Chapter Six
Whoever said running was good for the soul was full of shit.
There was no way in hell people actually got enjoyment from feeling like their lungs were going to explode.
I was fairly sure I was going to die if I kept going.
“I told you that you should have stretched beforehand,” Violet teased. There wasn’t a drop of sweat on her. “You’re going to give yourself a hernia at this rate.”
“I’m fine,” I wheezed. “I just need a moment to catch my breath.”
Was it normal for the air in my lungs to be on actual fire?
“You just need to remember that it’s good for your body and soul.” She grinned, jogging on the spot. “Nothing like fresh air to clear away all the shitty energy.”
I continued to gulp down air. “Uh-huh.”
“Breathe in that fresh crisp air, feel it push all the negativity out of your body.”
“Oh, I am trying to breathe,” I rasped. “It just makes me feel worse.”
“Let me check your pulse.”
“I’m okay.” I batted her hand away. “I just need a second.”
It was nearly a week since the dinner. The whole ordeal went better than I expected, with my dad surprisingly coming round to the idea of me being married to a man that he knew as much about as I did.
A huge win considering how much Dad had loved Laurence. He doted on him, and much like the rest of us, he thought he was a perfect match for me. Not that he would admit it, but I think he was as heartbroken as I was when Laurence left.
After Jaxon left for the evening, stating that he had a flight to catch, my dad asked again if I was happy. He promised that if I made a mistake, a momentary lapse in judgment, he would take care of it.
And again, I lied to him.
“Something seriously shitty must be fucking with your aura.” Violet finally stood still. “Or maybe I should say someone?”
I gave her a deathly glare.
“You know what will help? One more lap,” Violet said. “If you manage one more without vomiting, I’ll reward you with a fresh warm cinnamon roll.”
“Doesn’t that defeat the purpose of running?” I blinked away the spots of lights.
She laughed. “I don’t think you’re out here running with me for your health, Evie.”
It was true. I needed a way to clear my head, something that got me out of the house and away from party planning, and Flynn’s constant suspicious looks.
I swore Flynn looked at me like he was expecting a pregnancy bump to sprout any second, as if it were the only reason I sold my soul to the Dade devils.
Running, despite the stitch stabbing me in the side, I focused on the air flowing in and out of my lungs and not on the text message I received before calling Violet. My darling husband informed me that he was returning back to New York and wanted the address to the house we’d be moving in together.
Our house.
Our home.
My porridge breakfast threatened to make a reappearance.
“Here’s as good a place to stop as any.” Violet stopped at the exit to the park and headed straight to the independent bakery, Sinaroll, we adored. “And look at that, you didn’t die.”
Sweet heavenly goodness greeted us when we entered.
Sugar, cinnamon, and dough—a match made in heaven.
Violet grabbed our order while I pulled out my mobile and finally replied to Jaxon. There was no point putting off the inevitable. He was coming back to New York, whether I wanted him to or not. We were going to live together, whether I wanted it or not.
He was my husband, whether I wanted him or not.
“Trouble in paradise, already?” Violet joked, handing me a cup of hot chocolate and nodding at my phone. “You text any harder and you’re going to smash through the screen with your bare thumbs.”
I set my phone down. “Jaxon is coming back tomorrow.”
“I still find it weird that you’re married. Like death till us part married—without the actual love and care. Yet, he’s basically a stranger to you.”
“He’s not a total stranger,” I countered. “We met once before at a charity event. It was a passing meeting, nothing more. But I’ve met his brother several times at many functions. Jaxon never goes to them. Honestly, I kind of forgot that the two of them ran the company together.”
“I’m surprised your dad took it so well.” Violet sipped her green tea. “You always were adamant that you wouldn’t be pushed into one of those arranged marriages.”
“My father thinks we are in love, and that’s fine.” I wrapped my hands around my mug. “Even if that’s not entirely true, I don’t see what the big problem is. You and I know how things work in our world. Marriage is a way to form alliances. Look at Freya, her parents arranged her marriage to the owner of that huge tech company.”
“She fought her parents tooth and nail the entire way down the aisle, though.”
“But the two of them made it work. When you see them now, they’re madly in love.”
“Is that what you want?” Violet asked. “To hopefully one day fall in love with him?”
The very idea of falling in love with someone like Jaxon was absurd.
We married each other for nothing more than business. Jaxon scared away any potential threats to my upcoming position, and his business-savvy mind would ensure I didn’t royally fuck up. In return, I allowed the Dades to move into the European territory of our business.
It really wasn’t a bad deal.
A simple tit-for-tat.
But the idea of falling in love with him? That was an impossible thought.
“All we have to do is tolerate each other for one year,” I said. “A year, and then it’ll be like it never happened. I’ll no longer have to work for Reynolds Regality Jewels, nor will I have to stay married.”
“Think you’ll survive the year with him?”
“Don’t get me wrong, it would be nice if we found a way to at least become friends for the year.” Another absurd idea. “But I’m under no illusion. He wanted this marriage as much as I did.”
Violet frowned. “At least it’s an added bonus that he is nice to look at.” She grabbed her phone and pulled up his photograph. It was the same photo I found myself staring at for the past week, the one used in his Forbes Man of the Year article. “I mean, if slightly terrifying, broody and sullen is your kind of thing.”
I laughed. “Stop that.”
“Oh my, is that a tattoo I see peeking from beneath his collar?” Violet zoomed in. “Well, hello there.”
“Vi, put your phone away.”
There was no point in lying and saying that I didn’t find Jaxon attractive, but he was everything my ex wasn’t. Laurence and Jaxon were day and night. My ex-fiancé was blond and blue-eyed, with his old-money natural good looks and outgoing charm.
I truly thought Laurence was my soulmate and someone I’d grow old with.
We’d gotten so close with our wedding set for the end of the year. Laurence was everything I ever wanted.
Not the frowny, tattooed man who was seven years my senior, and from what I knew about him, was known for his quick temper and lack of social skills.
There may have been a reason Frederic attended all the social events and not Jaxon.
“I’m going to need your help,” I said as Violet scrutinized over every inch of the photo. “Something I know you are going to love.”
“I can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic.”
“Dad wants to throw a party to announce the marriage to everyone. He wants to do it before he gets any worse.” I chewed on my bottom lip. We were only months away from losing him completely. I swallowed the lump wedging itself in my throat. “I was hoping you might be able to help me with that.”
Her face lit up. “Totally! Send me some of the dates you are thinking about, and I will check my schedule. I know for a fact there is availability in the Golden Halo Gallery at the end of the month. Maybe I could try and push forward with the opening of my newest gallery early for you.”
Violet and I attended NYU together. While I studied journalism, she originally studied business and politics—her mother’s idea, not hers. However, she soon discovered how much she hated it. It wasn’t an easy time for her, with her guilt to try and make it work for her mother’s benefit.
By the second year, she knew she needed to make a choice.
Rather than leaving university altogether, she changed her degree to art. It nearly gave her mother a heart attack.
But her natural artistic skill and good eye for spotting talent allowed her to blossom into the woman she was today.
After university, Violet threw herself into the art world. She started out as a valuer, then a seller, and quite quickly, she moved into opening her own art galleries and selling high-end pieces to people all over the world.
Her galleries were known not only for showcasing beautiful masterpieces, but also for hosting amazing events for those able to pay the eye-watering price tag.
Violet excitedly started jotting ideas down into her phone. She talked animatedly about different venues and the connections each of them brought, and I tried my best to focus on her and not the text messages lighting up my screen.
JAXON: Flight in at noon.
JAXON: See you tomorrow, wife.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Flynn carried another box into the hallway. “There’s no shame in admitting you’ve made a mistake and coming back home with me.” He dropped it with a thud. “Quickie divorce, and we can pretend the whole thing never happened. Say the word, and I’ll start taking the boxes back home.”
“I haven’t made a mistake.” The lie rolled off my tongue. “What difference does it make with me living here or back at Dad’s place? You’re barely in the house.”
“For your information, I haven’t left the house since the boat party,” he said. “I thought you’d be proud of me.”
“Super proud,” I said, deadpan. “Well done for not getting blackout drunk or high for over a week.”
“That foot up your ass is seriously wedged in there tight tonight.”
I closed the front door, sealing the humid temperature of the night outside. I decided to stay the night before Jaxon arrived, wanting to get my bearings of the house that my dad bought for me once I graduated.
I never actually moved into the house, mainly because I spent most of my time at Laurence’s place. He didn’t want to live too far away from his own family and insisted that I spend all my time at his penthouse. Although it wasn’t official, because Laurence wanted to wait until we were married, I basically lived there.
That was until Dad fell sick.
The second the doctor told us the prognosis, I moved straight back home.
Something Laurence wasn’t happy about.
Looking back on it now, I was able to safely say that it was the turning point in our engagement. Possibly too blinded looking after Dad, I ignored the change in Laurence’s behavior.
Walking through the hall into the kitchen, I opened the cupboards and fridge to find nothing.
There wasn’t a single knife or fork.
Flynn appeared behind me with a bag in his hands. “Poppy said you might need some things until you get sorted.” He unpacked the bag. Two mugs, two wine glasses, two forks, two knives, and two plates. “She also said to tell you that she’s grown too fond of your coffee machine and that she isn’t sure she can part with it now.”
Acid burned the back of my throat. This was it. I was moving away from Dad, away from being at his side.
This was a mistake, right?
A stupid, foolish mistake.
I fought against the burning gathering on my tongue. “That’s okay she can keep it, but you will need to remind her to clean it at least weekly.”
“Oh, and she also said to tell you that if you need anything, she is only a phone call away.”
Tears welled in my eyes.
I was going to miss Poppy. She was the closest thing both Flynn and I had to an actual mother. Dad hired her and brought her to our home during our first years of junior school. After having a lackluster relationship with our own mother, we were wary of a new woman in the house.
Poppy showed us what a mother should truly be like. She fitted perfectly into our lives like the missing piece of our family puzzle.
“You want me to stay with you tonight?” Flynn asked. “We can order some pizza and watch those horrible rom-com movies that you secretly love.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about. Those types of movies are the literal worst.”
And I loved them so damn much.
“Whatever you say. It must have been my imagination when I saw you curled up and crying to yourself after watching ‘The Notebook’ for the seventeenth time.”
I shook my head. “You’re sorely mistaken. You need to go and get your eyes tested.”
Flynn rolled his eyes with a laugh. “Do you want me to stay or not?”
I wanted nothing more than to go back home with him. Back where I was meant to be. Dad needed me. He needed someone reliable at his side, but going back would mean telling him the truth.
The only thing that brought me some ease was the fact I had hired a new team of carers to be at Dad’s beckoning call.
“No, it’s okay. I’m going to spend the rest of the night unpacking my stuff and sorting out a few of the rooms.” I placed the kitchen items away. “You need to be there for Dad. With me being gone, it’s going to fall on you to help look after him.”
“Fine,” he relented. “But phone me if you need anything, or ring Saunders. He will come straight over and drive you back home in a heartbeat, no matter the time.”
“Go home, Flynn,” I said, walking him back out into the hallway. “Like I said, I’m going to be fine one night alone. Jaxon will be home tomorrow afternoon.”
“It’s not your night alone I’m worried about.”
Me too.
He opened the front door. “Wait, what do you want me to do about Bell?”
“Do you mind keeping her a couple more nights? Just until I get everything here sorted.”
Flynn exhaled. “Fine, but you owe me. I swear that creature can see into my soul, and she does not like what she sees.”
Once my brother left, I busied myself carrying all my boxes into the master bedroom. The room was decorated clearly with my taste in mind. Dark greens and gold, exactly like my bedroom back home. There was a door that took me into the walk-in wardrobe, and it further led to a jaw-dropping ensuite.
In the center of the ensuite was a standalone marble tub. I had to stop myself from abandoning unpacking and drawing myself a steaming hot bubble bath.
I mentally added bath-bombs onto my shopping list.
Back in the bedroom, I set to work getting the bed ready.
In less than twelve hours, Jaxon was going to be here. We’d be living together as husband and wife for one long year. I hoped that he didn’t expect us to be sharing a room. There wasn’t a chance in hell I was sleeping in the same bed as him.
I pulled on the last pillowcase and laid down on the bed.
The coming year was going to be difficult enough without having to navigate a some-what relationship with Jaxon. He wasn’t the worst of choices. Handsome, intelligent, understood the world we lived in, and wasn’t threatened by a woman in business.
An arranged marriage between us made sense. There was no doubt that when the news broke, everyone would agree with the pairing.
Dade Diamonds always played second fiddle to Dad. In a year, the Dades would be boosted right to the top, and all it took was Jaxon begrudgingly marrying his competitors’ daughter.
I guess we both had a price to pay for success.
Daughter of a multi-billion jewelry empire marries the CEO and owner of the second largest jewelry company.
They’ll say we’re a smart match.
But it was only for a year.
One year, and then we’d simply walk away.