Chapter Five #3
She was still reeling from how easy he made all of this sound when his phone pinged.
He read the reply. “Heskel says we can marry twenty-four hours after we purchase the license. We’ll do that first thing tomorrow morning, so we can marry Thursday. We’ll fly overnight and meet Otto on Friday morning.”
“Wait. What?” Her heart nearly came out her mouth. “I haven’t even told my father that Otto reached out.” She rose, truly needing to run away from all of this. It wasn’t real. It couldn’t be.
“Would you like me to speak to him with you?”
The way he was capable of railroading a person? Her poor father wouldn’t know what had hit him.
“No.” She hurried across to pick up her jacket and pushed her arms into it.
“This will hurt his feelings. His condition has taken a downturn lately, and he’s not rich like Otto.
I don’t want him to feel like he failed me or anything.
” She needed a couple of tries to close the zipper on her jacket.
“I don’t care about the money.” She lifted her face and looked him in the eye as she said it, so he would know it was the absolute truth.
“I want to meet my birth father to satisfy my curiosity about where I came from. I don’t have to marry you to do that. ”
It was a reminder to him and herself that she still held agency in this situation.
“True,” Axel agreed, picking up her hat and all the documents from the table, bringing everything to her, including the credit card. “Read the contract, though. Otto expects you to marry me if you want to inherit from him. If you go to him without me, I will refuse.”
She felt struck by that bluntness. There was such a lethal finality in his voice, it emptied her chest while opening two paths before her.
She had the same feeling she’d had when she had dropped out of school.
She had known she would regret it. She had known she wouldn’t be able to go back to that moment and take the path she really wanted.
Which path did she really want today?
“If Otto sees that you’re no use to him, he’ll discard you. You’ll be back in the cabaret within the week,” Axel warned in that dispassionate tone.
“I’m not afraid of that,” she claimed, even though she wished every day that she didn’t have to be there.
“Then don’t be afraid to accept a bigger payout for an easier gig,” he said tersely.
Her backbone lost some of its steel. She took her hat and set it on her head, then accepted the papers from him.
“Joy.” He gave her hat a slight adjustment, centering it, then smoothed her hair back from her temples.
He was barely touching her, but it sent tickling frissons of sensation through her shoulder blades. The pleasure was at odds with the apprehension she felt when she studied the hard angles of his expression.
“I want your allegiance.” His gaze locked with hers.
“I will only know I have it if I’ve purchased it before you meet him.
You don’t know yet how badly you need my protection from him, but you do.
So give me your promise now. If the test proves you’re his daughter, you’ll marry me before you speak to him. ”
“We met two hours ago,” she protested. “You want to marry me in two days.” Her voice cracked.
His expression didn’t change.
She searched his eyes, wishing she knew whether she could trust him. She wouldn’t know until she did, though.
Which was how she had learned that she couldn’t trust Todd.
She wanted to believe in Axel, though. That was a very alarming realization when she had pretty much sworn off trusting any man after Todd.
What Axel was proposing could break apart what was left of her life.
Or he might help her rebuild it so it was strong and unshakable.
He was making her a very alluring offer when she didn’t know how she would manage another few months, let alone years of carrying so much financial baggage and a parent who was growing more dependent on her.
Maybe she wanted her troubles to be washed away with money and maybe she wanted to dance again. But she knew, deep down, that she wanted something else, too.
She was fighting against acknowledging it but had to face it when he touched her chin, urging her to lift her gaze. A hot streak of sensuality ran down her throat.
He was attractive and intriguing and powerful and inscrutable.
She tried to swallow but couldn’t. She wanted to close her eyes and hide. But couldn’t. She wanted him to kiss her with those wickedly beautiful lips.
“Do I have your word?” he asked gravely.
Her heart was beating so hard and fast, she nodded as an escape tactic, so he would release her.
“I’m probably not her anyway,” she repeated in a thin voice.
“We’ll know soon.”
He took her home. They didn’t speak beyond, “Good night,” and, “You have my number.”
Her father was already asleep. She sneaked into her bed and read through everything Axel had given her, then tossed and turned until her phone pinged at three in the morning.
It was an email from Umberto with the test results.
Probability of paternity: 99.9999%
She stared at it for a long time before she sent it to Axel.
Even though it was the middle of the night, he texted back immediately.
I’ll be there at nine to buy our license.