Chapter Two
Faith swallowed the panic she felt building inside her when he said that. She had just met the man, and he was talking about their babies.
He was extremely handsome, with his black hair and caramel-colored eyes. He was a large man, much larger than her in height and width. She couldn’t remember ever sitting this close to a man before, much less one so huge, and it was a bit overwhelming.
She and her sisters were virgins and didn’t know anything about the physical part of a marriage, so to get so personal so soon shook her. Oh, they knew about the “birds and the bees” but not the mechanics. “Are we going to get to know each other first?”
He nodded. “In the next few days, we’ll get to know each other.”
“It’s just I … I’m nervous.”
He smoothed the hair from her face. “You don’t have to be. I’m going to take excellent care of you.”
“I know, but why do we have to go so fast?”
“Baby, we will consummate our marriage right away. We want to protect you any way we can, and we can’t get it annulled if we’ve had sex.”
She knew he was telling the truth. The letter their father had given them had said the same thing, but the thought of being naked with this man and letting him into her body had her rethinking her decision.
He cupped her cheek. “I know this is unorthodox, but we are going to have a good marriage. I guarantee it.”
She studied his face and then exhaled and relaxed. “Okay.”
“Good girl.”
“What do you expect of me? Do I clean the house, dishes, and laundry? Because I can. I like keeping busy.”
He smiled gently at her. “No, Baby. We have servants for all that. Do you have a hobby?”
“I like horses, cooking, and crochet.”
He nodded. “We have horses because I also like to ride. Our cook, Maddie, would love to have your help from time to time, as well as your other hobby, crocheting. You’ll have to tell me what you need, or we can order it online.”
“That’s what I usually do.”
“Good.”
“Isn’t there more I’ll be doing than hobbies, Rafael?”
He cupped the back of her neck, sending a shiver down her spine at the possessive hold. “You will take care of me.”
She stared at him. “How? You said we have servants.”
He grinned. “You’ll serve me in the bedroom, Baby.”
A frown puckered her face in confusion. She didn’t understand. “If we have servants, what do I do?”
“You will take care of my sexual needs. All of them.”
She swallowed. What did that mean? She was afraid to ask because of the heated look on his face. “I … oh … I’m not sure what that entails.”
“I’ll show you as we go along. I don’t want you to worry.”
She knew she was horrible at hiding her feelings. She’d been the worst of the three, and her sisters always got mad because she was unable to lie convincingly, so they got caught a lot.
“I’ll try not to.”
“Good.”
“Can you tell me about yourself?” she asked. She hoped the more she learned about him would help to settle her nerves.
“I’m thirty-two. I grew up in South Boston, which is a rough part of the city. It was just my mom and me. My dad left when I was very young. I promised my mom I would make something of myself, so I studied hard and got a full scholarship to a university. I got through college in three years and started working for a brokerage company. After three years, I started my own. I made my first million at the age of twenty-five. The first thing I did was move my mom out of the neighborhood and set her up so she wouldn’t have to work again.”
“Will I get to meet her?”
“Eventually. Did you go to college?”
“My sisters and I have done classes online, but none of us have dreamed of having a career, so we didn’t go for a degree.”
“You had no dreams of growing up to be a doctor?’ he asked and smiled.
She grinned and shook her head. “No.”
“That’s good because I want my wife to give me her full attention. Will that be hard for you to do?”
She bit her bottom lip and shook her head. “No, I don’t think so.”
“Good. I think we’ll get along very well.”
She was praying he was right because she needed to know she was safe more than anything, other than her sisters being secure.
She jerked her head toward the door when she heard a knock.
“Shhh, it’s just our meal,” Rafael whispered. “Go into the bedroom, and we’ll come to get you. Be very quiet.”
She nodded and then walked with her sisters and closed the door softly behind them.