Page 5 of The Marriage Demand
Which is why his wife wastreated like a fucking queen. Winnie had a hard life. He had read the policereports and social services reports about Winnie. Before Winnie was taken intocare, she had an abusive mother who loved using her fists, and had put herdaughter in the hospital a few times. She was also a fucking great actress,according to what he had seen. The woman had cried, screaming that it was somestranger, which would always lead to a dead end. Either way, it ended withWinnie back in her mother’s care.
Until she was five. Then,she entered the foster system, and her life went from shit to shit, to worse.
Now, she was married tohim. So, he was going to make sure she had everything a young woman shouldhave. He was not the best fucking husband. Their first encounter was of himkilling her so-called friends. In fact, the first words she said to him were, “thankyou.” That was it.Thank you. He found that so fucking adorable.
Walking back through theartisan market, they purchased some clothing, trinkets, makeup, and even food.And after that, they were on their way back home with her goodies.
For now, they were stayingat one of his many apartments.
Arriving at the house,Winnie went to her beauty room, and he made his way into his office. He pulledout his cell phone, and there was a text from Trish, stating she had someinformation. Elias made the arrangements to meet her at the club that evening.Usually, he would go to the brothel where Trish worked, but this time, hewasn’t interested. The woman liked to think she could get him into bed.
She was one of his longestserving prostitutes, and was in her late thirties. She had been in the industrysince she was a teenager. When he first met Trish, she was being beaten up byher pimp at the time. Elias didn’t like men who hurt women, especially whenthey were already down on the ground. Trish wouldn’t stay in line. She didn’ttake the drugs the guy wanted her hooked on. Trish was also a mother of threechildren. Fathers had come and gone over the years. She had been used by a lotof men. Sex was the oldest profession in the book, and seeing as men didn’tlike to keep it in their pants, she was going to make money out of it, which wasexactly what she did. Again, he couldn’t criticize her.
Leaving his office, hefound Winnie in the kitchen.
“We’re going out tonight.I’ll pick out some clothes for you.” The dress she wore was cute and sexy, butnot what he had in mind for a night at the club.
“We are?”
He rarely took her to theclub, and when he did, it was as his trophy. No one knew anything about her.Winnie always stumped his enemies, and above all else, it kept the women away.
For the last four years,much to his surprise, he had not touched another woman. There had been a fewmoments he had thought about it, but then he would think of Winnie. His wife.He never thought of marriage as a real commitment, yet that was exactly what itwas to him—a commitment—and one he took seriously.
Winnie was his, and hecouldn’t deny that she had turned into a very beautiful woman. He was a selfishbastard. She could have been safe and happy with anyone else, but he hadn’twanted to give her up.
They could have annulledtheir marriage, but he didn’t want to. He wanted Winnie all to himself. This iswhat made him selfish. She could be with anyone, but he didn’t want her to bewith just anyone.
His attraction to her hadgrown. He was not into young girls. He loved women. And Winnie, with her long,brown hair, innocent eyes, and a past that made him want to fucking kill allthe people she came into contact with. He was falling for her. And, he’d noteven fucked her yet. Not that it was going to happen.
Winnie didn’t know he hadmade a vow to protect her, and he was going to keep that vow for the rest oftheir lives. It also meant he was going to suffer with blue balls.
He was not a good man, butwhen it came to Winnie, it seemed he was becoming a fucking saint.
ChapterThree
Nightclubs had never beenher thing. The loud music, the people, and the lack of respect that seemed tohappen. Not to mention the drug taking, which she shouldn’t see, and also, theclose-to-sex experiences some people seemed to enjoy having on the dance floor.Again, not something she wanted to participate in.
Winnie looked at the scarcelyclad women, and then down at her own clothes. She wore a pair of white slacksthat were perfectly pressed, along with a top that had a strap around her neck,leaving the top part of her back and shoulders exposed. Again, this was white,and it had some kind of floral design. Even the pants did.
Her hair had been leftdown. She had pinned it up, but before they left, Elias had taken out the pinsand ran his fingers through her hair. The sensations that rushed through herbody were insane. She felt that pulse that just scorched her whole body. Thearousal took her completely by surprise. Her body wouldn’t stop reacting toElias.
She kept trying to tellherself it was pointless, that he was not interested in her. They were marriedin name only, so that she could live. He hadn’t killed her. And yet, shecouldn’t stop herself from wondering what it would be like for Elias toactually kiss her. Not to press his lips to her forehead or even her hair, butto actually kiss her. She tried not to think about it, because yearning forsomething she couldn’t have didn’t help at all.
She wanted him. Did thatmake her a fool? An idiot?
They arrived at the bar,and she also never drank alcohol. Again, too many bad memories of people whobecame entirely different with alcohol inside them. Elias didn’t complain. Heordered a straight-up juice for her and a whiskey for himself.
They stood at the bar, whichwas different as he usually took them to his office, or to his VIP section.This was one of his many nightclubs. He had several different clubs thatcatered to different things. There was one designed for celebrities, and therewere in fact big names who ventured into his club. They paid to be protected, tohave fun without the press being alerted. Elias made that happen.
Then he had sex clubs aswell as nightclubs, and she had been to most of them. When they were at the sexclubs, she tried to spend most of her time staring at the floor.
This was just a standardnightclub—a good one, with heavy music, dancing, and an energy that wasthriving, and considering it was a Saturday, that was rare.
“Come on,” Elias said.
They left their drinks,and before she could complain, they were on the dance floor. She didn’t knowhow he managed to do it, but people moved out of the way for him. Even peoplethat didn’t know him. It was like they knew there was a predator in theirmidst.
“Now, this is the kind offun I like to have,” he said.
