3. Wyatt
3
WYATT
The rustic building stands out against the gloomy, rainy street it sits on. An ominous thing. Dull brick and white shutters peer down at me as I make my way to the address that was on that dreaded piece of paper. I’ve never even noticed this building in downtown, but here we are.
The fate of my future lies within these walls.
I fiddle with a button on my shirt, feeling my nerves get the best of me. I stood in front of my bathroom mirror for ages, trying to figure out what to wear. I changed twice, feeling like a fraud the entire time. I have no idea what I’m walking into, so I didn’t know how to dress. So here I am, in the one outfit I used to wear as a lawyer, something from my past life. The one thing I kept.
I continue to play with that button and twist it so hard that it pops off and rolls onto the ground. I stare down at it and sigh in annoyance. Fuck this , I think as my hand reaches out and pulls the door to the building open. It squeals as I do and I clench my jaw, anxiety pumping through me as I make my way to the elevator.
Floor two.
As my finger presses the button, I feel like I’m having an out-of-body experience. Like this isn’t real.
This can’t be real, but I hear the innocuous music filtering through the box as it brings me up to the second floor and realize that this is the beginning of the end. This is the beginning of my life indebted to The Firm.
When the door chimes and opens, I step out into a white hallway with dim lighting. My head moves left and then right, trying to decide which way to go.
Room 213.
I pick a side and move down the hallway, my heart racing in my chest as I put one foot in front of the other. I can hear it in my ears, can feel the coffee I drank before leaving the apartment moving through my veins—a luxury I haven’t allowed myself in months, but I needed it today. Every step I take is haunted by a new thought.
What if they make me go somewhere far away?
What will happen to Jackson?
Who will care for him?
These are questions that should’ve occurred to me before. Before I stepped into that graveyard and changed my whole life.
It’s too late now.
Thanks to the caffeine and the anxiety, I’m visibly shaking by the time I step inside the office.
And when I do, everything fades to gray, a hazy, unreal thing.
Because there he is. The last man I expected to see today. The one I’ve tried so hard to forget over the years.
Matthias .
He’s sitting in a chair in the waiting room, one leg crossed over the other, his suit perfectly pressed, not a hair out of place. It takes a second for my brain to catch up. To realize why he’d be here, of all places. Fuck . He looks good for a man who is most likely here because of The Firm. He’s involved in this, somehow.
The gray of my vision starts to go red around the edges and my fingers flex into fists.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” I hiss, and Matthias’s dark gaze meets mine. If he’s surprised to see me, he doesn’t show it. Then again, he hasn’t fucking shown his feelings in ages. I can’t even remember what he was like all those years ago.
That’s a lie. I wish I couldn’t fucking remember. It might make facing him now a little easier.
Those long lashes that I’m so familiar with, the newer dark circles under his eyes. He’s always looked so intense, like the weight of the world is on his shoulders.
That exhaustion though, that’s new.
Well, when you’re a massive asshole I guess that happens. Must be the guilt of it all.
“Hello, Wy,” he says finally, his voice low and rasping.
His voice jars me. It’s been so long since I’ve heard it. That must be why. “Tell me why you’re here.”
I can’t breathe as anxiety pulses through me.
He’s part of this. He has something to do with my debt, what I owe The Firm.
Of all people, why did it have to be him ?
His long fingers slide down his pressed jacket, straightening his tie, and he cocks his head. “It seems we’re here for the same reason.”
My eyes close and I inhale deeply, so deeply, in fact, that my nose whistles loudly. I’m sure I hear Matthias smother a laugh.
Damnit.
“Mr. Malone and Mr. Buckingham,” a deep voice says, causing me to open my eyes and turn to look at a stout man with a balding head. His suit is ill-fitting but still looks expensive. Is he part of The Firm? He must be if he’s here.
“I assume that’s who you both are as I didn’t get a response. Follow me.”
Matthias stands and moves past me, his shoulder brushing my arm and I shiver slightly from the touch. Not because I’m attracted to him—I’m straight—but because something about him gives me a visceral reaction. I can feel his presence stirring up shit in my life and it makes me feel something akin to anger.
Fuck, is that what I’m feeling?
After months of feeling nothing, he’s the first person to elicit emotion?
Of course he is. He’s the fucking worst. The real life manifestation of everything I’ve lost.
It’s no surprise he’s here, really. It’s fucking fate having another laugh at my expense.
“Have a seat,” the older man says, gesturing to a long table and a few swiveling chairs in a conference room.
I round it, bumping my hip as I go, pain filtering through me for a moment as I sit down. Matthias, of course, lowers himself directly opposite me, his long legs brushing against mine. He really needs to keep to his own personal space.
I know he’s doing this on purpose. He wants a reaction from me, he always does. Even as kids, I’d be the one he’d look to. The one whose attention he wanted. Needed.
No, I’m overthinking things. Matthias doesn’t give a shit about me or how I feel. He never did.
If he did, that night in the past would’ve turned out differently. Shit, me losing my job at Lawson and Buckingham would’ve ended differently.
I watch as Matthias folds his hands on the wooden surface and turns to look at the man taking a seat at the head of the table.
“Thank you both for coming. My name is Jim Flanders and I’m here to go over the paperwork and notarize your contracts. I’d like to get this done as fast as possible, I have a lunch I need to get to, and traffic at this time of day is atrocious.”
The drum of my heartbeat starts to build in my ears again. Sweat beads on my hands and I wipe them on my pants. Fuck, why is this so hard?
Because it’s him, my mind whispers. I know it’s right. Why the fuck did it have to be Matthias?
“Don’t be nervous, Wy,” Matthias says softly, and I glower at him, my lips pursed as I breathe heavily through my nose.
“I’m not fucking nervous,” I hiss back.
“Neither of you should be nervous,” Mr. Flanders interjects. “Mr. Malone, you have had your request granted already. By settling Mr. Buckingham’s request, your debt will be cleared. There’s no other choice.”
Matthias’s request. I knew he had something to do with this the second I entered, but…that hadn’t occurred to me.
Matthias had gone to The Firm, just like me.
What on earth did he need? He’s one of the richest men in the city. Aside from The Firm, the Buckinghams were the most powerful and influential people around.
Why the fuck does Matthias need The Firm?
Well, I guess I was about to find out.
I force my gaze away from Matthias as two iPads are set before us, and Mr. Flanders begins to go through each page and what’s expected from us—from me . My stomach roils when I see the words before me.
There’s just one my mind grabs on to. One I can’t move past.
No…it can’t possibly mean…
“Marriage?” I gasp, before I even realize I’m speaking. “I’m not fucking marrying—oh god, am I marrying him? I’m not even gay.”
Matthias cocks his head, his brow furrowing. “This is what I need. I’m sorry it’s you, but I need a husband.”
Mr. Flanders chooses that moment to pipe up disapprovingly. “And, once again, Mr. Malone, you do not have a choice in the matter. You owe a debt to The Firm. Mr. Buckingham needs a husband. This is what’s required of you.”
My mouth opens and closes like a fish. “What…what about Matthias’s debt? What if they ask something from him that endangers me?”
Matthias doesn’t answer, but I don’t expect him to. It’s not like he knows what The Firm will ask of him.
“You don’t need to concern yourself with that,” Mr. Flanders sighs. “Marrying Mr. Buckingham will complete your transaction with The Firm. Whatever is requested from your husband will not have a negative impact on your life.”
Your husband.
This isn’t happening. It’s not even that I’m being forced to marry a man. But that it’s Matthias. I can’t even stand to be in the same room as him for longer than an hour. How the fuck am I supposed to marry the guy?
“But I’m not gay.”
Matthias’s teeth grind slightly. “And I’m not particularly into you either, Wy, but this is how it is. It’s what we asked for…”
“I’m not being homophobic,” I snarl. “But the fact is that I’m straight. I’m not attracted to you. How the fuck do you expect me to play the part of a doting husband?”
For the first time, there’s a glimmer of a smile on Matthias’s lips. It’s not pleasant. It’s cruel. Taunting. Inviting trouble. “I suggest you look into acting classes.”
Before I can bite back at him, Mr. Flanders speaks. “This is what you agreed to, Mr. Malone. You got your request filled and now you need to pay up.”
I can’t let it go. If I do, I’m going to walk out of that door an engaged man. Engaged to my enemy, of all fucking people. “And what if I don’t?”
Matthias’s eye twitches as Mr. Flanders’s eyebrows rise. “You don’t want to know. That much I can tell you. It won’t end well for you, or your brother.”
That makes my stomach clench.
Are they threatening us?
Of course they are , I think. They want us to follow through. I have to do this.
“Fuck this,” I murmur, the wind taken from my sails. He’s right. I don’t have a choice. I made my decision the minute my request was placed under that brick.
I have to do this. There’s no other choice. No one has ever gone against The Firm’s wishes and lived to tell the tale.
“Do you work for them?” I ask, my gaze swiveling from Mr. Flanders to Matthias.
“I do not,” Matthias says just as Mr. Flanders snorts.
“Of course I do. I’m here, aren’t I? Do you think I’d sit through traffic to be here if I didn’t.”
My hand cards through my hair, and I know I look a mess in my worn shirt, buttons missing, my hair standing on end. But I don’t care because I thought my life was bad enough losing everything a year ago, and now I’m supposed to marry the man I hate.
The man who is currently sitting before me and looking something other than disturbed that we’re to be wed. This man is going to be my husband.
I can’t believe it.
I can’t believe this is happening to me.
I really thought I’d be smuggling drugs up my butt.
Suddenly that seems preferable.
“Can we continue?” Mr. Flanders asks dryly and I bite my tongue to let him carry on. There’s no reason to argue. There’s nothing I can do to change this. He’s right. I asked for this. I’m stuck in this bargain with a man I can’t stand.
I may not be interested in men, but it doesn’t matter. The Firm doesn’t care. They just want to call in the favor and I have to deliver.
I let my gaze slide up to Matthias as we slowly initial and sign the paperwork digitally until it’s finally done. Mr. Flanders collects the iPads and tucks them in his suitcase.
“Right then. We’re all set. And I still have time to make lunch.”
And with that he’s gone.