Page 34 of Sweet Rule
He’s not a cruel man. At least, he never was to me. He’s indulgent and I know I’d be able to get my way eventually with him, even if I have to go about it in a different way than what we had before. Back when I thought he loved me and our relationship was real.
Fake or not, it doesn’t matter. What does is me holding on to what little freedom I have. I look at Zeus when he speaks, “We’re considering your suitors, Honey. I thought it would be good for you to get an up close and personal look at the lot. It’ll make the selection easier, don’t you think?”
I nod and mumble a quick, “Yes,” but I’m looking at Law. Not the man that Zeus tells me is a tech mogul with a vineyard in California. Or the man that he says is here on vacation but hails from Spain and is an arms dealer. There’s more, so many more. They range from the standard blue bloods with Ivy League degrees, polished pedigrees and old money to the type that have obviously earned their money from more sordid venues.
I don’t see any of them. Don’t remember their names when they’re offered, not even when Zeus hands me down off the dais to one of the security guards so that I can ‘meet’ the men. They’re all just bodies with faces I’ll never remember. Because there’s only one face I can see. Only one name I care about.
Zeus joins me on the floor and smiles when the only man left to introduce is Law. “I’d give our illustrious partner here an introduction, but you know him already. Quite intimately, hmm?”
I give a jerky nod and meet Law’s eyes. Finally he’s looking at me but I don’t see anything there. It’s like looking at a stranger. He’s cool and calm while my hands are sweating and I’m weak in the knees. How is he okay with this? How can he face me like nothing happened?
“It’s good to see you again,” he murmurs and extends his hand to me. I drop my eyes to his hand. That hand that I know so well, the one that I loved wrapped around my neck, tangled in my hair. The hand with tattoos that peek out from his suit cuffs and cross his knuckles. I’d traced those tattoos at night when we laid in bed and kissed the calluses on his fingertips while he read over his reports.
I swallow hard and take his hand. The one that slapped my ass red and cut off my breath.
“If you say so,” I say and I’m glad the words don’t tremble. I sound…okay. Kind of bitchy, which is fair given the situation, but I don’t sound like I’m remembering Law spanking me and fucking me. Like the slide of his palm against me reminds me how gentle he can be when he wants and how he’d brushed my hair for me and stroked my cheek. The same hand that’s now given to me in greeting like a polite stranger.
Zeus chuckles and rests a hand on my shoulder. “That’s no way to greet a guest, Honey. Lawson is part of the family business, after all.”
I nod my head to him and give Law a cool look. “My apologies, Mister Sokolov.”
His jaw ticks at my use of his last name and I feel satisfaction warm my insides. Good. That single jaw tick is the only indication I have that I’m affecting him like he is me. I want to see it again, so I jerk my hand away from him and step away, making a show of wiping my hand against my thigh like I’m scrubbing away his touch. Law’s eyes narrow. I smile at him when he looks at me.
I’m going to make it so that he can’t stand to look anywhere else.
“Now that the introductions have been made, I think it’s best if we open this to lady’s choice.” Zeus looks around the club that’s still in a state of limbo. People don’t know what to do, but they’re watching us. There’s no music either and servers seem unsure if they should keep supplying drinks to the crowd.
“Too many eyes here. If you’ll all follow me.”
Panic courses through me at going to a new location but I tamp it down and follow dutifully behind him as Zeus leads the way. I expect the men to all fall in behind me but there are men that don’t. One of them, the older man with the blond hair, breaks away from the group to walk beside me.
“You’re a very beautiful woman, Honey Vlahos.”
I bite my lip but keep walking. “Thanks.”
“It’ll make this entire process more bearable, hmm?”
I look at him and nearly stumble at the lust I see in his eyes. I was right, his smile is slimy and dirty. Everywhere he looks at me feels like fingerprints. Like he’s running his hands over me and I cross my arms over my chest.
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“He means making babies won’t be a chore,” another man says. “I agree with him.” He’s on the other side of me. One of the men I picked out as making their money on the streets. He’s dressed flashier than the rest and a gold chain catches the light of the club lights before we enter a hallway and leave the club behind.
I nod at him but don’t say anything, just look ahead and try to walk a little faster, but there’s no shaking the men flanking me. When we enter a room I waste no time going to Zeus’ side. They won’t come near me if he’s there, which is a blessing and a curse, because it shows me very clearly my future laid out in front of me.
These are men that won’t protect me. Not from Zeus and not from themselves. They’ll take the pleasure and power they can from a marriage with me, but give me nothing in return. I’m shaking when Zeus starts to speak again.
“I am so thankful so many of the city’s finest have turned out to vie for my daughter’s hand. You do the Vlahos name honor by making your interests known,” he starts out and the men in the room stand a little taller. I don’t miss the way they broaden their stances and puff their chests out more from Zeus’ words. The only one that doesn’t is Law, because of course he fucking doesn’t. He stands tall and defiant. Hands tucked into his pockets as he watches the room from his place at the back of the group. He isn’t pushing forward like the others to get closer to Zeus and me, but heiswatching me.
Good. He better be fucking watching me for what I’m about to do. My plan is half baked and probably won’t work, but it doesn't mean that I’m not going to attempt it. I won’t go quietly into a marriage with a man whose very eyes on me makes me feel disgusted. I won’t have the children of a man too fucking chicken shit to stand up to Zeus for me. As far as I can see, the entire room is full of nothing but men like this, which leaves me only one option.
I have to marry Lawson Sokolov.
And I hope I make him hate every fucking second of it.
CHAPTERTHIRTEEN
LAW
