been twenty-four hours.
But even if it hadn’t, I wouldn’t deny the protection my father was offering for their family. For the two women who had taken me in and made me feel like one of theirs, even if just for a night.
“Yes, really,” I whispered, but my dad was already at the door, calling everyone back into Alex’s office.
It wasn’t until Dev’s body filled the doorway that I realized there was someone else involved in this arrangement. That I didn’t get to be happy with a forced marriage just because it made me feel safe. That there was another living, breathing person being forced to commit their life to me for much more noble reasons than my own.
The sudden guilt, the need to confirm away from prying ears that this was what Dev wanted, had me standing from my chair. I flinched as all the eyes in the room settled on my abrupt movement, but my anxiety at being the center of attention didn’t keep me from speaking.
“Can I, um, talk to my fiancé for a minute?” Dev froze at the word, stiffening in the doorway. An unreadable look entered his eyes, and I suddenly regretted the light joke. There was a reason I kept to myself and preferred books to people. I couldn't trust the words that might come out of my mouth, the ones that made others uncomfortable, like I had clearly made Dev.
Keeping my eyes down, I grabbed Dev’s hand to pull him after me. I kept dragging him alongside me until we were in the bedroom we’d slept in the night before, closing the door behind us to give us a semblance of privacy.
“Sorry about the fiancé joke.”
He shook his head. “Don’t apologize. I liked it. It just caught me off guard.”
I floundered for a moment at the truth in his eyes, butterflies twisting my stomach as I tried to get myself under control. Clearly, a lifetime spent keeping myself from others only mademe more susceptible to the charms of handsome men. I was disappointed in myself at the weakness.
I finally got myself under control, Dev’s tipped grin settling some of my unease.
“I want to make sure you’re okay with this,” I waved between us before clarifying, “The engagement, the marriage, all of it.”
“I wouldn’t have agreed if I weren’t okay with it.” He tilted his head to the side, assessing me as he asked, “Are you?”
“It’s a smart plan.” And it was. I’d seen larger, though less talented, independent contractors get eaten up when they got on the wrong person's radar. An alliance with my father, especially one forged through marriage, would insulate them from the brunt of any retaliation or competitive attack.
“But?” He asked, as if sensing my hesitation.
It was stupid to admit, especially when my safety was on the line, but I couldn’t help myself. I felt like I owed Dev, after his rescue the day before, so I gave myself one chance to talk him out of an arrangement he likely felt forced into. I stepped closer, leaving barely a sliver of air between our bodies, and whispered up at him, “You could probably have this deal without the marriage. You saved my life, and that means something to my father.”
The inch of space I left between us disappeared, Dev’s chest brushing mine as he leaned down to whisper in my ear, “No one is taking advantage of me. You have no idea how fucking far I will go to protect my family. To protectyou.”
And then he was gone, back in the office and leaving my heart thundering while I tried to catch my breath. While I tried and failed to remind myself that this was an arrangement, a marriage of convenience like I’d read about in the books I’d edited. Only this one wouldn’t end in some cliched happily ever after.
