Page 17 of Contractually Wed

“Kissing a work colleague, while already neglecting your bride?”

Jia giggled. Loudly and disgracefully, and even muffled into Apollo’s muscled back, it sounded alarmingly flippant.

“The floozy dares to laugh at us, Mama,” the one who seemed to be the oldest sister supplied in flawless English, looking truly angry. “This is what your son has reduced us to, our family to, in his pursuit of revenge, and what he has turned—”

“You were always one for drama, Camilla.” Apollo finally spoke. He didn’t desert Jia though. No, he pulled her from behind him, and wrapped an arm around her waist. “Mama,this ismy wife, Jia. Jia, this is Mama and my sisters—all older than me. The one who held judgment is the middle one, Christina. The one giggling at us both is Chiara and the one spewing fury is the oldest, Camilla.”

For long, awkward moments, Jia could do nothing but stare at them. They were all tall, with distinct, almost overpowering features, all cut in the same mold as their brother. And yet, where they all missed the mark of true beauty, something had come together just a little differently in his case, and the result was a stunning, gorgeous man.

Her man, if she let herself believe him.

“Very nice to meet you all,” she said, “though I wish it was under different circumstances. That’s why the inappropriate giggling.”

His mother sighed while Camilla didn’t look one bit mollified.

Jia tried not to crumple under her refreshed glare, which meant she was remembering who she was.

“Hello, Jia,” his mother said. Kindness shone from her eyes as she moved forward, her gaze eating her up as intensely as Apollo’s did. “I’m sorry for barging in and yelling at you. I didn’t realize Apollo’s wife was—”

“Barely older than a teenager,” the one called Chiara supplied, mischief in her eyes. “All these years, Mama, we keep pushing mature, sophisticated women toward him and turns out Apollo has a taste for young—”

“I admit he’s of a different generation than me,” Jia rushed in, wanting to shake them as much as they were doing to her world, “but your brother’s like...a stud and I’ve always been into that whole age-gap, smoldering alpha-hole thing, so it works.”

Mouths fell open and hit their chests. Again.

Jia bit her lip, regrets flooding in. God, she’d always gone on offense when she felt cornered.

Chiara and Christina burst out laughing while Camilla’s glare intensified. His mother’s eyes twinkled. With pleasant surprise, Jia hoped.

“You are different from what we expected,” she finally said.

“She’s full of surprises,” Apollo said, his eyes full of that wicked humor and a sliver of something that sounded like pride. No one had ever shown that emotion on her behalf. Jia felt like grabbing his face and kissing him all over again. Audience be damned.

“Why didn’t you tell the staff that she’s your wife?” Camilla said, clearly still spoiling for a fight.

Whether her ire was directed at her brother or Jia, she had no idea. But Jia didn’t want the whole story about how their marriage was nothing but a deal to be exposed in front of these women. Clearly, they cared about Apollo and didn’t understand his actions after all these years, any more than she did.

It wasn’t that she wanted a good start with Apollo’s family, not when she was going to leave, sooner or later. But she couldn’t take more taunting, on top of everything her own family had doled out at the mere idea of this relationship. And that kiss, before they had been rudely interrupted, was as real as anything Jia had ever known in her life. Or more, even. She didn’t want it tainted by everything else that surrounded it.

“That was my idea,” she said, riding the impulsive train all the way. “I wanted to start work and bond with Apollo’s team without any preferential treatment. Also, there’s the fact that your brother’s too much of a workaholic to take me on a honeymoon. This way, our first few weeks of marriage are both secretive and spicy. And just for ourselves.”

They stared at her, as if she were an exhibit Apollo had checked out of a museum. It wasn’t just that she was the enemy’s daughter, but how she dressed and her tattoos and everything about her, Jia realized. She didn’t doubt she was as different as possible from Apollo’s previous...interests. The mere thought of them made her stomach knot.

“That kiss we interrupted was definitely something,” Chiara added.

Jia blushed. Their mother shushed her.

“So you work here, Jia? And you plan to continue working with my brother?” It was the middle sister, Christina, this time. There was genuine curiosity in her question.

“I’m an architect, and, yeah, I plan to continue working with Apollo. It’s one of the reasons he was so...moved to steal me for himself. On top of our crazy chemistry, I mean. We understand each other even in our work.”

The words left her of their own accord and Jia realized the truth of them only then.

For all their age gap and enemy vibes, Apollo and she shared the same kind of vision for their work, for how they wanted to shape the world around them. For how they changed it.

Flushing, she turned to look at Apollo, who was frowning. As if she was putting out main character energy when she should be in the back with chorus.

She pinched his side, which was all rock-hard musculature and didn’t really give into pinching, and then winked at Christina. “To be honest, I’m trying to make sure he doesn’t forget what a delight I’m to be around twenty-four hours, seven days a week.”

---