Chapter 31
Gemma
$17 min let
I lower my hand and sign my name with a flourish.
I know I’m letting go of an insane amount of wealth by not fighting Cassian for more.
But in that right–hand column I see Seaside Manor and my
mother’s care, and I know it’s everything I’ll ever need. Even if I suddenly lose all of my hacking abilities, even if I die, my mom will
be cared for.
I can cover the rest myself.
Toward the bottom of the contract, I notice that it has a clause that says the contract is mutually binding for both parties.
Everything I agreed to, he did as well. Appearing together in public if asked, not letting his grandfather find out about the impending divorce, not embarrassing each other.
If he breaks any part of the contract, I’ll be compensated for damages.
It’s a fairer agreement than I would have given my criminal husband credit for.
13:38
I stand, because I have no intention to stay the night here.
Cassian and I agree to meet on Monday still to file the papers with a judge, and I head for the door.
Just as I reach for the doorknob, the doorbell rings.
Since I’m standing there, I open it. It’s been a busy day, but it’s
honestly not that late, so it could be anyone.
I shouldn’t be surprised to see Reyna.
She’s standing on his stoop, looking elegant in a flowing white
dress.
“Gemma!” she says. Her eyes narrow, but then I hear Cassian coming up behind me, and Reyna pastes a smile on her face.
“Cassian and I are going to the banquet together! You should come with us.”
I scoff just as Cassian reaches the door and looks out at Reyna.
I just signed a contract to act like his wife, but for what? He’s already got Reyna to go everywhere public with him.
“You really are just like your mother,” I say to her.
13.98
I’m livid again. Cassian had the nerve to call me out for walking down the street next to a man, and here’s Reyna, ready to attend a banquet as his date?!
At my words, Reyna’s eyes flash. She knows exactly what I mean when I say she’s like her mother. I mean she’s a fucking homewrecker.
Cassian looks sharply between the two of us, then, maybe realizing his own hypocrisy, says stiffly, “It’s for some of the upper
level underworld families. I’m taking Reyna because she knows
the people who will be there.”
“Of course,” I say, my voice completely flat. “She knows them because she’s the one who always went to these things with my father, too.”
Old pain wells up inside me as I flash back to a similar night when I was sixteen. My father was supposed to attend one of these dinners and bring his daughter.
The families like the younger generations to mingle so they can form strong bonds. My mom had my hair and makeup done, she even got me a dress.
When I walked down the stairs Reyna was already standing with Dad. She’d even been wearing a white dress.
13.38
That night, I didn’t go to the banquet of powerful underworld families. Just like I’m not going tonight.
Cassian didn’t even try to ask me.
“Have a good time tonight,” I say to Cassian. “I’ll see you on Monday.”
I walk away without another look back.
*****
16 min left
I don’t even have time to set down my bag in Zina’s apartment before she bounces up to me.
“Get ready! There’s a party tonight!”
I groan. “Zina, I’m not sure if I’m in a partying mood.”
“Cassian still sucks, huh?”
“Yeah,” I say. “But we reached an agreement…of a sort.”
I don’t have the energy to fill her in on the details tonight. She’ll get mad and tell me what I should have said and done, none of which would actually work on Cassian.
Then I’ll have to defend my actions, and we’ll dissect the whole
13:38
Chapter 31
experience, and I just don’t want to.
16 min leff
“Aw, come on,” Zina wheedles. “I had a ton of fun running by a store on the way home and getting you and me the hottest dresses! It’s going to be a great networking opportunity! Besides, it should be right up your alley.”
“What does that mean?” I ask, toeing off my shoes.
I’m not thinking of a party. I’m thinking of a bath and a dinner made entirely of snacks and a few mindless hours of TV before
bed.
“It means,” Zina says, “That you might know some of the people there.”
I pause, dreams of a bath disappearing, and turn slowly to Zina.
“Zina, tell me extremely clearly: whose party is this and what kinds of people will be there?”
She throws me her most dazzling grin. “It’s a banquet for all the top families in the supernatural underworld!”
A slow, wicked grin spreads across my face.
It looks like I’m going to the banquet, after all.
13:38
Divorcing My Alpha King.
** 16 min left
Chapter 32
