Page 13 of Sleepless Pact

“When you have money, that tends to happen.”I stare up at him as a knot forms in my stomach.

I didn’t know he had money at first, but I guess he could say that I’ve done that to him.Guilt starts to fill me.There’s no way to fix this right now, so I decide to do us both a favor and change the subject.

“Why don’t we find something to read?”I turn my attention to one of the bookshelves as Phillip keeps a hold of my hand.

Why is my touch so different to him?I’m not really his wife and he doesn’t know me.

“Audrey—” It feels like there’s something more that’s going to come after he says my name, but his phone starts to ring and interrupts him.

When Phillip releases my hand to take his phone out, I move down the aisle of books.I manage to watch him out of the corner of my eye, and when I see him clear the call, it makes me curious.Then it starts to ring again, and he lets out a curse under his breath before answering it.

“What?”he snaps into the phone.

That’s when I can’t help but wonder which side of Phillip is the real one.

ChapterTen

PHILLIP

“I’m sorry to interrupt you, Mr.Howard, but this is important,” David says, and I glance over at Audrey.

“Talk,” I tell him as I watch Audrey move down the aisle.She’s pretending to look at books, but she’s got her eyes on me.

At first when I saw the number flash across my screen, I assumed it was the normal weekly report from my head of security.If I’m busy or don’t answer his call, I send it voicemail and he knows I’ll return the call when I have time.

As someone who formerly worked for the mafia and still has ties to some of the heads of houses, I can’t be too careful.David is in charge of all of my security, and it’s his job to watch my back.If there’s trouble, he’s the man that sees it coming my way, so the fact that he’s calling me twice isn’t good.

“We’ve been getting a lot of calls to the number on your wife’s phone.”He clears his throat, and I’m sure he’s trying his best not to ask a lot of questions.

Like why do I all of a sudden have a wife out of nowhere?Who also happens to be a total stranger to me and to him.Normally anyone who is going to be around me more than once is vetted, but Audrey literally walked in off the street.I guess technically I carried her, but those are unimportant details.

“And?”I assumed someone would come looking for her.It was clear from the state of Audrey when I found her that she was being neglected with food but otherwise okay.She was clean and didn’t appear to be living on the street.Her clothes were dated but still new, and her shoes weren’t worn out like she’d been walking for weeks or even days.

“We’ve discovered that it’s not actually your wife’s phone.”

My eyes move to Audrey, who has opened a book and is now scanning the page.Did she steal the phone she had on her when I found her in the street?What the hell was she running from?

“I finally got the account information, and it looks like it belongs to a Claire Rose.According to the birthday on the account, we can assume it’s most likely her mother.”

“I see,” I say, and Audrey flinches ever so slightly.“Anything else?”

“Yes, that’s the reason for my call.It appears someone has been geo-tracking the device.We’ve got it in the same building as your penthouse, and we’ve been monitoring the cameras.There has been some suspicious activity outside the building since yesterday.”

One of the floors in my building downtown houses my security team’s offices.It’s where I took the phone when we got home.I told David to find out who she was and where she came from, but now this information has only brought on more questions.

“Do you know who it is?”I whisper into the phone as my eyes move down Audrey’s body and I think about what I did to her this morning.It’s not my fault I keep losing focus.There’s something about her that calls to me and drives me mad with need.

“No, we've been unable to identify the person or people who are lingering around the building.”He sighs, and I can picture him sitting in his office rubbing his forehead with stress.Keeping me safe isn’t exactly an easy job.“I am strongly recommending for your safety that we shut off the phone and destroy it.”

“No,” I answer, and I hear his hum of frustration.

“Mr.Howard, this is for your safety and the safety of your new bride.We have no idea who these people are or what they want.I think it’s best we do not give them any indication of where you are.Perhaps it would be a better idea to visit another home for a few days?”When I don’t answer right away, he pushes on.“Someone could have seen you already and is watching you right now.”

Part of me respects David for not trying to run my life and even offering a solution.But I’ve never done things the easy way, and I’m not sure I’m ready to start now.Yes, taking Audrey to another location would keep her safe, but with my security team and me constantly by her side, I know that nothing will happen to her.

Knowing that she’s come into my life under mysterious circumstances should have me on edge, but instead I’m leaning into the chaos.I want whoever is after my wife to get it over with.I won’t have her constantly living in fear of what’s around the corner, so I’m going to tackle this head-on.

In the meantime, I’m going to bind her to me in every way possible.I lick my lips as I watch her move and think of all the ways I’m going to do that.Enough holding back.If she’s going to pretend to be my wife, then she can fulfill her wifely duties.It’s time she opened her legs and earned her keep.

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