Chapter 4
R ival.
I entered Sailor’s apartment at seven twenty-five a.m. Her alarm would be set for seven thirty unless something had changed. Regardless of whether or not she was going into the office. Sailor was militant about her routines. She was up by seven thirty every morning which I knew because two weeks into the project I was doing for Sailor, I’d added an extra job I worked in the evening.
In order to complete hers on time, I needed to get started early. When I mentioned being there by six, she offered a code to enter her apartment since she didn’t wake until seven thirty. For two weeks her routine was the same: wake at seven thirty, hit the bathroom, then make coffee, which she drank on the sofa while watching the morning news.
The code no longer worked but the key she handed over after we were married did. I let myself in, armed with coffee, a honey rye bagel and mango vanilla cream cheese from the café in her building. Another thing Sailor was predictable with. I’d heard her order it multiple times and hum her approval while she indulged.
I placed everything on the kitchen table and settled into one of the chairs, waiting. By seven forty-five my wife was shuffling out of her bedroom, hair all over her head, wearing a sweatshirt three sizes too big, legs exposed to the calves which were covered with thick, ivory, cable knit sock slippers. She rubbed her eyes and yawned midway, bringing a smile to my face.
This was the Sailor I loved most, when she was unguarded, in her natural state, and relaxed. Even with her hair sticking in every direction she looked so fucking beautiful. She moved right past me. Granted she didn’t have the best vantage point based on the angle at which she entered the kitchen but when she extended an arm to reach for the expensive and very complicated coffee machine on her counter I let my presence be known.
“Dark roast, shot of espresso, almond milk with raw sugar and cinnamon.”
She almost jumped out of her skin before she spun on her heels in search of the person speaking. When I had her full attention, I removed the coffee from the cardboard holder and extended it to her.
Sailor’s beautiful brown eyes narrowed but she didn’t say a word. Just glared at me in a way that threatened death. I elected to keep things casual when I was sure she was plotting my untimely demise in that pretty little bed mussed head of hers. “You missed dinner.”
“It’s impossible to miss something you had no intention of entertaining.” Her eyes narrowed, more in an effort to clarify what she had no intention of entertaining wasn’t just the dinner but me.
“Did you read the prenuptial agreement?”
“Yes.”
“And you found the email from VirtualLoveLast?”
“Sure did.”
“Then whether you intend to entertain me or not, you understand you’re going to have to.”
She scoffed, pivoted, and attempted to drop the conversation of our nuptials by making a quick escape. I put an end to that notion when I lifted from my chair, cut off her path, and forced Sailor against the wall just beyond the kitchen.
With my hands flush against the wall next to her head and my body leaned into hers, I dipped my chin and waited.
“You need to leave.”
“We need to talk.”
“No we don’t.”
“You’re my wife, Sailor,” I asserted, which caused a frown to settle onto her beautiful face.
“You don’t seriously believe any of what happened is legally binding.”
“Actually I do. You’re very thorough, but regardless, I did research to make sure you didn’t scam me just to get me in your bed. We are legally married, Sailor.”
I hadn’t done much research other than checking the site, making a few calls to ask questions, and the responses I received satisfied my curiosity. We were, in fact, legally married, mostly due to Sailor being so thorough. The signed and filed marriage license sealed the deal.
“We are not.” Her voice elevated with unease which brought a smile to my face. A smile that had her dainty hands pushing into my chest with a failed effort to get me out of her way.
“We are, wife.”
“Get out of my apartment.”
“I will, after we talk.”
“No, you’ll leave now. You’re not supposed to be here. How did you get in here in the first place?” Her brows slammed in and I smiled wider, eased one hand into my pocket and held up the key I used. The key she’d given me.
Her eyes turned to slits and she reached for the key but I managed to get it back into my pocket before she could get her fingers on it.
“You stole my key.”
“I’m not a thief, Sail. You gave me the key as a wedding present or don’t you remember?” I arched my brow and hers pinched more.
“I did not.”
“Here, husband. Since we’re official you’ll need access to me and I’ll need access to this.”
At that moment, Sailor’s hand was on my dick while she held up the key to her place. The lock had code access but the key overrode that just in case.
I could see her mind struggling to process the memory and I wasn’t sure if she succeeded but Sailor was not one to easily concede.
“I had been drinking. It’s possible that I gave you the key but I want it back.” She extended a hand with an open palm.
“First we talk. Come sit down, I brought you breakfast.”
Her chin jutted upward. “I don’t want your breakfast. I can get my own.”
I chuckled, then stepped back enough to get my hands on her waist. I lifted Sailor against me and carried her to the kitchen where I gently deposited her in a chair.
“What the fuck is your problem and why do you keep handing me like I’m a child?” She shot to her feet and I moved close again, lowering my eyes.
“Maybe consider the fact that you’re acting like a child. Sit down, Sailor.”
“Get out of my apartment, Rival.”
She locked her arms over her chest. I chuckled and lowered to the chair next to her.
“Why are you sitting?”
“Because if I leave, I leave with half of everything you own. I’m willing to bet that’s not going to make your family happy, neither is the very legal contract you drafted which says I have every right to claim it.”
A stoic expression shifted onto her face but I felt the rage seeping through her skin. She was pissed, but also well aware that my argument was solid. “Is that what this is about? You want my money?”
I chuckled lightly. “I don’t give a fuck about your money, Sailor.”
“Then why issue the threat? Why not just leave? I don’t want to be your wife.”
“Then you shouldn’t have manipulated the situation to become my wife if taking our marriage seriously wasn’t your intention.”
“I did not manipulate…”
“You wanted me in your bed, so you married me. I’m pretty sure you didn’t fully think things through, considering the alcohol involved, but it happened. We’re married, Sailor. The sooner you accept that the sooner we can start working on what our marriage looks like.”
“It doesn’t look like anything. We are not married.”
“We are.”
“Get out.”
“Sit down.”
“Get out!”
I exhaled a sigh. “If I leave, I will fully enforce that prenuptial. Is that what you want?”
“You just said you don’t want my money.”
“I don’t.”
“Then why would you take it?” she hissed, tone full of venom.
“I want you and the only way I can have you as my wife is to enforce the terms of the agreement.”
“Why can’t you just let this go?” Her leg bounced and her shoulders stiffened.
“I like the idea of you being my wife and regardless of how you manipulated the situation…”
“I did not manipulate the situation.”
I smirked and stared. She rolled her eyes but didn’t argue her point further. “Did you ever consider that you manipulated me? We were drinking and you forced me to marry you.”
“Neither of us was forced, but for argument’s sake, let me just remind you that you willingly filled out the paperwork online. You enlisted the help of a friend to make the paperwork legal. You drafted, printed and signed the prenuptial, and paid for the ceremony.”
Her expression twisted in disgust. “And what man allows his woman to pay for their wedding?”
“A man who isn’t fully committed to marriage but being coerced into doing so.”
Her mouth dropped open but before she could deliver a rebuttal, there was a knock at the door and a flash of irritation fanned across her face. She marched to the door instead of arguing with me. She yanked it open forcefully and I watched her brother move over the threshold carrying breakfast bags identical to the one I arrived with.
I had only seen him once when he stopped by with his wife to deliver paperwork to Sailor and we talked briefly about the work I was doing but that was the sum total of our interaction. All ten minutes of it was generic conversation which meant he probably didn’t know my name or remember me. That also explained the surprise that washed over his face when he realized Sailor wasn’t alone.
“Uh, you have company.”
“Company would imply he was invited or I want him here.” She narrowed her eyes my way and I smiled, alternating my gaze between Sailor and her brother. He shifted into a defensive stance, moving between where Sailor stood and I was seated.
“What’s going on, Sail?” A warning glare was on me, clearly stating I will fuck you up if you’re here to do my sister harm , but he posed the question to her. Still, I responded.
“My wife seems to be having an issue with me wanting to discuss the details of our marriage.”
His eyes danced with confusion until she all but screamed, “I am not your wife! Stop saying that!”
“Sailor…” TJ turned completely, facing his sister. “What the hell is going on?”
“Nothing. I’ll handle it. Can you give us a minute?”
“No, I can’t. This man just called you his wife. You’re visibly upset. Someone needs to tell me what the fuck is going on here.”
When he placed his demand, I pulled up the email from VirtualLoveLast and extended my phone in his direction. TJ and I were about the same height, although he was a bit more muscular, like he worked out on the regular, but I was solid. If he wanted to fight, he could have one but I didn’t think it would come to that. He hesitantly accepted the device but not before Sailor attempted to intervene by taking the phone from my hand. When he glared and turned away to read what I offered, she chewed her lip and that damn leg bounced.
“You married him?”
“No,” she retorted.
“This says you did.”
“That’s bullshit. A scam site that’s not real.”
He glanced between the two of us, then grabbed his sister by the arm and dragged her to the bedroom. After the door was shut, I followed and leaned against the wall in the hallway so I could listen. She was my wife, the conversation wasn’t going to be private.
“What the fuck, Sail? You realize this is, in fact, legal. You’re married to him.”
“I know, shit, I know.”
“What the hell?”
“I was drinking, things went too far and…”
“And now you’re married to him.”
I grinned because this meant she was processing the reality of what was happening.
“I fucked up, Teej.”
“You think?” he shot back.
“I can fix this. We can fix it. We know plenty of people who can undo this clusterfuck. Call somebody.”
“Call who, Sail? Any favors I call in will be favors attached to our father. Do you really want him knowing about this? Because it will get back to him.”
“Shit, I know.” She sounded defeated and as much as I needed her to be on board with this marriage, bully tactics from her brother were not how I wanted things to go.
“Just ask for an annulment. I’m sure he’ll be reasonable.”
“He won’t and even if he agrees…”
The prenuptial.
“If he agrees, what? What aren’t you telling me?”
“I really fucked up, Teej. Like seriously fucked up.” I heard shuffling then things were silent again.
“You signed a prenup. Sail, again, what the fuck? This says he gets half of your net worth unless you stay married to him for a year. You let this guy trick you into taking half your money?”
“Stop yelling at me.”
“Are you serious right now? You’re worried about me yelling at you and not this?”
“I can… we can fix it,” she said softly but with no confidence.
“How, Sail? The only person who might be able to fix this is our father and do you really want him to know you married this guy and signed a prenup that gives him access to your money? To our firm? Did you think about that? Half of everything you own means he’ll own part of the firm if you don’t follow through with this. Dad has been waiting for a fuck up from us and you just handed it to him. He’s gonna gloat and hand over a shitload of ‘I knew you couldn’t hack it in the world without me’. Is that a conversation you want to have with Torrance Addison Sr.?”
“No.”
“Damnit, Sailor.”
A few seconds later, the door swung open and her brother locked eyes with me. His were filled with fire.
“A word, please.”
I nodded and followed him to the living room. Halfway there, he glanced over his shoulder. “Stay in your room, Sail.”
She flinched and nodded, turning in the opposite direction. We trailed through the apartment onto the balcony where TJ stared at me for a long moment before he finally spoke.
“How much are you willing to accept to end this? Because you can’t possibly expect my sister to hand over half of her money to end this marriage.”
“What I’m willing to accept is for my wife to adhere to the terms we agreed upon.”
He laughed sarcastically. “She doesn’t want to be your wife, which means you want half of her money.”
“I don’t want her fucking money. I want her.”
“But she doesn’t want you?”
“Sailor doesn’t know what the hell she wants.”
“And you do?”
“I know she’s a brilliant woman, with more confidence in her pinky finger than the entire legal system in Atlanta possesses, but that only applies with sex, not her career. When it comes to her personal life, she’s very dissatisfied and searching for something. If she didn’t want to be married to me in some sense, she wouldn’t have gone through the motions of ensuring our marriage was legally binding. Regardless of the reasons she agreed, she agreed , which means she wanted this, even if only subconsciously.”
He frowned slightly. “And what were her reasons for agreeing?”
I smirked. “Are you sure you want to know?”
“Of course I’m sure. The only way to find resolve is if I have all the details.”
“I refused to sleep with her.”
“You…what?” He stumbled over the words as confusion settled in.
“Your sister wanted me in her bed. I was practicing celibacy and refused to have sex with your sister or anyone until I was in a committed relationship, marriage kind of committed. She came up with the idea of us getting married, pulled it all together, and here we are, legally married.”
“You have got to be fucking kidding me.”
I shook my head animatedly, relishing in his disbelief and aggravation. I would assert TJ was well versed in his sister’s sexually expressive behaviors, but this was a step beyond her normal acts. “Unfortunately not.”
“And you agreed.”
“I did.”
“Why? If you claim it’s not about the money.”
How could I explain this to him in a way that didn’t make me appear crazy? Wanting to follow through with a bogus marriage did feel like I had somewhat lost the sense God provided me with.
“For the past couple months I’ve been around your sister. I’ve witnessed things that both pissed me off and intrigued me. Sailor is a unique personality but also very insecure to the point of not feeling deserving of a man who truly sees her. She is very deserving and I see her. I can’t fully explain this but I agreed to marry Sailor because beyond the physical attraction, I feel a connection to your sister. Maybe I’m being na?ve but we could be good together. I don’t want the money, I want to be her husband.”
He stared at me for a long moment then nodded. “The terms are one year. If she remains married to you for one year and this doesn’t work, you will walk and you get nothing.”
“Yep.”
“And if I make you a solid offer to annul this and walk away now, you won’t accept it.”
I shook my head. “I don’t want her money or yours. I want Sailor as my wife.”
“I don’t trust you or your intentions but I also have to admit a part of me feels you truly are invested in my sister and not her money. This is her mess to fix so I’m going to stand down and let her deal with things. Please understand, if at any time I feel this union is harmful to my sister or you are not being honest, I will step in. Our father can make this go away without your consent. You would have to empty your bank accounts to fight us. It would crush my sister to deal with his scrutiny, and she would likely hate me for bringing him into this, but I can live with Sailor being angry if it means removing her from a situation harmful to her well-being. For now, you two figure this out, but please understand I don’t fucking play about my sister.”
“And neither will I. So it seems we at least agree that Sailor will be the priority.”
He grunted his displeasure and moved back inside the apartment, leaving me to stay or follow because he didn’t say another word. I came inside and closed the door behind me.
“Sail…” TJ called out and she hurried out of the room and down the hall like she was already waiting. “I’m leaving. I’ll see you at the office. You two need to talk.”
“You’re leaving?”
“Yes, I am. There are two options, you two work this out or you let Dad know you recklessly married a man only for the benefit of sleeping with him. Also if you refuse the terms of the agreement you signed, he gets half of everything you own. I’m sure working this out between the two of you feels like the better option.”
Her mouth dropped open then slammed shut before her eyes darted over to me like deadly laser beams. A few minutes later the door clicked and we were alone.
“Now are you ready to talk?”
“No, I have work to do. You’re threatening to take half of what I own so I need to ensure my clients are taken care of so they pay their bills and I’m not left destitute.”
She angled her head to the side and I smirked. “Then dinner tonight. We’ll try this again. Be at my house by seven and we can talk this out. If you’re not there I’ll reach out to your father to express my concerns with our union…”
“You would not?”
I wouldn’t, but at this point, I was running out of options. My wife was a very stubborn woman.
“Try me. My place at seven, Sailor.”
“I hate you.”
“You’ll get over it.”
“Doubtful.” She stormed off while tossing over her shoulder, “Lock my door on your way out. I don’t think I can handle any more unwanted guests this morning.”
Seconds later, the bedroom door slammed and I considered this a victory. A very small one but still a victory.