Chapter 7
Chapter
Seven
AMELIE
A Few Weeks Later
Kai stood perfectly still, backlit by the window of our hotel suite, hands loose at his sides. He wore a linen shirt, unbuttoned to reveal his broad chest. It was lithe, with the kind of muscle sculpted by a deliberate gym routine rather than good old genetics.
The sight was nearly blinding, and I jerked my gaze away, cheeks heating as I fixed my attention on the ocean.
The blue-green water was picturesque, shimmering under soft lighting.
While the beaches of Puerto Vallarta were calm, a storm raged within me.
My lungs ached, as if the very air had changed.
My pounding heart told me there was no turning back now.
I was officially Mrs. Kai Cavendish.
Divorce was a seamless process when you had endless wealth and neither party held the other accountable for emotional damage. Although Stefan and I shared guardianship of the children, there were no custody battles because everyone was willing to make the transition as smooth as possible.
Everyone was just so damn willing. Was I the only one to see my new marriage as a complete farce?
I started the summer happily married to the love of my life, and by the end of it, I was divorced and remarried to another man. Stefan and I must have had hundreds of conversations about this arrangement. I asked Kai for concessions, too, wanting to remain legally married to Stefan.
But Kai remained steadfast on his path, and I ended up giving in. Because I would have been the bitch ruining everyone’s perfect futures if I had backed out of the arrangement.
I didn’t care about limitless opportunities.
Rather, I was concerned about pushing Stefan further into depression.
I couldn’t stop picturing him on that rooftop, contemplating suicide.
I’d rather enter this bizarre arrangement than lose Stefan altogether.
The thought left me bitter because I had no control of my destiny.
Stefan was hypnotized by Kai’s glamorous lifestyle and had elevated him to god status. He hung on to Kai’s words like they were the gospel and was convinced we wouldn’t get far without his money.
But I wasn’t intimidated by Kai. People with obscene amounts of money orchestrated elaborate charades for their amusement.
Kai was an ordinary man with a god complex, making everyone dance to his tune.
A normal relationship was too boring for him, and now, he was testing the limits of a married couple by forcing his sordid fantasies on them.
After finalizing the divorce proceedings, Kai sent me an ironclad prenuptial agreement outlining the particulars of our new marriage.
The ink on the dotted lines hadn’t dried before Kai flew us to Puerto Vallarta for a wedding ceremony in the morning, followed by a mini-moon at night.
Everything came together so easily, you’d think Kai had been planning this elopement for years instead of mere weeks. The kids were at a sleepaway camp this week, and Stefan was in Africa for a photography gig. Kai introduced him to the editor of a travel magazine, landing Stefan his dream job.
My new husband was intentionally distracting Stefan from our nuptials.
We had a beachfront ceremony at a five-star resort in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, with herons and ocean crabs as our witnesses.
A vision of Kai stepping onto the beach flickered through my mind.
He’d worn chinos with the same crisp white shirt, sleeves rolled up to reveal his perfect, golden arms. The breathable material clung to his contours, emphasizing the dramatic silhouette of his upper body while hinting at the easy grace tucked beneath.
For a moment, I wondered whether he was the statue Michelangelo had meant to carve.
But then the officiant had asked me to sign the marriage license, vanquishing my last hope to dig myself out of this hole.
The course of my life was changed forever. It was especially apparent now that Kai and I were alone, standing face-to-face in the presidential suite where the deed was to be done. When I glanced at him, he was staring at me, his unbuttoned shirt making the rise and fall of his chest evident.
The expanse of his chest is too muscular to be attractive, I decided petulantly.
My critical eyes slid over the unfamiliar lines while I waited for him to speak, but Kai seemed perfectly content watching me fidget.
I had never been in his personal space and was hyperaware that we were now alone in a hotel suite. The air between us was charged, bristling with a script neither of us wanted to read aloud. Kai waited, letting the silence fill the room until it stifled me.
There was a predatory sureness about him, as if he owned every room he entered and everyone was subject to his assessment or dismissal. It was impossible to look away from. Like right now.
“See something you like, Princess?”
Startled by his stoic voice, I shook myself out of my stupor. He had caught me ogling his chest, and from his wolfish grin, he was running high on self-satisfaction.
What the hell was wrong with me?
I reprimanded myself for the momentary lapse in judgment. How could I forget that Kai had manipulated me into this predicament? He expected me to sleep with him, an idea that shook me to my core. I had only ever been with one man and never thought I’d sleep with anyone besides Stefan.
Kai didn’t so much as blink when I glared at him. “Don’t call me princess.”
“We’re flying home tomorrow,” he informed me, bored. “If you want to yell at me, I recommend getting it out of your system before we see the kids.”
He was prepared for my ire, which took away the satisfaction of giving him hell. Fighting with a man was only vindicated when he participated. Yelling at a composed person was simply frustrating.
I stomped down my fury and exchanged it for sarcasm. “Yell at you?” I lifted my chin, proud that I sounded cool as a cucumber. “I wouldn’t dare. Not when you paid me well above my market rate to be here.”
My comment tamped down his amusement. Kai sobered, inhaling slowly. “I shouldn’t have said that to you. You don’t have a market rate because you’re invaluable.”
You’re invaluable.
Wasn’t this the arrogant bastard who had deduced me to a dollar amount? Screw him and his worthless flattery.
“This marriage might be somewhat unconventional,” he continued. “But no matter how we got here, you’re now my wife.”
“Wife?” The curve of my mouth resembled a smile only in shape. “I’m your wife, the way a mail-order bride is a wife to the highest bidder.”
“It doesn’t have to be this way, Amelie.” His voice was soft, placating almost. “Let’s not start our marriage on the wrong foot.”
“That boat has sailed. Don’t you think?”
His fingers raked through his hair. It was clear he had hoped for this night to go differently. “You’re making this unnecessarily difficult. You can make me out to be the bad guy all you want, but this was your decision, too. I understand you’re nervous about tonight—”
“I’m not nervous.” My voice was flat and emotionless. “I’m just disgusted that this is how you like your women—unwilling.”
Irritation flared in Kai’s eyes. I was getting to him.
Satisfaction cooled my blood. Finally. I had shaken his perfected poise just a fraction. It was Kai’s turn to be aggravated over something that was out of his control. The thought brought a sly smile to my face.
“Unwilling?” he repeated with a mocking smile.
“FYI, my eyes are up here.” He pointed at his face, and I realized with horror that my gaze had drifted back to his bare torso.
I had never seen anyone with eight razor-sharp, defined ridges.
Washboard abs with cuts deep and exaggerated enough to collect sweat.
It was only normal to look because they looked almost fake, like toys molded at a factory.
Still, I looked away, heat rising at the back of my neck.
“No need to be embarrassed,” he taunted with a crooked smile. “It’s only natural to check out your new husband.”
“There’s nothing natural about sleeping with someone who’s been bought and paid for,” I bristled. This time, I made sure to keep my eyes strictly on his face.
Kai exhaled heavily. “Sex between us doesn’t have to be a chore just to meet the prenup requirements. I can make this good for you.”
A big part of the prenuptial agreement was the consummation of this marriage and our sex life.
I knew Kai wouldn’t leave sex to my discretion.
Stefan might be obtuse, but I’d known businessmen like Kai my entire life.
They didn’t make this sort of investment without a guarantee.
Kai outlined his expectations, and a roomful of his lawyers reviewed it with me in disgusting detail.
He had intentionally excluded Stefan from the discussion, citing that it was between us how we conducted our new marriage.
Tears burned behind my eyes as I recalled the cold conference room where ten strangers callously discussed my wifely duties.
I didn’t bother telling Stefan that we’d owe Kai an obscene amount of money whenever intimacy fell below three times a week—negotiated down from seven.
They discussed everything from blow jobs to anal sex.
I was mortified, and I hated Kai for putting me through it. I had no idea how to start a marriage on the right foot with such a heartless man. Kai didn’t care about my feelings. He didn’t want to hear me talk and was only interested in one thing.
He held out his hand, palm up, with expectant eyes. “Come here.”
The thought of anyone other than Stefan touching me made me break out in a cold sweat. I recoiled. A flicker of vulnerability—or was it pain?—in his expression surprised me. It disappeared in the blink of an eye. His hand dropped dejectedly to his side.
Spare me the charade. A man who sicced lawyers on me about the invasive details of my sexual life didn’t have feelings. He had cornered me like an animal. Why was he surprised by my reaction?