Page 14 of The Bourbon Bride

The smile fades and I hate myself for erasing it. She looks away from me, toward the window that overlooks the river.

“My parents cooked up some crazy idea they want me to go along with and I can’t do it. It crosses a line I didn’t even know I had when it comes to them.”

“What could they possibly want you to do?” I ask, searching for plausible options while I wait for her answer.

“This is so stupid I can’t believe I’m about to say it.” She hides her eyes with a hand. “They want me to marry an awful man to merge our family businesses.”

I’m irritated more than I should be. The idea of her being married off grates my nerves. I pull her hand away from her face and see the tears welling in her jade eyes. I keep her hand in mine and squeeze it, hoping to be reassuring when what I really feel is anger that they came up with the idea before I could.

“Marriage isn’t the worst thing in the world, or so I’m told. What makes the idea so repugnant to you?” Her parents are shrewd when it comes to their business, pinning a merger on a marriage. I like it.

“It’s who they picked.”

Her face scrunches up and she looks away as fat tears leak down her cheeks.

“His name is Garrison. We have… history,” she pauses and clears her throat. “He… he got me drunk and tried to rape me in high school.” She whispers through the pain and obvious shame. Her shoulders bunch up toward her ears with the admission, and she half turns away from me.

I let go of her hand and slam both of mine flat on the granite on either side of her, making her jump.

It doesn’t matter that she saidtried. This asshole wanted to violate her and that’s as good as the deed itself. I want to kick one of the barstools out from under the island, throw a chair, flip a damn table because I’m so mad that anyone wanted to hurt her in that way. The innocence she exudes is precious and some entitled asshole wanted to rip that away from her? I’ll kill him.

The possessive streak in me is blown wide and she’s not even mine to protect, but damn if I won’t destroy anything that even threatens to hurt her, now or anytime in the past.

“Do they know?” I demand close to her face, my voice a snarl. “Your parents. Do they know what he did to you?”

Her nod is almost imperceptible, but I’m close enough that I can see each individual eyelash that sits against her wet cheeks through the slight motion.

“Mama knows,” she says softly, her words catching on a hitch.

I do kick the stool now. It sails across the room and clatters against the heavy wood footboard of the bed. I stalk toward it like I’ll kick it straight out the window next.

“Why would your mother even allow that?” My chest heaves with the anger coursing through me. “No, fuck that. Why would your parentswantyou to marry someone who tried to rape you?”

I have too many questions and enough anger to ruin anyone who wants this fate for her. I want to throttle her father for even entertaining the idea, whether or not he knows the full story. He should know. He should be the one angry and hell-bent on making the sonofabitch pay for what he did to Paige. The drawn-out way I want to hurt the guy who did this is savage and could have me labeled a psychopath if it ever became news.

“Why are you so angry?” she asks, surprising me. I spin and stomp back to the island, pushing my hips between her knees and placing my hands on the granite to lean into her space. She doesn’t pull back, but her eyes widen.

“Why aren’t you?”

“I am angry!” she shouts in my face. “Why do you think I was parked out there? I was too angry to be driving, but I needed to get away from my family and their insane business dealings.” She shakes her head and returns her eyes to me. “Having my future decided for me is one thing. Being told who to marry because it’s fortuitous for the family business is a whole new level of screwed up. But maybe it’s the only way they think they can get what they want.” The sad tone her voice takes lends itself to acceptance and I’m not about to let her roll over and allow them to use her like that.

“What kind of deal would they get from selling you off like chattel?” The energy of her anger crackles between us when I speak, and I encourage it. “You’re valuable, so they better be getting something good for this kind of fucked up trade. What does an heiress like you fetch on the marriage market? A couple million? A private jet? Some nice new vacation home?”

The sting of her slap comes as no surprise after my taunts. The burn on my cheek is refreshing, and I wish she could feel that incandescent truth for herself, without the physical pain.

“How dare you!” Her chest heaves against the green silk of her top and I want to send buttons flying when I rip it off her.

Instead, I smile cruelly. “Stay angry, Paige. Maybe you’ll clear that pretty little head of yours and realize how fucked your family is to even consider this. You’re not a bargaining chip for a business deal, honey, you’re the whole damn pot.”

The righteous indignation leaves her as she shrinks into herself.

“My family is unusual, and so is the way they do business. They don’t see anything wrong with arranging marriages to make a profit or invest in the family business. The way my legacy is passed down is to amarriedheir, so I can see why they’re making me get married, and having it be good for their own ends as well.”

She blows out a breath and looks anywhere but in my eyes. I want to grab her cute little chin and force her to look at me. I curl my fingers around the edge of the island instead.

“My parents had an arranged marriage to join two powerful empires, just like generations of Fairchilds have done before. To them, it’s normal to want to marry me off to another family that would be an advantageous match when it comes to vertical integration.”

“Stop it. You’re thinking way too rationally about something completely irrational. Listen to yourself, for fuck’s sake! Getting married for advantageous vertical integration? This isn’t the boardroom, it’s your life.”

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