Chapter 5
Emily woke up feeling like a mess. Her hand swept through her hair as she sat up in bed, disoriented.
Getting up, she made her way to the en-suite bathroom. Her eyes caught her reflection in the mirror as the lights were flickered on. Her makeup removal had been sloppy with the fake eyelashes etched onto her upper lid.
She groaned. Usually, she never passed her one glass limit of drinking in public, but after the week she’d had it was understandable.
As she brushed her teeth, she couldn’t help but revisit a few things from last night.
Restaurant. Champagne. Nicolas Re’s jawline.
She wondered what would’ve happened after he’d run that background check on her. For certain, there was nothing for him to “bury.” Most of her lowest points have sadly been publicized. That meant a marriage could have taken place between them.
After she was done taking a shower and getting dressed, she heard her phone ping from its spot on the bed.
One new message.
She looked at it quizzically.
It was from an unknown number. Because of that, her gut tightened and her palms became clammy.
The ping echoed once again, louder than before. It hit like a church bell striking inside her skull. Her fingers twitched but they were unable to bring themselves to unlock the device.
Her breaths shortened. The room felt smaller, the air thinner. Her hands suddenly grappled at the front of her shirt as if they had a mind of their own.
Flashbacks of a stalker. Nights of being followed home, anonymous texts, bloody love notes, and a jail sentence. Her throat closed remembering them all.
She was back there again.
You are not the product of your past. You are stronger than it. Don’t give him the satisfaction of getting what he wanted.
Her therapist’s mantra floated around in her head. She tried to cling to it.
“At least now you won’t forget me.” His voice sliced through the grounding moment.
She froze.
The image of him attacked her. He’d been smiling as the cops dragged him out of her apartment, past the shattered lock and the blood-smeared floor, the aftermath of her swinging a lamp to his head with everything she had.
“He came prepared,” the officer had told her. “Duct tape and cords were stuffed in his pockets. It wasn’t about robbing you. He was hell-bent on making a memory out of you instead. Consider yourself lucky.”
Her hands snatched the phone, her heart pounding.
Forget him. Forget him. Forget him!
She unlocked it and read the message.
It wasn’t him.
Her entire form slackened.
It was someone else she never expected.
Unknown:
Just confirming. Does your offer still stand, or was that the champagne problems talking?
It was Nicolas.
Hold on.
What did he mean? Was he actually…asking her to marry him?
Did you forget that you asked him? her subconscious corrected.
How did he even get her phone number?
Before she could think of anything else, the phone rang. It was him. He was calling! Emily looked at it like it had grown two heads.
She stared and stared…until it stopped ringing.
Another message popped up on the screen.
Unknown:
Ignoring my calls, darling? Or are you still hungover?
Then another.
Unknown:
Either way, you have less than four hours to make your decision of whether you still need a husband. I have a flight back to New York at five p.m. sharp.
Her heart stopped beating for a concerning length of time before it started up again, thudding faster.
It really was him. Nicolas…who was crazy enough to consider moving forward with her marriage proposition.
Sure, Emily had been a bit tipsy. Or still sobering up. That had been a catalyst as to why she went about things the way she did. Regardless, she meant every word she said.
Emily wanted Nicolas to marry her. No, she needed him to.
Her fingers were typing out the words before she could second-guess herself.
Emily:
Where should we meet?
Emily had done the most unthinkable of actions.
She. Had. Gotten. Married.
Married to a man she barely even knew! Well, at least not personally.
This fact should have terrified her. Sealed the deal that she’d lost it after Jake’s infidelity. But she couldn’t help but be content with what had happened. The battlefield needed to be prepped. Nicolas was her dark horse in this war of revenge. And she simply had to win it.
The man was considered a “green file” according to the emergency background check Emily ran on him as soon as they got off the phone. Though, she knew someone like him could bury whatever he wanted given the amount of wealth he had. Despite all this, she didn’t care.
The dark horse she spoke of had barely spared her a glance since they’d left the courthouse. Neither did he stop his extensive footsteps. She cursed beneath her breath. Was he showing off how long his legs were? Her brain evilly hoped for him to miss a step and tumble to the ground.
As if he heard her wicked thoughts, Nicolas halted abruptly. Emily bumped into his lower back.
Is he made of brick?
He tilted his head down at her. She could see it in those whiskey-colored eyes of his that he still had his guard up.
Ditto, buddy.
“Get in the car, please.”
After getting into the black Rolls-Royce, she looked at him preemptively.
“I know you still don’t trust me,” she started after a beat of silence. “I get it because I don’t fully trust you either.”
Nicolas’s neck could’ve broken with how quickly he faced her. The lines at the center of his forehead folded inward, forming a crease. Oddly enough, Emily’s fingers twitched to even them out.
“I want to say thank you though. For…you know…agreeing to marry me.” She watched said lines fade like ripples smoothing out across sand. “If you need anything from me in return, let me know. I’ll try my best to meet your demands, provided they are within reasonable bounds.”
His lips curled. She couldn’t help but shift in her seat.
Emily wished she could hide how affected she was, but her face burned bright. Her uncontrollable tendency to blush was always a dead giveaway.
His eyes flicked to her dusted cheeks then to her gaze. “You’re telling me…to ask you for favors?”
He said it as though it was the most ridiculous thing.
“Yes,” she affirmed. “Considering the entire reason you got married is to appear as a businessman who values commitment. If you need me to do anything to confirm our status, I will. That is a sub-clause in the contract we signed.”
Did he not read all of it?
“I’ll keep that in mind.” His tone didn’t match the words. “Do you have anything else to say other than offering me favors?”
She looked at him, confused.
What more is he expecting from me?
Her heart lurched in her throat as he slid closer, the expensive scent of him filling her nostrils.
God, I need him to stop smelling so good.
“Nothing with regards to…intimacy?” he murmured, trailing a finger along her arm, goose bumps rising in its wake.
This was the first time he’d touched her. And as quickly as he did, his finger was gone, but it had been enough to cause her body to run hot.
There was a dare in his eyes. Nicolas obviously knew he was toeing the edge of something dangerous, but he pushed for it anyway.
She couldn’t react properly. “Um…”
Red alerts went off in her mind. Intimacy was something that had been an oversight on her part in the clauses. He must have noticed it and said nothing.
Sly bastard.
“Since we’re married, people will expect us to act like we’re in love, you know? What’s your limit? Hand-holding? Kissing? Further?”
Emily couldn’t deny that there was a certain closeness people might expect from a husband and wife, but this was all fake. She couldn’t accept the possibility of anything happening between them.
Her anxious thoughts caused a shutdown. It rarely happened, but when it did, it was a full system overload. She couldn’t have stopped it even if she’d tried, and she was certain there was that look on her face again. That gone one.
A finger snapped in front of her. “Hello?”
She blinked, a deep frown forming. “Snapping your fingers is rude you know.”
“So is zoning out in the middle of a conversation.”
Touché.
“And as promised, I’ll give you some time to address the current issues you’re facing with your ex-fiancé.”
Before signing those papers, she’d been honest when he asked again about her past relationship…
minus the cheating part. He didn’t need to know about that.
And when she’d added, “I know I mentioned my influence before, but do you mind if it’s delayed influence?
” his brows had lifted, something she’d started noticing he did often.
“I have something to get done within a few months before then. It involves Jake, and you’ll understand when the time comes. ”
I can’t be publicly married to you and be dating Jake at the same time.
“And what’s this ‘thing’ you have to do?” he’d asked.
“It’s nothing that affects your end of this deal,” she’d promised. “You’ll know when you need to.”
And for some reason, while looking into her eyes, he’d simply nodded. As if he was spellbound. As though he couldn’t help himself, couldn’t back out. But he could have. He could have found someone else that would announce their marriage to the world the next day instead of her.
He hadn’t.
“Five months,” Nicolas stipulated. “By February—my thirtieth. I’ll announce it publicly then. I’m not giving you more time than that.”
Emily had no objections. She didn’t need more time than that.
The contract for this marriage was set for one year.
Five months under the radar was perfectly manageable.
After the next seven months they would’ve been together publicly and long enough to justify a divorce.
People in their world got stuff like that done after one night of fun, so it wouldn’t be that scandalous.
As long as they both achieved their goals, the timeline worked.
Nicolas had offered the option of a renewal if both parties were satisfied with each other’s “services,” but Emily doubted she’d ever consider such a thing.
He’d just have to get himself a new wife.
The tiniest sting came after that thought.
“You’ll also have to temporarily move in with me as written in the contract.”
She’d read as much.
“As much as it may come off as forward to you, I don’t like having what’s mine, contract or not, left unprotected. I have many people who would revel in stepping on my feet or doing even worse. Unfortunately, this now extends to you.”
As an actress, of course Emily knew the negatives of being high-profile. It must have been worse for a business tycoon like Nicolas. He probably had more people lining up to drag him down than she did. Now he was saying they were in the same boat.
He must have read the look on her face.
“What I’m trying to say is I’ll have to know your whereabouts at all times. I’ll give you a week to pack all your belongings and move into my place. My personal assistant will be in touch with you. He’ll help you with the move.”
Emily looked through the interior mirror at said assistant, David, whom she’d met earlier. He was about the same age as Nicolas’s lawyer, John, but fitter. Nicolas must trust him a lot to speak so openly around him.
Speaking of Nicolas, she hadn’t expected concern from him, not after he’d gotten her signature on the dotted line. His demand was…reasonable. Thoughtful, even. He was trying to ensure her safety, a luxury she’d learned not to take for granted given her past.
But being under one roof with a man like him…was that safe?
Knowing she’d have to take the necessary precautions, Emily agreed for now. “Got it.”
“Good,” was all Nicolas responded.
This time, when his hand reached out to her, it was slow. He gave her space to react, unlike the earlier touch. “Have we got ourselves a deal?”
Was a handshake necessary? They’d already signed on this. But there was something different about his eyes now, a hint of understanding.
Her hand lifted, apprehensive at first, then steady as it met his, which dwarfed hers in comparison.
“Deal.”