2. Bay
TWO
bay
PRESENT DAY…
“Bay, this is Ozzy… Ramsey and Torin’s cousin.” I give said man nothing, and he does the same—shocker. It must be a Wildes thing to be a natural asshole. “And he’s your husband.”
My whole body locks up, but my neck finds a way to snap up to Emilio who can’t follow simple instructions to save his fucking life.
The agreement was with Ramsey .
Not some stranger with a bottomless stare who doesn’t know how to speak two words to someone. A human being who’s irked me to no end for the last two minutes I’ve been in this damn room.
“My fucking what ?” I mutter, not giving a flying shit that I’m being rude because where in the actual hell did this dude even come from?
Emilio almost looks remorseful for his actions and the curveball that he just chucked at me, but he quickly corrects it. “Haven?—”
“It’s fucking Bay,” I bark back with a glower. “And I didn’t even sign a marriage certificate with his?—”
“You did.” Emilio’s comment slaps me in the face.
What did he do?
What did I do besides get completely distracted by Reeve being the one who handed me over the path to my new fate?
No. No.
This isn’t happening.
I knew what I was getting into when I agreed to do this. I’d get Ellie and Mae back. Levi out of prison. And then we’d handle Ramsey and Emilio at the same time.
Not tack on a third body of problems.
“Leave the room, Ramsey.”
My hand shoots out to stop him. “Hold on.” I look into the dark chocolate brown eyes that belong to Torin’s older brother and glower at him. “Are you serious ? We had an agreement.”
“It changed.”
This motherfucker.
When the door clicks shut a few seconds later, it sounds like the hammer of a gun cocking back and pointing at my head.
The hairs on my arms rise in warning.
I need to get out of here.
I didn’t agree to all this.
I fucked up again.
“Haven,” Emilio starts, using the wrong fucking name again , but I don’t have the strength in me to correct him.
Not anymore.
At least with Ramsey, I’ve heard stories. I’ve met him.
This guy, though…
“Ozzy will be good to you. He’s a better fit for you, trust me.”
“Trust you.” It’s not a questioning comment. It’s a joke, actually. I’m not sure in what universe Emilio believes that I’m going to drop my defenses and take his word for it, but he’s got me fucked up yet again. “You went behind my back and changed plans. Then you hit me upside the head with them without even asking me how I feel about it.”
“I’m fully aware this isn’t an ideal situation,” Emilio replies, meeting my death glare. “But Ozzy is more… He’ll give you more?—”
“I don’t know Ozzy, and we’re talking about marriage.”
Emilio nods. “I know. However, with your personal needs?—”
“Stop right there.” I lift my hand and wish with all my might that it would strike him down dead. “You don’t know shit about me. And you definitely don’t know what I need.”
“I know you require personal space… and freedom. Ramsey will bring you nothing but stress and blood, Haven.”
This is so beyond inconceivable; I don’t even know how to manage what I’m feeling right now or where to start. Every avenue I try to walk down is a mess. Nothing is perfectly paved out for me, and this is bullshit.
Another trap.
However, my sperm donor is right.
Ramsey was always a wild card. Bringing him around my sisters, now, could prove to be worse.
Or better.
My gaze connects with Torin’s cousin. He’s still staring at me, and I can’t read his stoic expression at all.
Plush lips, an edged jawline, and tan skin. It makes his heap of tattoos look like one, and I notice they’re down his fingers as well. He’s more black ink than blank skin, and an aggressive shudder possesses my body as he openly stares back at me like I’m either a freak or something he can’t figure out either.
“Everything remains the same,” Emilio presses through the still thickness of the room. “I want you somewhat comfortable in your surroundings. He’ll be making everything an easy transition for you.”
“I don’t know you.” I force myself to look at the man called Ozzy again and meet eyes that suck me into their depths of blue. He doesn’t look offended by my comment or reaction to the new arrangement. In fact, he appears like he couldn’t care less right now. “What else…did you change?”
“Nothing,” Emilio quickly responds, as if he’s afraid I’ll leave. “Everything remains the same. The marriage lasts two years, Roger’s bills paid?—”
“My father is dead,” I leer, and the room feels as though it’s closing in on me.
He’s gone.
He’s not here to center me.
Levi is locked up.
I’m alone.
I don’t have a place for Mae and Ellie to stay. I haven’t even told them about Dad yet because they’re not here, and I said it was going to be okay.
It was supposed to be okay.
It’s not okay.
“Haven…” Emilio’s pet name—because that’s what it is; I don’t care if it’s my legal name—flits around me, and I feel as though it’s choking me to death.
The father I didn’t want is what I have.
He’s alive.
Evil has a way of withstanding life, doesn’t it? It’s always the good ones who go first.
“I’m so sorry.”
I want to tell my sperm donor to go fuck himself, but an argument means standing in this room for another minute, and I have to get out of here.
“Am I married?” I croak out, balling my fingers into fists. “Did you?—”
“Ozzy is your official husband,” Emilio confirms gently. “And you needn’t worry about a thing. He has it all handled.”
Handled.
Emilio was supposed to have it handled for me, but he doesn’t do anything. He hands off orders and agrees to them. All he wants is for me to be a part of this stupid family and for me to be okay with this.
To accept it.
I have to go.
Starting for the door, I’m only a step toward getting the hell out of here when Ozzy decides to move. I freeze, feeling his eyes on me and an unsettling wave of goosebumps running up my arms.
Torin is always a step ahead of me. Now he’s going to have his cousin make my life a living fucking hell.
More than it is already.
“So what does Torin want you to do with me first?” I solicit sharply. The pit of my stomach has already started hollowing itself out at the many possibilities. I finally meet his eyes, but I can’t make out the kind of blue they are because I can barely hold on to them. “What does he have on you to agree to this, or are you just his lackey?”
Because it has to be something.
I don’t care if this dude is his nephew, Emilio put me—his only daughter—with him for a reason.
Or Torin somehow got involved.
Ozzy is an unknown character, which means the plot just thickened.
“I’m already liking this arrangement,” I assert placidly, glancing around the overly decorated office of Emilio’s that screams I like power and fucking people over. “The conversations are just too tantalizing to contain.”
Ozzy reaches behind him and levels me with an unamused and zero-fucks-given stare.
A folded piece of paper is handed over to me, but I don’t take it.
“What is it?”
Silence.
Maybe he doesn’t speak English? Shit, maybe he’s fully deaf. Wouldn’t that be something?
“I’m not taking that,” I assert. “So, either tell me what it is or put it back.”
Ozzy takes one menacing step in my direction, and I counter it instantly.
“ What ?” I press nervously. I’m not sure what it is about him—maybe it’s not knowing him and that he’s related to Torin—but I’m highly freaking out right now.
Because I’m alone.
Everyone is literally gone.
Whatever is written on the paper in Ozzy’s hand is still held up, but he can go fuck himself right along with Emilio.
Another step backward, and both men in the room eyeball my reaction. If it wasn’t apparent already, I’m not doing okay with this. They caught me off-guard and, in my current headspace, I’m not well.
“Haven, he’s not going to hurt you.”
I. Will. Never. Listen. To. This. Man. Again.
Ever.
I pivot for the door, ignoring the substantial weight of the two men who just threw me a curveball. How I just became a man’s wife.
However, my breathing calms a little the moment I’m not in his view, soaking me up like a little ant he’s about to play with.
This is going to be fun.
Said me never .