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Nerves
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2024-10-29 19:42:56Related chapters
A Marriage of Convenience What do we do now?
Chris stares at me for what feels like a lifetime before his eyes slowly move to James behind me, and then to Shawn on his right.The room fell so silent, you could hear a pin drop. I couldn’t even make out a single breath between the four of us.“Say something,” I whispered, “Please.”No one said anything. Not for another long pause before Chris audibly gulps, “Are you on drugs, baby sis?”“Seriously? That’s all you have to say?”Disappointment twists through my gut at his suggestion. Chris knows me. He knows that I’ve seen him at his lowest, and pulled him from the trenches more times than I can count. Hell, I carried a dose of Narcan in my car for an entire year out of fear for his life….“What else do you want me to say? I feel like that’s more of an acceptable question than ‘Do you need to be evaluated for a mental health crisis’. Fuck,” he mutters the curse under his breath.My fingertips curl into my palms as I move my gaze to Shawn, who is still sitting silently with an unread
A Marriage of Convenience Cult
“Can I see it?” Chris questioned as the four of us walked through the woods towards Blackstone’s pack lands.James wore a look of irritation. Since we all left the house, Chris has had about a million questions. Some have been genuinely curious, and some have been downright ridiculous.The man had the audacity to ask my husband if that was why his dick was so big….I’ve been wearing the secondhand embarrassment from that since the words left his mouth. Reaching up, I feel my cheeks are still heated and I’m not sure that’ll ever go away.“See what?” James sighed, running his fingers through his hair. The strands are sticking up in every direction, a clear sign of his nervousness and frustration.“Your werewolf. That crazy thing that almost murdered me today…” Chris stared at James as if his question was stupid.“No.”Chris turned towards me with narrowed eyes, before fluttering them into a dramatic roll.“You’re acting like a child,” I hissed.“Tell me you didn’t want to ask when you f
A Marriage of Convenience Redstone
“You brought the sacrifices?” Dante smirked at James, and if I hadn’t experienced who he was before now; I would be terrified. Dante was a large, burly looking man. His face held this permanent scowl when he wasn’t smiling.“What the fuck?” Chris squealed, his eyes bouncing between James and Dante in horror.“You’re a cruel man, you know?” James chuckled, walking up to Dante and clapping him on the back.“Rosalind, nice to see you again,” Dante winked before looking to both Shawn and Chris. Shawn’s face had remained impassive while Chris’ jaw hung loose from what appeared to be shock and confusion.I nodded at him with a knowing smile, and my cheeks heated when Chris’ head snapped towards me in confusion.“I’m assuming you trust these two?” Dante held James’ gaze for a moment, and a silent conversation passed between the two of them.“The water tested positive for extremely high levels of both Aconite and Fluoroacetate. Both of which are extremely toxic to wolves,” Dante explained.“So
A Marriage of Convenience Target
“Just Jeramiah Red,” Chris rolled his eyes. “The one and only CEO of Red Pharmaceutical. Father of the year to the outside world to his two, Golden children. Part of the top two percent. He’s a real fucking gem.”“No,” Dante shook his head, “I know that name. Jeramiah isn’t a common name. There is no way it’s a coincidence.”“Trust me when I tell you, my father may run a company, but he’s no Alpha wolf. He’s just a pompous asshole who thinks he’s better than everyone else because of his namesake,” Chris spoke through gritted teeth.His words made me frown. I’d always looked at my father like a God. He was kind, smart, and attentive. He would always smile when my mother never did. He treated me with respect when I chose to follow my own path, rather than suggesting I should be some rich trophy wife.But after our interaction about the Aconite pills, I’m not so sure how I feel. And then there is my issue with Marina. Why did my father have those photos locked away in his safe? A progres
A Marriage of Convenience Figure it out together
“Can we talk?” Chris crossed his arms over his chest once we arrived back at the house.His features were stuck in a permanent state of frustration that only grew worse the closer we got to the house. Chris was never one to remain silent. The man didn’t know how. Even when he was younger, he was like a tiny politician. He had an answer for everything. An explanation for the unexplainable.But right now, he was silent.“I’ll wait in the car,” Shawn nodded with a tight-lipped smile, and just as I was about to protest, Chris offered a thanks. James pressed a kiss to my temple before his lips brushed against the shell of my ear, “I’ll be in my office.”“Would you like a drink?”“The strongest shit you have,” he muttered, sliding open the patio doors and stepping out without another word. His shoulders slumped as he gave me his back before flopping backwards onto one of the loungers.I hesitated staring at the array of liquor we had before settling on just grabbing the entire bottle of sc
A Marriage of Convenience A promise
“What do you want to do?” James whispered, peppering my shoulder with soft kisses.My lips pulled into a frown, “I haven’t thought that far ahead. I think today shockingly turned my brain into mush. I don’t even know how I’m going to go back to work tomorrow.”“Take the day off.” James’ voice soothed my soul as his fingertips applied just enough pressure to my aching muscles. “In three years, the only time I’ve seen you take off is when you were attacked by a shark and Dr. Orth refused to allow you to come in.”His fingers moved to my shoulders, and a groan bubbled from my chest, “But I love my job. I don’t think taking off for miniscule things is very Rosalind Red of me.”James chuckled, “Might I remind you that finding out your family are werewolves isn’t just a ‘miniscule’ thing?” There was a playfulness to his tone that instantly made me relax. That and the fact that his hands were magical.“You and Onyx really surprised me today.”I’ve seen James get jealous. I’ve heard Onyx spea
A Marriage of Convenience Detail(James POV)
“I need a favor.”My office was quickly cleaned and put back together with new furniture and décor.Throwing my expensive leather dress shoes atop my new desk, I impatiently wait for Dante to respond. After what feels like a lifetime, I hear him sigh on the other end of the receiver, “Why is it that every time you say that, I feel a new wrinkle forming?”I groan in frustration, “Are you going to do it or not?”“Depends,” he chirps, pausing again just to piss me off. Unfortunately, Dante being my uncle makes him think that he can also be a pain in my ass. “Is this going to hurt your beautiful wife?”“This is for my beautiful wife,” I speak through gritted teeth. I want to be irritated with Dante for questioning me, but the fact that he’s willing to put Rosalind first warms my heart.‘He’s a good man. Very smart,’ Onyx mutters in my head, making me roll my eyes.“Start talking,” he mutters.“I need you to run detail on Marina for a few days. She’s gone silent, and Rosalind confessed to
A Marriage of Convenience Disguise(James POV)
I’ve never been inside of a Walmart before today. The place has far too many people moving around for my liking, and it smells like old fish.‘You’ve gone soft in your time parading around as a human,’ Onyx snarls, making me roll my eyes. He doesn’t understand the difference between a high-class supermarket versus this place. When you walk into my favorite family-run market, the smell of artisan coffee swirls around you. Baked goods linger in the air, and kind, familiar faces recognize you.Here, it’s like a swarm of bodies bustling through, tossing whatever junk they can into their cart to get out of here before the stench of old fish clings to their clothing.I need to make myself look like everyone else so that I can blend in. My face and style are far too recognizable and if I want to attempt to do what Dante does, I need to make sure that I look the part.The clothes section here has a surprising number of options, and I quickly grab a plain black t-shirt, black sweats, and a bla
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A Marriage of Convenience Guilt
“I’ve increased security and will be checking in hourly. Are you sure you’re going to be okay?” James held my annoyed stare, knowing that nothing was getting in or out of these walls without him knowing.He held up his hands in mock surrender, “Fine. FINE. I get it,” he stepped towards me, his large frame crowding my space. My butt hit the counter and my crutches fell to the ground. James lifted me with ease and placing me atop the cool, granite countertop. A shiver rolled through my body as the chill seeped into my skin, “I’m allowed to worry about you, you know?”“Worry all you want, but don’t stop letting me live. Please. I’ll be fine and I trust that all of the additional security measures you’ve put in place will keep me extra safe,” I pecked his lips, attempting to pull away quickly, but he grabbed my face, crashing our lips together in a searing kiss.James held me there until we were both breathless, and my chest ached from the lack of oxygen.“The office can wait,” he growled
A Marriage of Convenience The Perfect Mate
James assisted me into a house, where the smell of bleach assaulted me the moment I walked through the threshold. A crew of cleaners froze as we walked inside, but a single look from James had them scurrying back to their jobs.The glass had been removed and the blood no longer stained the white porcelain. A new pane of glass shimmered beneath the midday sun, and I found myself frozen as I stared at the picture-perfect home.“It feels weird to see looking how it was before,” I whispered, still feeling the fear of that night swim through my veins. The large floor to ceiling window overlooked the forest in the backyard, and I silently wondered if that fear would multiply once the sun went down and the shadows of the night came out to play.James pressed his lips to my temple, “I replaced the glass from before with something graded to be bullet proof. Nothing will get through those windows again.”A shiver rolled down my spine. Either James replaced the window with bulletproof glass to m
A Marriage of Convenience Something is off
I was finally cleared to go home from the hospital, but I’m not quite sure how to feel about it. On one hand, I missed my bed and the comfort of my own home. On the other, I didn’t know how to feel about being there after the attack.Not to mention my mind has been running in circles since Marina showed up here yesterday.James came shortly after she left, but something seemed off, and I wanted to dissect everything that Marina had said before confronting James about it. But even more confusing was the fact that she’d specifically said a wolf bite, when she shouldn’t have known that small fact.She couldn’t have known that unless she orchestrated it or James had told her about it, but I was leaning towards her orchestrating the attack.“How’s Ahmed?” I glanced up at James as he wheeled me out to the awaiting car.“He’s awake and recovering. I’ve placed him on paid leave and instructed his wife to come to me if they need anything at all,” James’ voice held an edge to it, but I didn’t c
A Marriage of Convenience Cops(James POV)
The inside of the house looked like a massacre. Tiny shards of glass decorated the floor like snow. Some of the larger bits were painted with a deep, blackish crimson from the dried blood, and the smell was nauseating.‘These were definitely rogues,’ Onyx spat through gritted teeth, his anger blending with mine the more we assessed the scene.Through it all, I could smell Rosalind’s blood, and the thought of them hurting her while I was off chasing some ignorant lead on Marina made my blood boil with anger. But the anger was directed at myself.I should have been here. I should have been the one to protect her, and Ahmed did his best, but one man against multiple wolves just didn’t succeed.Rainwater had flooded most of the evidence, causing it to spread before drying. The cops wouldn’t be able to pull anything from this mess. Not anything concrete anyways.I’d learned the hard way how easily evidence can be destroyed. If you’re not on the scene within a tiny window of time, your succ
A Marriage of Convenience Our. Home
“Rosalind,” Chris shouted, shouldering through a group of nurses who were conveniently gossiping about James. They still couldn’t believe he was married to a woman like me. Sure, I was a doctor, but that wasn’t anything special when the most eligible, billionaire bachelor in Georgia was in the running. He was like a God around here. And me? Well, I was simply an average looking woman who also happened to be a doctor. My status as a Red didn’t mean a damn thing, because I wasn’t a hot man who also happened to have enough money to buy the entire United States and not blink an eye. “What the fuck?” Chris muttered; eyes wide as he stared at my elevated leg. Blood had seeped through the bandages because they couldn’t seal the wound and for someone who doesn’t see this kind of thing on a regular basis, it was pretty disgusting. “Close the curtain,” I whispered, and he did quickly, rushing back to my side.“Was that,” he pointed at my injury, “From one of them.”“We are one of them,” I n
A Marriage of Convenience Cross me(James POV)
Pure, unfiltered rage didn’t even begin to describe the poisonous feeling flooding through my veins. The anger feels like a living, breathing thing.Like a Goddamned snake slithering its way beneath my skin, releasing toxic poison in the form of fury that bleeds into every square inch of my body.I want the heads of every single person who stepped foot on my property last night. I don’t give a shit who they were or what they were doing there. If they accidentally stumbled upon the forest at the back of the property…. I’m going to find them and make them pay.Since my driver is now fighting for his life in the hospital with Rosalind, I’m forced to call and wait for a driving service to offer me a temp replacement for Ahmed.A few painstaking minutes pass while I pace a hole in the cement out front of the hospital, sweating from the sweltering, humid Georgia heat before the damn driver finally shows up.‘He is clearly incompetent,’ Onyx spats in my head, ‘Ahmed would never keep us waiti
A Marriage of Convenience No one in or out
“Rosa,” James’ voice filters through the darkness, “Rosalind, baby.”My body shakes softly on my shoulders and my eyelids flutter. The lashes on my left eye are stuck to my face, and after a few attempts, they tear free.Bright lights above my head blind me as I blink away my disorientation.The sound of multiple different voices has my eyes panning around the room. EMS workers move quickly, rushing inside the small space and focusing their attention on Ahmed. I recognize a few of the faces rushing around me, but a relieved sigh falls from my lips as I finally focus on James.“What’s going on?”My voice sounds foreign and gravelly.“Are you injured?” James rushes out, coming back to my side and ignoring the emergency personnel shouting at him to back up.“My…” I start, trying to move the leg that had gotten bit, but it felt numb and stiff, “My leg and my ribs.”“What happened here?” The gold flecks in James’ eyes glitter beneath the harsh lights of the elevator, and his eyes soften as
A Marriage of Convenience Creatures
A loud noise jars me awake and my eyes struggle to focus in my disoriented state. The sky is nearly black and rain pelts against the floor to ceiling windows at the rear of the house.The television remains on, but the show I’d been watching has long ended. Glancing at my phone, I blink away the sleepiness seeing that somehow, I’d managed to nap for the last five hours.Another loud crack startles me as the sky lights up with a flash of lightning. A few seconds later, the power goes out, causing complete darkness to blanket me. The storm raging outside is the only sound I hear, and I quickly grab my phone, illuminating the flashlight as I walk towards the rear windows.The backyard leading into the forest looks eerie blanketed in complete darkness. The hairs on the back of my neck stand up, and the feeling of being watched envelopes me as I squint my eyes, trying to see anything through the heavy sheets of rain.Another flash of lightning illuminates the sky, and I swear I saw someth
A Marriage of Convenience Liar
James left early this morning for work and forbade me from going into the hospital. I called in with a family emergency, and there was no questioning. They knew if I was taking off, it was necessary, even though it didn't feel that way. Chris remained passed out on the back patio, and I’m not sure if I should force him awake or let him sleep off the shockwave that was yesterday. I still don't even know if I've managed to brush off the reality that I've been a werewolf my entire life and everyone I loved kept it from me..... and I've had weeks to process it.My phone buzzing against the countertop startles me, and I glance over to see that my father is calling.Begrudgingly, I grab the phone, hesitating as my finger hovers over the small green button. I’ve been avoiding talking to either of them. Since my meeting with my father and my mother’s explosion over the scathing interview I did with Mr. Arden; I’m not sure they even consider me a member of the Red family.“Hey dad,” I finally
