"Are you guys seriously demanding I marry a man I've never even met before?" I asked my parents in disbelief. This had to be some kind of joke. "Are you seriously trying to sell me off? That was basically what they were doing, asking me to get married into the Monroe family just so they could strike up a partnership and make a ton of money. "Try to understand, Cassie," my mother consoled me in her singsong voice, lightly touching my shoulders. "You can leave him after the partnership is over, you know. If your father loses this opportunity, everything we've ever worked so hard for will all be gone in an instant. Don't think of it as us trying to sell you off. Think of it as a way to repay us for all we've provided for you." I pushed her hands away from me in both surprise and disgust. I knew my mother was shallow, but hearing her say those words out loud just angered me to another degree. "All you've provided for me? Last I remember, you're my parents and I'm your responsibility. I

"Go ahead," I prodded. "Speak." The maid fidgeted with her uniform, turning away from me. "Ma'am, I…""You what?" I was getting impatient."She just began working here a few months ago, ma'am," an older maid walked up to me with an automatic smile on her face. She gave the maid sitting down a sour look and she quickly got up, curtsied, and left the table. None of this felt right. I understood some families still had live-in maids, but I didn't like the way they acted like they didn't have free will. First an arranged marriage and now this? Did I get transported to the seventeenth century without knowing? "The young master is a very lovely man, my lady. I promise you will enjoy every bit of your marriage," she began, beaming, but her smile was not authentic. I frowned. That wasn't really what I wanted to hear. I didn't want her humble praise for her 'master'. I just wanted the actual truth. "How does he treat you?" I asked, deciding I had to be more specific if I was ever getti

"Can you at least tell me what you're talking about?" I asked, following as he left the room. I couldn't understand this man and neither could I understand why I was following him. I had been so terrified when he had me pinned against the wall and now I was following him now he'd finally set me free. "That's none of your business," he said, waving a hand at me, not even bothering to look back."Really? You just said I'll do. Do for what exactly? I have a right to be concerned, you know. People don't just randomly tell me I'll do without at least giving me some extra info on what exactly I'd do for…"He was too quick for me. Or maybe I was just too busy talking to notice when he moved. I was underneath him, forced to look up into his face which was only about an inch away from mine. Somehow I was floating. He was holding my back. I couldn't move. I was too close. We were too close. I could smell him. My heart was pounding in my chest, a feeling I couldn't particularly describe swell

Everywhere fell silent, the only voice being that of my father cussing and asking Davis to let him go. But Davis didn't. My father who I'd always respected and almost even feared was being pinned down and humiliated by the man he'd made me marry. How ironic. "Let him go, this instant!" My mother quipped, coming into view. Her voice was firm but she stood at a distance, her hand which was holding a glass of wine shaking slightly as she watched Davis. Sometimes I felt bad for her. She was the one who had to stand up for my dad and clean up after his mess whenever he drank too much and made a fool out of himself. Just like now. "Don't mind him. I'll fucking kill him once I get myself unentangled!" My father responded, trying but failing to get himself loose. This was so embarrassing. I wish I hadn't come here. "Please," I whispered, a sick feeling coming to my stomach. "Let him go." I saw an expression that could pass for pity pass through Davis' eyes before he finally let him go

Cassie's POVThe day had not even begun but everything was already going crazy. How had I gone from sneaking into my new husband's house in the dark to trying to avoid blows from the aforementioned husband's girlfriend? Not to mention his earlier proposal of our consummating the sham marriage. That had surprised me beyond words. But what had surprised me more than anything was the fact that I wasn't as bothered about it. In fact, a part of me began to imagine it; his lips on mine, his body on mine doing all those explicit things I'd read in steamy romance novels. I'd never experienced it before, since Kayden and I were traditional and were waiting until we got married, but that didn't mean the thought didn't come every once in a while. Unfortunately, Davis had caught up on that. He had to be a psychologist because there was no other possible explanation for how he could read my exact thoughts and pick up on my body language. I'd been curious and almost willing to see what he wou