All Chapters of The Marriage Game: love in a lie.: Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

Amara All that was ringing in my head was—James liked me. He wouldn’t have gone through the pain of talking about his past if he didn’t. And while I’ve known him to be this strong, untouchable person, he finally let himself be vulnerable with me. James McKenna wasn’t at all the monstrous businessman that everyone thought he was. Behind that hard exterior was a broken child whose family had failed him. It made more sense now why he didn’t believe in love or raising a family. It was all because he secretly feared that he would end up like his parents.I wish I could make him see himself through my eyes. To know how wonderful and caring he was, any woman would be lucky to have him by her side. I’ve seen the way he cared for Cayden’s younger brother, he no doubt would be very good with kids.But there wasn’t much I could do for him. A man can only be helped if he agrees to let someone in. He’d wanted me to understand why we couldn’t be together, and I respect that. I wasn’t going to use

JamesI didn’t return to the house that day. It wasn’t a conscious decision on my part, there really was something to fix at work. But I held onto it and it became my excuse for not going back home.If I was holed up here a little longer, I wouldn’t need to deal with the aftermath of my chaotic night confession. I hadn’t told her the entire truth, just enough for her to know who she was dealing with.I didn’t like to dwell on the past or the trauma my parents had caused. If anything I’d sealed the memory in the deepest part of my mind. Because letting it control my life meant that my parents still had a hold on me even in the afterlife. I was way too stubborn to let that happen.But I’d left her a note to let her know that I was coming back home, to have another conversation about everything I told her. I didn’t think I was ready, the whole point of telling her about my past was for her to know I was an imperfect man under all this disguise and realize that I really was not good for h

JamesDeath wasn’t something new in my life, in fact, I knew it very well and at a very young age. And what that does to a man like me is make you unflinching even in the face of blood. I wasn’t worried that the nuzzle might be facing me when I pulled the trigger, all I prayed for was that Amara had run out of the room and made it to safety. Moreover, I didn’t want her to see me like this. She was sobbing and shaking me when I came. The noise in my head was quieting down and I could finally hear what she was saying.“James, please come back to me. You can't die like this.”My beautiful girl was sad over me but I didn’t want to be the reason for her tears. It wasn’t worth it. I lifted my hand to her cheek. “Don’t cry.”“I thought you got shot, I don’t think I’d ever be able to forgive myself if you died because of me. You should’ve left when I told you to, Vincent is crazy.”I pulled her into my chest. “I thought I lost you. I searched everywhere for you, I want your apartment, your

AmaraThe air was much clearer when we land in New York. Being miles away from where Vincent was made me feel lighter, like the hand he’d wrapped around my neck was broken loose.James held me through as we made our way to his house. He opened the roof of the car and let the cool evening air welcome us home. It was easy to pretend that everything was okay as we sped past the tall buildings.Here, in the noisy streets, it was easy to drown out my thoughts and instead let myself drown in the small hum of the huge city. Unlike London, it was far from gloomy here, it was easy to get immersed into the life of others.We pulled into the house and we got down. I looked at the security house only to see a man I didn’t recognize. “What of Michael?”James brought out our bags from the trunk. “He’s still in the hospital, but not to worry. He only suffered a concussion. He’s awake but they need to monitor him for a couple more days before he can be discharged.”I nodded, unable to hide my relief

AmaraJames’s confession had to be a cruel joke that the universe was playing on me. He’d turned me down, reminded me countless times that our relationship was fake, and now he was saying he loved me?I should be ecstatic, the feelings I had for him were no longer one-sided. But I couldn’t bring myself to be because now he had me wondering—would he have realized he loved me if Vincent didn’t kidnap me.To think it took me almost getting married to someone else for him to finally realize his feelings for me was a slap in the face. It didn’t matter anyway, I already made up my mind to leave after the dinner.I wanted some time alone from him to sort out my feelings. Our flight back to New York was quiet, each of us lost in our thoughts. First, I needed to pack up my things from his room. I’d go back to my apartment but it was in need of deep cleaning so I’ll have to crash at the family house while I get it in order. Having to deal with my mother was better than staying in this emotiona