7. Keris
K eris~
Three days hadn’t been nearly enough to come up with a health care plan for Lindsey.
I had even toyed with asking Faron to give her a job, so that she could collect health insurance through Impressions, but I had quickly nixed that idea when I realized how unfair it’d be of me to ask Faron to foot the bill for something that wasn’t his problem.
So, after hours and hours of talking to different health care providers, medical program directors, etc.
, I hadn’t come up with anything that would keep Lindsey receiving the quality care that she was getting.
If I’d had more time, then maybe I could have found some sort of solution, but I hadn’t been granted any extra time.
However, I had received a text from my father yesterday to remind me of what was at stake if I didn’t show up at the Kingston home this morning.
When I’d gotten here, I’d been ushered in by my parents, quickly escorting me to one of the sitting rooms that made up the incredible residence.
I had walked into see Darius and Lorna Kingston standing near an alcove that led to a library of some sort, and Brantley Kingston had been standing next to a man that I presumed was the minister.
No one else was in attendance, but then why would they be?
The biggest problem about my marriage to Brantley Kingston was that he was absolutely hotter than the sun.
Standing well over six-foot, he had black hair, blue eyes, long lashes, a classically masculine face, broad shoulders, a tapered waist, and strong legs.
He was dressed in a suit, but I’d bet my next paycheck that the man had a six-pack underneath the expensive fabric.
Brantley Kingston looked like the type of man that could hold you up as he fucked you in a moving elevator, and you’d let him.
I walked over to introduce myself, but as soon as I was within a couple of feet of him, he turned towards the minister, then said, “You can start now.”
Not sure of what to do, I pasted on a fake smile for the minister’s sake, then turned and faced him. Brantley was standing next to me with his hands in the pockets of his slacks, and nervousness had me clasping my hands in front of me.
When the minister got to the part about the rings, Brantley’s mother presented a small, delicate, satin pillow with two ring boxes sitting atop.
I watched Brantley grab the box with his ring in it, and instead of allowing me to slide the ring on his finger, he put it on himself.
When he made no move to put the other ring on my finger, I quickly repeated his actions, humiliation coloring my face.
What a fucking asshole.
As the minister kept talking, I kept having to remind myself that this wasn’t a real wedding. This wasn’t a marriage forged from love and respect. This was a business transaction, and it was hard to keep the contents of my stomach from coming up the further along that the minister got.
Things only became more awkward when the minister pronounced us as husband and wife, and when he gave Brantley permission to kiss his bride, ignoring me, Brantley stuck his arm out to shake the minister’s hand. “Thank you. We appreciate your time,” he said.
I stood there like a fool as Brantley walked off, heading towards...well, I had no idea. However, my humiliation was complete when the minister touched my shoulder, pity in his kind brown eyes.
Desperate to salvage some pride, I said, “Thank you for performing the ceremony. You did a lovely job.”
He smiled at me as he produced a card from behind the Bible pages. When he handed it to me, he said, “If you ever need someone to talk to, you can reach me anytime.”
I could feel the sting of embarrassment on my cheeks, but I still did my best not to take it out on this nice man. “Thank you. I appreciate the gesture.”
“Of course,” he replied softly.
When I turned away from the minister, I saw everyone looking at me with that same pity, and that just pissed me off.
Though Brantley and his father were missing, the others were looking at me like I was the one making the mistake here.
They were looking at me as if I’d been the one responsible for finding myself in this mess, and I could feel myself getting angrier and angrier.
Brantley was acting as if I was the reason that we were here, and I wasn’t.
Hell, my reason was the only noble reason for being here.
I was here for my sister. What was he here for?
More riches? More money? More power? It sure in the hell wasn’t because he had a sick sister or brother that needed his help.
If he had the kind of money to bail my parents out, then he definitely didn’t need anything from anyone.
He was here because of greed, plain and simple.
“Now, Keris-”
Ignoring my father, I stormed past my parents in search of my new husband. He could feel resentful all he wanted, but he was not going to treat me like crap. This might be a business transaction, but even business associates showed each other a quorum of respect.
Never having been in this house before, I had no idea where I was going, but it wasn’t long before the sound of raised voices met my ears. There was no mistaking the heated argument going on near another sitting room.
“I don’t give a fuck,” came Brantley’s voice.
“That was completely unacceptable,” Darius bit out. “And unnecessary.”
“Look, you said that all I had to do was marry her,” Brantley snapped. “I did that, okay? I married her. You never said shit about respecting her, spending time with her, living with her, or anything else.”
“Brant-”
“No!” he yelled. “I did what you asked, and she got what she fucking wanted. She’s bought and paid for just like you guys agreed to.”
Bought and paid for?
“She’s your wife, Brantley-”
“No, she’s not,” Brantley argued. “She’s just a stranger that I married to better the family legacy. She is not my wife.”
I wasn’t exactly sure why his words hurt, especially when he was right, but it was clear that my hope for a respectful relationship was not going to be possible.
It was clear that we were going to be married on paper only, and I could only imagine what that was going to do for appearances.
With a sperm bank looking more like a possibility now more than ever, if I didn’t get a black hair, blue-eyed specimen, people were definitely going to talk.
“Be reasonable-”
“Oh, I think I’m being more than reasonable,” Brantley spat. “Considering what I’m giving up in order to give this family what it wants, I think I’m being extremely reasonable right now.”
“Your marriage will be a matter of public record, Brantley,” Darius reminded him. “People will be expecting you guys to make appearances-”
“Well, they’re not going to get them. So, if I were you, I’d keep this disaster as quiet as possible. Especially, since I have no plans to give up the pussy that I actually do want.”
That was enough for me.
No matter the reason, rejection wasn’t anything that anyone enjoyed feeling.
Though Brantley had refused to meet me before this morning, I’d had every intention of having a serious talk with him after the ceremony.
My hope had been to make this marriage work for us in a way that would suit us both, instead of what our parents had concocted it to be, but hope was fucking stupid.
Stepping away from their heated argument, I maneuvered my way back towards the sitting room where the ceremony had taken place.
Finding it empty, I kept walking until I found myself back near the foyer of the front door.
I could hear my parents talking to Mrs. Kingston, but I had no idea if the minister was with them or if he’d already fled, saving himself.
I headed for the front door, but then I saw a very delicate piece of ceramic that decorated one of the shelves on the east side of the foyer walls.
It was an intriguing piece, a bowl of sorts, but then not.
The hues were gorgeously blended together, and it looked like something that I might have decorating my office at Impressions.
Not looking to be any more humiliated than I’d already been in front of the minister, I slid the gorgeous five-carat diamond wedding set off my finger, then placed it in the ceramic bowl.
The rings were obviously high-quality when the weight of the rings clinked around in the bowl.
The weight was now noticeably absent from my finger, and come hell or high water, I was going to match Brantley’s energy and pretend like this morning never happened.
As I quietly walked out of the Kingston home, I thought about Huntley and Dylan. If anyone could help me navigate through a loveless marriage, it was them two. They were definitely going to be able to help me through the pitfalls of this disaster, and I couldn’t be more grateful.
I drove off from the property, not even telling my parents that I’d left, and halfway home, I thought about all the things that I’d overheard.
He still planned on sleeping with other women, and it made me wonder about my own fidelity.
It looked like my marriage was going to be just like everyone else’s in this fucked-up city, and I just needed to remind myself that Lindsey was worth it.