AMY'S POV I barely let Xiao get me out of the outfit and wipe the makeup off me before I kicked her out. She insisted on helping me remove the million pins that held my hair in place, but I was no longer in the mood to be around anyone, and at the risk of sounding like an asshole, I gently took her by the hands and walked her to the door. I slid down to the floor against the door and stayed there. I was too tired to do anything except focus on taking my next breath. Strangely enough, I was devoid of any thoughts. I had used them all trying not to bolt from the wedding and making sure my smile didn't slip. I drifted off to sleep right there. I spent my first night as a married woman and as a Luna on the bedroom floor. This morning, I woke up with knots the size of a Bantu in my neck. I got up and went straight into the bathroom. I finally took up the pins in my head, shaking my hair free. I stared at my reflection in the mirror and decided that I couldn't live this way for the res
LIAM'S POV I had gotten out of the warehouse with a lighter weight on my chest. I returned to the office in a better mood. Reid had returned about an hour later, and we were working on some of the work we ought to have done."Now, I know how to ease you out of a bad mood." I simply grinned at him, not wanting to remember the reason I was in a bad mood in the first place when he brought it up. "Do you want to talk about why you were in a bad mood in the first place?""No." I said briskly, but that didn't deter him. He was a persistent fucker."Perhaps your wife?""Soon-to-be." I growled as if that made any difference, but I would do anything to deflect.He shrugged, then said, "I'm just saying that we have to be more careful in our dealings. We can't afford to have a weakness.""She is not a weakness." I almost snapped at him, and I barely restrained myself. This was the exact type of thing he was talking about. He raised a single brow as if to say point proven. He dropped it then, a
AMY'S POV As I stared at this Grace woman, I realized that I was feeling a lot of things at once. First, it was relief that she was not his girlfriend, and then disbelief that I was jealous. Second, I was hurt that his sister hated me on sight, and then, disbelief that it hurt because I wasn't planning on being here for a long time, no? I also realized that I would have to fight this woman all by myself, and I knew I didn't have the strength for that. So I shoved all those emotions down and settled for cool indifference. "He has never mentioned you, so I guess you aren't all that important. Also, if you have a problem with it, you should take it up with your brother, don't you think?" I said coolly. Xiao stifled a laugh, but it still slipped out. I had no idea I could be this catty, but some people just seemed to bring out the worst in you. Her glare froze. She wasn't expecting me to say anything. She recovered and turned her furious gaze to Xiao. "You're going to pay for this."
AMY'S POV I woke up this morning with a faint memory and a feeling that something was deeply wrong somewhere. I just had to put my hands on it. Since when did I have sheets this nice and a heavy duvet to keep me warm and covered? Suddenly, it slammed into me like a freight train. It wasn't the sheets or the duvet. It was everything. Everything was wrong with it because I wasn't in my house. And the reason I was not in my house was because I had been sold to Liam Arlington by my own mother. The betrayal clawed at my throat until tears welled up in my eyes. How my life always ended in situations like this was beyond me. How did I even manage to be here? My head ached with all the tantrums I threw yesterday. I screamed so much that my voice went hoarse, and I no longer had the energy to talk. My wolf, on the other hand, wasn't helping matters at all. It purred and preened like we had found the greatest thing to ever happen to us instead of this disaster we were in. I wondered if m
LIAM'S POV The brief interaction I had with Amy in her room this morning stayed with me all morning. I didn't know what to make of it or what to do with it. It haunted me.Something about the way she said those words broke my heart. She was not acting or pretending. She was at her most vulnerable while she was sleeping when she said those words. "I liked you, but I hate what you did to me." The way she worded it was even more interesting. She liked me. Did she pine over me after I left? Did she try to look for me? What happened that made her hate me? What changed? It couldn't solely be because I ghosted her because it wasn't intentional, and she would know that if she would let me explain. Or it was the money.If it would help her look at me like she did that night at the club, I would hunt her mother down and let her pay back every last cent she owed me.I got ready for work distracted, and my wolf was even more tense than this morning before my run. Only Amy had the power to infl
LIAM'S POV The first thought that pops into my head when I wake up this morning is that I'm closer to happiness than ever. Before Amy popped up in my life, I had never stopped to think about whether I was happy or not. I make goals, and I go after them with the ruthlessness they deserve. More often than not, I achieve my goals, and there's a sweet relief that comes from it. Another notch to my bedpost.Now, I wake up and think about all the ways we could be together. All the ways I could make her happy, only if she would let me. I sighed in relief at the thought of her under my roof. She was now under my protection, even if she didn't know it yet.Something had changed about her in the one month we were apart. The first night I saved her, I knew she was trouble. The night at the club, I found that there was a sadness in her eyes. A sadness that made my protective instinct kick in and made my wolf want to protect her.Now, though, the sadness had given way to something even more darke