Page 11 of Drowning Her

I glared at him. It was a job.My job.But that didn’t mean that I had to throw myself at every manI met, even if one bang was worth a million dollars. And it’s not like I hadn’t tried. Wilder was hard to crack.

“You didn’t exactly give me a deadline,” I said.

“It’s not that hard. Fuck my son. Fuck him every day until he needs your cunt. Then you’ll have your wealth and you will be free to use it however you like.”

Since when had it changed to screwing him multiple times? Wilder didn’t seem like the kind of person who wanted to do it twice a week.

“What if I use it to divorce your son?” I asked.

He laughed. “Wilder may not care for you, but our family has a long history of punishing disloyal parties. I’d be careful of what you say.”

Everything inside of me wanted to take the gym shoes I was wearing underneath the dress and shove them up his ass. But I had to be patient. I had to smile and do as I was told. A million dollars was on the line, and if I did everything the right way, I could have a lotmorethan a million. I just had to find out what would give me the upper hand.

I smiled at my father-in-law. “You’re right. I’ll be careful,” I lied.

The wedding photographer called me and the groom over. Wilder put a stiff arm around my back. His fingers stroked my bare skin, slick with sweat.

“I know,” I muttered. “I’m sweating like we’re roasting in hell.”

Wilder sucked in a breath, but he said nothing. No retort. Not even a sigh. We simply posed, waiting for instructions from the photographer. And once we were given the thumbs up, Wilder headed across to the reception area quicker than you could say ‘Just Married,’ opting to walk alone rather than drive with the rest of us. He might have approved of me, maybe even asked for me,but that didn’t mean that he wanted anything to do with me.

By the time I got to the reception, he was gone. Though the seating was assigned and I was placed next to my husband at the head of the room, his chair was empty. It was like he couldn’t stand to be next to me, or to be nearanyone.And yet none of the guests seemed disturbed by it. Maybe they expected it from him.

Call it a security deposit,Bambi’s warning popped into my head.Use it to your advantage before they use you.

I jerked my head around, trying to spot my husband like a stroke of black paint on a rainbow canvas. Finally, I saw him against one of the white pine trees, pulling apart a bread roll. At least he was human enough to eat. When he looked up, instantly catching my eyes, I raised my champagne. He shook his head. Fine. He had dismissed me. Again. But I wasn’t going to stop trying.

A man, about his height, though slimmer and more traditionally athletic, pulled up a chair next to me. “Do you know anything about our family?” he asked.

I swung around. His suit was similar to Wilder’s, but more expensive and clean. And his dark hair was styled neatly. Wilder’s best and only man, the reason I had a stranger for a bridesmaid in the first place.

“You must be my brother-in-law,” I said.

“Sawyer Feldman,” he said, offering his hand. “I’m theotherFeldman son.” I must have proven to him how little I knew. After shaking his hand, I rubbed my palm on my dress. “Why did you agree to marry my brother?” he asked.

I wrinkled my brow. Why was he asking me a question like that? “Isn’t that something your father should have told you?”

“Let me rephrase that. Why didyouagree to thearrangement?” He scratched his jaw. “Money? Class? Protection?”

I wrinkled my forehead at him. Why did my reasons matter?

“All the above?” I said.

“What exactly do you know about my family?”

I rolled my eyes. “I’m part of your family now. I’ll learn as I go.”

“No wonder Forrest likes you. You’re even dumber than I thought.”

I gritted my teeth. I had been through a lot and I was alotof bad things, but stupid was not one of them.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said.

“You were desperate,” he smirked. “You took the first chance that came along, promising you a great future. And here you are, married to someone you don’t know at all.” He sniffed down his nose at me. “Let’s see if I can read you. My father offered you money. Gave you enough upfront so that you’d believe him. And you went for it.”

I clenched my jaw. “I?—”

“How many times have you spoken to Wilder?” My cheeks burned. Wilder wasn’t posted against that tree anymore. “Once?” Sawyer chuckled. “Twice?” He ran a hand through his hair, his smile condescending. “You agreed to an arranged marriage, with a man you’ve spoken to twice, because you were in a bad situation.”

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