Page 51 of Impending Consent

That earned me a reluctant smile. "Where do you think I learned it from?"

Her phone rang seconds later, the screen illuminating with "Dad" and a photo of a distinguished older man who looked strikingly like TJ.

Sailor stared at it for a moment, then answered, putting it on speaker.

"Hi, Daddy."

“Sailor. Care to explain why you're not at your apartment and why your brother and sister are being evasive about your whereabouts?"

She shot me a warning look before responding. "I'm at the office. Had an early meeting with a client."

"I'm not asking about this morning and you know it. I went by your place yesterday evening. You weren't there. Your doorman said you hadn't been home in days."

Sailor closed her eyes briefly. "It's complicated, Daddy."

"Uncomplicate it."

I could see her struggling with how to respond, so I made the decision for her. "Mr. Addison, this is Rival Hassan. Your daughter's husband."

Sailor's eyes expanded with a mixture of panic and fury while she frantically tried to mute the call.

There was a long, heavy silence before he spoke again. "Her what?"

"Husband," I repeated calmly. "We were married last week."

"Sailor..." His tone was deadly calm. "Is this true?"

She glared at me, but her voice was steady when she answered. "Yes, Daddy. I was going to tell you, but?—"

"Family dinner. Tomorrow night. Seven o'clock. Bring him." The line went dead.

Sailor stared at the phone then me. "What the fuck did you just do?"

"Ripped the gotdamn Band-Aid off. It was going to happen eventually and I’m tired of dancing around this shit. We are fucking married, Sail."

"On my terms! You had no right to do that."

"I'm your husband. I had every fucking right and it’s not your terms. Get that shit straight. I am your husband."

"In name only!" She slammed her hands on the desk. "This isn't real, remember? You don't get to make these decisions for me."

I stood, matching her intensity, because I was over this shit. "It's real to me, Sailor. And the sooner you stop pretending it isn't happening, the sooner we can figure out how to navigate this shit, together."

"There is no 'together'. There's just a contract and a year of my life I can't get back."

"Is that what you really fucking believe?" I moved around the desk, closing the distance between us. "Because your eyes say something different when you think I'm not looking and your body damn sure says something different when I touch you."

She backed up until she hit the window, but I followed, not letting her escape. "You're scared of what's happening between us and not because you don't feel it, but because you do."

"You don't know what I feel," she whispered, but the anger had faded from her voice.

"I fucking know, Sail.” I moved closer until space didn’t exist. “I know you feel this connection as much as I do and you're fighting it because it wasn't part of your plan. Deep down inside, you're curious about what could happen if you stopped fighting."

I placed my hand on the side of her neck and my thumb brushed over the curve of her jaw. She leaned into my touch and her eyes closed briefly. Then she straightened and pulled away. "We have to go. I need to call Skylar and TJ. They'll need to be there tomorrow. Can you grab those file boxes over there? I need to take them with me.”

I let her go, recognizing when to push and when to give her space. As fucking infuriating as she was, I cared about her. "I'll drive us home."

"Yourhome.” She said the shit so fast I would bet my entire savings the response was a reflex but that was cool. She wasmine for a year, and in that time, I was going to make her see how good this life could be if she would trust me with her heart.

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