Page 31 of Contractually Wed

Wiping the steam from the mirror, Jia let herself speak and see the truth. For all that she’d been sick, she was happy within. A kernel of hope had taken root in her heart and it was already changing her. And she knew she could get addicted to the illusion of this happiness with Apollo. That if she wasn’t careful, she’d fall into the trap of wanting more and more.

She needed to stay strong, like she had during her mother’s illness even as she had realized finally why she fit differently into her own family. All her life, Mama had loved her, but the cost had been being good, being quiet, being the best daughter and sister Jia could be because Mama hadn’t wanted her father to find fault with Jia. She had let it dictate every action and numbed the whispers of her heart.

Her arms shook as she pulled on sweatpants and she tried the warning in her head again. Like everyone else in her life, Apollo’s approval and affection for her came with a cost. And yet, neither her heart nor her body believed it one bit.

A few days later, Apollo was finishing breakfast when Jia came down the stairs, her phone pressed to her cheek. It was cowardly but once he had known that she was on the mend, he’d fled to Athens and stayed at his penthouse. He’d dropped by this morning with the convenient lie that he needed her to look over some designs.

Now, her eyes blazed with anger when they met his, and her throat moved on a swallow.

Irritation flared through Apollo and it took all the willpower he possessed to not grab the phone from Jia and smash it into so many bits. He had no doubt who the caller was for he had dealt with the matter only last night. His wife’s spineless sister, Rina.

The very idea that he had almost married her made bile rise through him. If not for Jia’s fierce loyalty and courage, his life, right now, would have been very different. The realization grated on him.

“You...insensitive, lying bastard!” Jia said, running down the last two steps, fury dancing on her face.

Apollo shot to his feet and caught her as she tripped on a video game console and almost took to the floor.Christos, she felt breakable in his hands, all crackling fury and no substance beneath. Around him, his mother and sisters came to attention.

“Jia—”

“You promised you’d leave it alone, Apollo,” she was yelling now, pushing at his chest with her fists. “It’s the wish you granted me. But even that’s not sacred to you. To think I was actually beginning to believe you and trust you—”

“Stop it, Jia.” Apollo grabbed her hands before she could beat at his chest again. Tears filled her eyes. Alarm rang through him, making his words sharp. “You’re going to make yourself sick. You’ve barely recovered and—”

A bitter laugh escaped her mouth as she roughly wiped her cheeks with the back of her hand. “Oh, please, don’t pretend as if you care.”

“Jia, listen to me—”

“Apollo! What did you do?” his mother said, joining in.

Apollo gritted his teeth and prayed for patience he didn’t have. The last person he wanted to discuss Jia’s family with was his mother. She’d never understood his drive for reparation,his madness for revengeas she called it. He definitely didn’t want her to know the particulars of his and Jia’s marriage or all the ways in which her family used her.

It might have started as a business deal but their relationship had already morphed into something else, which he’d been struggling to make peace with. Damned if he was going to let his family see their marriage differently, see him differently, just when he was beginning to see the error of his ways.

“This is between Jia and me,” he said, hoping they would take the hint.

When none of them budged, he met his mother’s gaze. She looked miserable, as if Jia’s pain was her own. All his sisters, even Camilla and his rowdy nephews, glared at him, ready to take him on if Jia only gave them the word. “Please,” he said, addressing Mama, “trust me.”

And this too felt like a rite of fire because he could see Mama struggle. Had he fallen so far in her estimation that she assumed he would hurt his wife on purpose?

Finally, she nodded and herded the rest of them out of the living room. He wrapped his arms around Jia and thanked the saints he didn’t believe in that she didn’t push him away.

“You promised you’d leave it alone,” she repeated, subdued and stiff. “Instead, you had cops haul Vik away. You’re ruining my family and I’ve lost the last chance with my father to...” She sighed.

So that’s what had sent her into such a...temper? Had her father somehow pinned Apollo’s actions on Jia? How did he think she would control a powerful man like him?

His chest felt tight, a painful kind of powerlessness clutching him in its hold. With every fiber of his being, he wanted to get rid of this hold her father seemed to have on her but he couldn’t. He hadn’t been able to stop the damage done to his father and it felt like he was in the same boat again.

This time, the obstacle was an invisible, intangible thing and if he pushed the matter, he would hurt the only innocent in all this.

“Your blasted brother nearly took your eye out. You shouldn’t be protecting him.”

“He just lost his temper,” Jia said, pulling back. “He was...drunk and upset that I married you without telling them. We got into an argument and he was stumbling and pushed me. I fell against the edge of a table. That’s the truth.”

“He’s a twenty-eight-year-old man,” Apollo bit out. Just the image of her brother pushing her was enough to send him into a rage. “He should have better control of his temper.”

“Maybe yes, but he doesn’t deserve to go to jail for it and—”

“Did Rina tell you he pushed her too last week?”

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