Page 44 of Sweet Rule
Law’s lip curls when he sees where I’m looking. “We don’t leave until there’s proof.”
My blood runs cold, because how the fuck is Zeus going to get proof that I fucked Law? “W-what do you mean, proof?”
“They want a show.”
I gasp and shake my head, backing up until I hit the wall at my back. “No, it’s not- I mean, he can’t be serious.”
“He is dead serious. Just like the fucker is in all things, Honey.”
“But- ” I swallow, the words getting stuck in my throat and drop my gaze to the floor. “No. I-I’m not going to do it. What the fuck is he even trying to do? I married you. I-I-”
“He knows you’re a stubborn cat, princess and that if he wants a shot at a grandson out of this he’ll make it happen now. Otherwise…” Law’s voice trails off and that makes me look at him. He always chooses his words so carefully.
“What aren’t you saying?” I ask him and then stop when I realize what he just said. “A grandson?”
He nods. Just a quick jerk of his chin. “He’s old fashioned, sweetheart. He wants a male heir.”
Anger simmers in my veins. “Of course, he does,” I whisper. I’m used to not being good enough so I don’t know why this stings, but it does. Of course whatever I did for Zeus wasn’t going to be enough. Nothing was going to be enough, because I’m a woman. It doesn’t matter that I’d chosen him or that I’d agreed to this insane arrangement. It would never be enough because of some archaic bullshit.
“He knows that if we leave here without an attempt made you won’t have a mind to do it later.”
I remember what Law said about me obeying him. That I am his wife. His property. I lift my head and look up at him when I hear the rustle of his clothing. He isn’t watching me, he’s pulling off his suit jacket and tossing it onto the couch beside him. He’s carefully undoing the cufflinks at his cuffs and dropping them with a clatter onto the end table.
“And he knows that you won’t force me,” I finish what he won’t say.
He nods and considers the tie. “Never, Honey. You know that.” He’s talking to me soft and sweet, the way he would when I would wake up in the middle of the night from nightmares that had me gasping for breath and reaching for him. He’d give me what I wanted in those moments, which so often was just to be in his arms until my heart stopped racing. I bite my lip and force the memories away, but it isn’t easy. I feel torn apart, sensitive to everything and put on display. The way Law is making me remember what we had without even trying. How I want it so badly that I can hardly breathe without asking him for it.
What makes all of it hurt the most is that I know that all I have to do is ask him and it will be done. All of this will be over, but I can’t. I don’t know if it’s pride or fear that keeps my jaw clamped shut and my tongue pressed to the back of my teeth. The words I want to say are trapped in my throat.
I clear my throat and toss my hair over my shoulder. “Do I?” I ask in a voice that’s pure acid.
Law’s eyes narrow and the softness goes right out of them. He tilts his head to the side and scrubs a hand across his jaw. “You know what?” he says, as he rolls back the sleeves of his dress shirt in meticulous movements.
“What?” I ask like an idiot, because I can’t not take the bait he’s dangling in front of me.
He smiles and he works on his sleeves, eyes on me. The blue there is darker. It’s so beautiful. “I was going to say that I’m sorry about all of this, but I think I’m going to enjoy teaching you a fucking lesson tonight.”
Warmth spreads through me again. It’s back, licking up my body and skin, setting me on fire with each second that we stare at each other.
“And if I told you no?” I ask him.
He clicks his tongue and shakes his head. “Oh, Honey. We both know you wouldn’t fucking dare do that. This is exactly what you want and so long as you don’t tell me no, it’s going to happen. Which means you don’t have to hate yourself for being weak.”
His words cut me to the quick and I blink at the burn of tears that threaten to fall from my eyes. Law knows me. His words are exactly what’s going through my mind, but hearing him say them? Fucking ouch.
It’s a direct hit that has me reeling and feeling just a little bit pathetic that I’m going to go along with what Zeus wants, because it means that I can have Law guilt free. If the choice isn’t mine, if it’s a price that I’m paying for ruining my mother to her foundation, then there’s no way out of it, right?
There’s no way that I’ll have to look at myself in the morning and get mad that I wasn’t able to walk away from a night with Law.
I’m the one to look away first. “You’ve got me all figured out then, huh?” I ask him quietly.
“I do.”
“Then you know I won’t make it easy.”
He chuckles. The sound of it is dark and warm, so sweet that it makes me think of the syrup I’d pour over my pancakes at the shit hole roadside diners my mother and I had breakfast in when she was chasing a new gig. Those were good mornings. The alternative was no breakfast, or whatever I could scrounge up in the motel we were in, but when we were on the road there were always pancakes with syrup that made my teeth and belly ache when I had too much to eat. Law’s voice is like that now. I know I shouldn’t be having this conversation. That all of this is insane, but I’m going through with it anyways. I’m not going to stop, even though I abso-fucking-lutely should.
“If you did I’d be disappointed, princess.”
