Page 18 of Keep Me

When the phone line goes dead, I plop down on my couch and stare at nothing in particular.

What on earth did I just do?

Chapter Six

Anna is standing in the airport, waiting for me as I walk out of the terminal. She greets me with a smile, and I force one in return.

Somewhere between the neurotic night I agreed to this, and the moment that airplane put its wheels down on a runway in Edinburgh, I completely talked myself out of this wild scheme.

But here I am anyway. Because I want to be? No.

Because I have a point to prove? Yep.

“Ms. Devereaux,” she says in a polite greeting. “How was your flight?”

“Please, call me Sylvie,” I reply. Anna is probably only a few years older than me, but she talks like she’s Scottish royalty, and we’re all in some historical romance simulation. “It was good. Thank you,” I say, hoisting my backpack higher up on my shoulder.

“I hope you were able to get some rest. We have a busy day ahead of us.”

“Yeah, actually, I did.” Which is true, thanks to those first-class sleeping pods they flew me in. I bet the folks back in coach are feeling a different way right now.

She starts walking briskly toward the exit. “We’ll be heading straight over to the house today,” she says in a straightforward,businesslike sort of way. “You can meet Killian a bit more properly now.”

My stomach tightens at the mention of seeing him again.

“It’s about an hour to the manor from here. We can go over some of the terms and rules in the car.”

I nod as if this is completely normal business and not the most unhinged, reckless thing I’ve ever done.

After we get my baggage from the carousel and our driver carries it out to our car, Anna and I climb into the back seat together. She offers me some water and something to eat but doesn’t waste any time before getting down to business.

“Now, I trust you’ve gone through the contract you signed, so none of this should come as a surprise to you.”

I nod, taking a gulp of water.

“But there are some important stipulations to the agreement that I feel we should reiterate.”

“Okay…” I mutter, waiting to hear them. Ididread the contract, but contracts are contracts, and the language was superfluous enough to be confusing and vague. So I signed it.

“The term of marriage must reach one year from the date the certificates are signed in order for you to receive your payout.”

“Got it,” I say. Easy enough.

“After you’ve reached one year, you will sign the deed to Barclay Manor over to our aunt Lorna, who will handle the estate from there. Your marriage will be annulled, and you can return to America with your ten million dollars.”

I force myself to swallow. She makes it sound so simple, but this part of the bargain has me feeling dizzy. I hope by the end of the year, it will be so easy to just take this man’s house from him and go home as if nothing happened.

“Both you and Killian must remain faithful to each other for the duration of the twelve months in order for commitment to be considered maintained.”

“Both of us?” I mutter as I pick up a piece of meat from thetray of snacks she gave me when I climbed in.

“Yes, both of you. This is important, Miss Devereaux.”

“Why should I lose out on my ten million if he can’t keep his dick in his pants?”

I don’t bother to tell her that I failed to keep myrealboyfriend loyal, let alone myfakehusband.

“This is part of the rules in the trust, Sylvie. It’s not something we can negotiate. If anyone is caught stepping outside of the marriage, the union is considered void, and none of the legal propagations stand.”

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