Page 39 of The Irish Arrangement

I shot her an incredulous look that implied, you think so?

“And Dec’s not… an easy man to get along with. Lots of women are scared. He’s so used to fighting and being gruff and just an asshole.” She smirked, at ease to talk crap about him. “So it wasn’t like he could walk out there and get a wife easily.”

I was well aware. I had to be given an ultimatum to consider it. But that was what he got. Karma and all. Riley was correct in calling him an asshole, and what woman would want him?

“And I think that’s why Declan is so eager to keep you here.”

I raised my brows and stared at her dully. “To the point of making me a prisoner in this castle?”

“I think it’s a little extreme. I mean, like you said, if you were to walk around the garden or something, it’s not like you could get away. Everything is guarded and watched.” She narrowed her eyes and winced. “Have you considered asking him if you can walk on the grounds?”

I barked a laugh. “No. And I don’t intend to ask him for anything at all. I don’t want him to hold anything over me.” I was all too aware of how little power I had, and I didn’t plan to give him any more of an excuse to wield more leverage against me in any other way.

“Riley!” The head cook came in and shouted. She slapped her hand together in a viscous clap, like she was calling back a dog from a threat.

Riley rolled her eyes at me. Before she turned, she whispered, “Nice talking. We’ll find another time to gossip.” She winked, and the silly expression warmed my shrinking heart.

I left the kitchen, not wanting to get the young cook in trouble for speaking with me. Back in my own company, I fell into a pit of anger and frustration.

I saw and felt firsthand how much of a brutish asshole Declan was. And it pissed me off to no end that Keira had wanted me to be a bride to this unwanted monster in place of Saoirse having to deal with him.

I was a goddamn sacrificial lamb.

Standing in my room, staring out the huge windows at the clear but gloomy skies over the vast land, I fumed and let my mood sink further and further.

But it’s for a good cause. I fought to remember that. I was doing this for Mom. For a better, more secure future.

When Declan arrived, I didn’t bother to turn. He’d returned with no warning.

“Cara.”

I narrowed my eyes at the windows, not wanting to face him.

The last time he said my name like that, all deep and full of hunger, I was a fool to think I wanted him. My body desired him, but that was the extent of it.

I refused to let him get to me in any other way. Women, as I now knew from Riley’s gossip, were dispensable to him. From the first day, he’d made it clear that he didn’t care about me. That I was his wife. I was just a body to fuck, a woman he assumed he could impregnate.

“Cara?”

He walked further into the room. His footsteps sounded ominous on the polished wood, but they stopped when I whirled around to face him.

The sooner I got this over with, another round of sex, the faster I could show him that I wasn’t pregnant. And he could leave again.

“Yeah, yeah,” I drawled, unbuttoning my shirt.

He frowned, watching me.

I kept my voice dull. Bored. Indifferent, because I had to be. “May as well get it over with,” I mused wryly, shoving my shirt open more and unbuttoning my jeans next.

“What?” He stalked closer, regarding me with a skeptical glare.

“What do you mean, what?” I snapped.

“What are you doing?”

I rolled my eyes, unzipping. “Getting undressed. Doing my duty.”

“Get it over with?” he challenged in a growl.

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