Chapter 30
Gemma
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“What?! Damn it, Cassian! I should have known you’d pull something like this!”
I throw the papers back down on the table.
Cassian gets up and moves around the coffee table faster than
I can blink. He grabs my wrist and snarls, “And I should have known you wouldn’t waste time finding another man. Who is he, Gemma? Which pack?”
I gape at him. “What are you talking about?”
“I saw you,” he says, his body so close that I can feel the heat of him. “Just half an hour ago. You were out with some other wolf.”
My head whirls as I realize he must have seen me walking to dinner with Zina and Jace. I shake my head and automatically open my mouth to explain.
Then I realize something. Anger floods me and I jerk my wrist from his grasp, even though the movement bruises.
“You’ve got no room to talk,” I snarl right back at him. “We’ve been married for three years, and no one knows. Why doesn’t anyone
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know, Cassian? Is it so that when you go out in public with Reyna, people won’t know you’re cheating on me?”
I grit my teeth and continue, “Is it because when your grandfather dies, you send me packing and marry Reyna, instead?”
“I am not sleeping with Reyna!” he roars.
I stumble back and tremble at his outburst. He’s so angry and so powerful that everything in me is screaming to go and hide, but I
don’t.
I also don’t know how to take what he just said, since the other day he practically admitted to it.
But…could I be wrong about him having an affair with Reyna?
If I am wrong, does it change, anything?
No. It doesn’t. It can’t. Because when it comes down to it, it’s not about whether or not he’s with Reyna yet.
He still trusts her more than he trusts me.
And he still doesn’t love me.
I take an unsteady breath and say, “I will not stay married to you for another year. Not like this. Not even for Seaside Manor.”
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Pure shock crosses Cassian’s face and he steps back and sinks onto the couch. He moves slowly, like he suddenly realized how threatening he is and doesn’t want to frighten me with any sudden
movements.
He takes a breath and says, “You’re right. It won’t be like it has
been.”
When I’m silent still, he says in a calm voice, “Stay married to me for a year. Seaside Manor will be yours, free and clear. In that time, all you have to do is act like my wife when I want you to. Make sure no one suspects anything, especially my grandfather.”
“Why?” I demand.
Cassian leans back on the couch and folds his arms. It’s his bored mafia boss stance. I haven’t seen it many tir, but I still recognize it.
“Why?” I ask again, and this time my voice shakes. “I don’t
understand what you want from me. You are you. Everyone in the city either works for you or finds you terrifying. What do you want with me?”
He lets out a slow breath through his nose. “It doesn’t matter why I want this. All that matters is the deal. Are you going to take it or not?
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Clapter JU
I stare at him. A year isn’t what I want. Not at all.
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But Cassian’s jaw is set, and his eyes are clear and cold. I’ve been
married to him long enough to recognize that look.
His mind is made up. It’s this, or an uphill battle in court while he throws every expensive lawyer he has at me, and I run up debt I’ll never be able to pay off.
If I do it this way, I’ll get out free and clear, and I’ll do it without having to fight for my mother’s childhood home.
I look at the papers on the table. There’s a pen next to them. I pick it up and hold it for a long time, turning my options over in my
mind.
Except there aren’t any other options. I can lose it all, or I can put up with the arrogant, maddening Alpha mafia boss for one more year and get the only thing I really need.
Except for one more thing.
“My mother’s hospital bills,” I say. “She’s in your hospital. I want you to promise me she has a place there forever, no matter what. Promise you’ll take care of her, and I’ll sign.”
Cassian holds out his hand for the pen. As I watch, he hand writes
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into the column on my side, “All expenses paid for Lisette Marino’s
medical care at Hope Moon Hospital.”
Then he hands the pen to me again.
I kneel down by the coffee table, and my hand hovers over the
papers.
In one year, I can have everything I want. I can be free.
All I have to do is sign my name.
B
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