Page 25 of My Orc Contract Husband
When the shower turned on, I raised my voice just a bit. “Being his heir means not only do I get all the money in his account, but I’m in charge of his half of the real estate corporation he’s built.”
“And you don’t want that,” Riven called as the room began to steam up.
“Not even a little bit. I can sell it outright, I figured that was my best bet…”
I trailed off, and for a bit, the only sound was my cousin soaping her hair. Then, she made a little spitting noise as if clearing water from her face, and spoke.
“So what’s changed? What doesn’t Mom know?”
Sighing, I tipped my head back against the mirror. “I got a letter from my father’s business partner.”
Riven grabbed the curtain, yanking it out of the way to shove her head—hair thick with shampoo bubbles—around it. “The guy you were supposed to marry?”
I winced. “The guyDadwanted me to marry. Turns out he still wants to marry me.”
“Shit,” she whispered, eyes wide. Then she shook her head and ducked back into the shower. I could hear the sounds of her rinsing out the shampoo as she continued. “If he marries you now…”
“The two of us would control most of the real estate deals in the city,” I finished for her.
“Join me, and together we can rule the galaxy.”
I snorted at her quotation. “Exactly. And because of that motivation, he’s made it clear he’s not going to acceptNo thank you, I don’t want to marry you. He can’t afford to have half his business flopping around unsecured down here on Eastshore.”
“Well, shit,” Riven repeated.
The water turned off, and when her hand emerged from the curtain to fumble toward the towel rack, I slid off my perch to hand her a towel directly. She eventually pulled the curtain aside and stepped out, the towel snug under her arms and her hair going every which way, and I had to smile at how disgruntled she looked.
My cousin had always drifted more toward tomboyish looks than her older sister Brooke, but she’d once hadbeautiful long brown hair. Since the chemo, though, it had grown in curly, and she kept it cut in the cutest pixie cut.
That, combined with her slender build and her short stature, made her look positively adorable. Yep, an absolutely adorable, pissed off honey badger, full of passion and anger and joy and every emotion you can imagine.
Standing there naked and dripping water across the bathroom rug, Riven asked me, “So what are you going to do?”
Ah.
I took a breath. Held it. Met her green eyes.
“Pierce can’t force me to marry him if I’m married already.”
She stared at me for a long moment, and I couldn’t read her thoughts. We shared the same green eyes, her and I, from our mothers. And right now, she was hiding her response to my admittedly pretty wild announcement.
Then she jerked her head toward her room, and I dutifully padded after her toward her bedroom.
It wasn’t until she was bent over the dresser, rummaging through her pajama drawer, that she spoke.
“Can I assume that you’ve picked out someone? Or is this still in the brainstorming phase?”
“I’ve picked out someone.” Crossing my arms, I leaned against the doorjamb, keeping my voice low. No matter what Riven said about her mom’s sleeping habits, I didn’t want Aunt Sharon hearing any of this. “He’s an orc.”
To her credit, Riven just hummed as she straightened with a pair of plaid P.J. pants. “I guess that means Montgomery can’t physically intimidate him,” she said as she shimmied into them.
And I nodded eagerly. “That’s what I said.”
“Doesn’t mean he won’t be able to bribe his way out of it, though.” Riven tossed the towel on the bed and, her back to me, pulled the T-shirt over her head. “From what you’ve told me about him, he’s not above that,” she said as she turned.
“You’re right. But Tarkhan’s too honorable to take a bribe.” Riven didn’t see—feel—Tarkhan’s rage today when he’d learned about Pierce’s threats. “He’ll protect me.”
“Tarkhan, hmm?” My cousin was smirking as she squeezed by me, heading for the kitchen. “That’s your client—the guy you’ve been trying to find a property for?”
