Total pages in book: 41
Estimated words: 38439 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 192(@200wpm)___ 154(@250wpm)___ 128(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 38439 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 192(@200wpm)___ 154(@250wpm)___ 128(@300wpm)
“I guess it doesn’t matter,” she said, pulling away from Jezebel and taking the marriage certificate and my mother’s will. Carefully, she refolded them, tucked the marriage certificate back in the now-ripped envelope, then put both of them in her bag. “I’m sorry to have disrupted your day.” Her tone was polite, but her chin trembled and tears glistened in her eyes. I felt like I’d kicked a puppy.
She turned to go when Esther reached out to her, gently turning Hope to face her. “You’re leaving out part of your story, Hope. Did your upbringing have anything to do with Mrs. Wagner’s gesture?”
Hope shrugged. “Yes. Those reasons are my own, though. I promised Mrs. Wagner I’d find her son and try to convince him to make this work. I can see now this was one more fantasy to add to a long list of them.”
“I don’t fuckin’ need this,” I muttered, scrubbing a hand over my face. “Tell me, Hope. What is it that made my mother think she could give me to you?”
Chapter Two
Hope
I grew up in a world where everyone looked down on me, but never in my life had I met someone who disliked me so intensely in so short a time. Every word out of Maximilian “Warlock” Wagner’s mouth was one more knife in my heart. He was destroying my dream and didn’t even care. I knew Mrs. Wagner’s promises were far-fetched and more the musings of an old, regretful woman than anything truly attainable, but she’d convinced me everything would work out. This man hadn’t cared about his mother’s wishes or even the feelings of a woman standing in front of him. Sure, I was naive to have believed Mrs. Wagner’s plan would work, but this man was beyond cruel.
He was also the most gorgeous man I’d ever seen. Tall, thickly built with an abundance of muscle, Warlock had the look of a dangerous man. One who could hurt anyone he took a disliking to if he chose. His hair and beard were mostly white, and there were fine lines around his eyes and his brow, but that was the only indication of his age. Mrs. Wagers said he was forty-nine. The age gap had seemed daunting then. Now, I knew I was in over my head even as I desperately wanted him to claim me as I’d tried to claim him.
I thought about his question. What would make his mother think she could give him to me? “She’d hoped I could bring something to your life. That I could help you make a home and have a happy life.”
“What makes you think I’m not happy with my life, huh? I had an ol’ lady. We weren’t legally married, but in my world we might as well have been.”
That took me by surprise. “I-I’m sorry,” I said. “I’m sure Mrs. Wagner had no idea.”
“Because she refused to talk to me. She knew how to get a hold of me if she wanted to talk. I know because I made sure she did. If she was so concerned about me, she should have called.” He stopped his tirade abruptly, tilting his head as if something occurred to him. “She would have looked into whether or not I was married before she did this. This thing, this whole scheme wasn’t about me. This was about you.”
I bit my lip, not liking his insight. I didn’t want to talk about this anymore. It was uncomfortable and, honestly, why had I expected this would end any other way?
With a shrug, I slung my bag over my shoulder. “It doesn’t matter. This was more than anyone could be expected to handle civilly.” I wanted out of here. “This was a huge mistake, and I apologize to have taken it so far.”
“That’s all well and good, but we’re married. This has to be dealt with.” Maximilian -- Warlock -- didn’t look as furious and frustrated as he had moments ago. I wasn’t fooled, though. This man wanted me gone, but he likely wanted the complication I represented gone even more. Which was our marriage, questionable as it was. It tore my heart out to think about giving up that tie I had to someone. The only tie to another person I’d ever had in my life.
“I can get it annulled on the grounds of fraud, since you didn’t know about it and couldn’t legally consent to it.” The one he’d called Shotgun shrugged, bracing his hands on the back of a nearby couch. “Will take time. Also, it might open her up to legal action from the state. I’ll have to check with Wrath.”
“You can’t do that, Warlock.” Big and scary as he was, Jezebel wasn’t intimidated by Warlock at all. Of course, her husband was even more intimidating than Warlock, so that shouldn’t have surprised me. “Figure something else out.”