Page 101 of Necessary Cruelty

My brother doesn’t know that Vin is waiting for me outside. I managed to convince my new husband not to come in with me, but that means he planted himself in the coffee shop across the street, watching the door of the Justice Center like a hawk so he’ll know the moment I walk back out. He told me that if I tried to take the bus home, he’d put me over his knee and spank my bare ass.

I can’t decide if I want that to be a real threat or not.

When I showed him the article, pointing out that I could have been the one working at the Gas and Sip that night, his only response was, “Good thing you don’t work there anymore.”

Vin is still the same autocratic asshole he’s always been, but I don’t understand this sudden desire to protect me. Obviously, he doesn’t want me dying before he gets his inheritance, but my reputation seems to matter to him as much as my safety does. I don’t get the impulse that has him suddenly acting like the hero in a romance novel. Although I have to admit it feels nice to have someone looking out for me, instead of the other way around. But I shouldn’t let him lull me into a false sense of security. He might be on his best behavior right now, but it won’t last.

It never does.

Vin is truly a force to be reckoned with when he deigns to turn on the charm, but eventually something will piss him off and we’ll end up back where we started.

His whims are too unpredictable to trust.

As if reading my mind, Zion murmurs. “I don’t trust the fucking Cortlands, and you shouldn’t either.”

“Trust has nothing to do with it,” I snap. “Look, your lawyer is going to meet with you this week with the paperwork ready to sign. You have until then to decide. But your only choices are to rot in prison until you’re forty, or testify and go to this cushy diversion program. The judge has already said that you’ll be transferred on the same day you testify so the assholes here won’t get a chance to touch you.”

“Fuck.” His head drops against the glass. “This is too much.”

“Nothing is ever easy. Not for us.”

One of the guards raps his knuckles against the door, letting me know we have less than a minute left. “I have to go soon. I put some money on your commissary and you need to call me if you need anything else.”

His gaze narrows on my face. “Where are you getting the money for all this? Lawyers aren’t cheap, and I already heard it isn’t a public defender on my case.”

Zion is not going to want to hear where the money came from or why it’s coming. “We can fight about the details later. Just focus on getting through this.”

“Please tell me this isn’t what I think it is.”

He thinks I’m whoring myself out to save him. Maybe I am, even if we’ve put a prettier label on it. “You made the front page of the paper, so I suggest you hold on to whatever stones you’re planning to throw. We’ll talk about everything later. I love you.”

“Love you, too,” he says with a sigh. “Even though I don’t want you fucking up your life to save mine.”

“No need. I fuck my life up all on my own for no good reason at all.”

I put down the receiver without waiting for a response, because I don’t really want to hear whatever he would have said next. Zion has always let his frustration at our circumstances get the best of him, like railing against the universe is going to change anything. He thought that acting out would show the world how much he doesn’t care, but that just has him facing a possible life sentence for a crime he almost certainly didn’t commit.

Life isn’t fair. And sometimes you have to deal with the devil to get your due.

* * *

The rideback to Deception with Vin is quiet, but not exactly awkward.

Neither of us talk much, probably because anything else we say might break the strange spell that has been cast over us. Knowing that I’m his wife, even though it’s temporary, has changed things. Kissing him changed things.

Throwing myself at him, initiating sex for the first time ever, has changed things.

I know Vin has to feel it, too, even if I’m not stupid enough to ask him. We’re at a place where we can actually enjoy some aspects of each other’s company. That’s the most we’ve had between us in years.

I’m not going to ruin it with talk.

My elbow is on the arm rest, which puts my arm close to his when he grips the shifter to switch gears. Every so often his fingers gently stroke the back of my hand, smoothing along my skin.

He seems lost in his own thoughts, making me wonder if he even realizes he’s doing it.

I really don’t want to have dinner with his family. His parents seem nice enough, if distant, but they aren’t the problem.

Being inside Cortland Manor kicks up an itch under my skin that I can’t scratch. My flesh feels like it’s gone too tight on my bones until I’m all dried out and practically dead. I managed the annoying sensation during the Founder’s Ball, but that was only because I had Jake there to distract me.

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