Christian's Bride (The Bargain)

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as usual. His Armani gray suit gave more compliments to his color but why did my heart feel like jump

ather thundered while his mother did a once over at

time obviously" she

unshed tears and I wasn't sure what I would be like after all this humiliation was done. I

moring in the church heightened—

system. I heard him clearly and so did every other person in the church but none of us moved. Was he cluel

hould I do? Should I go after him? For fucks sake why would anybody show

do to make Mrs. Macaroni West hate me this much? From pouring drinks on my body to…. I broke out of my reverie from the sound of someone hearing their throat. Thea subtly pinched me to get my attention. I looked up and saw bo

salvage the last of my dignity but… the atmosphere was thick and the tension palpable. I was anx

love and to cherish, to have and to hold for better or worse, from richer to poorer, in sickne

I ignored it. The audience was going wild in murmurs and Mrs. West was having the time of her life, as she watched me repeatedly make a fool of myself. The atmospher

ght out a piece of neatly folded paper from his pocket before flas

arted but broke off to remove a neatly folded paper from his pocket. Was that proper

look at me

. ``His voice was baritone and so husky, kissing away every form of anger and embarrassment I felt before now. God, I never knew he could be this sweet. I slightly turned to look at Thea and she had this "this wasn't what I wa

r you" he looked up from the paper and held my gaze. "I'm sorry it took this long to realize this, but I can't continue with this facade. What

? I would hear whispers and uproar b

proposal but you were so clingy and hung up on me… I didn't even know h

of a joke

o me" my voice was tiny yet ca

ry you, Alexis Marie L

**

but now, here I was, up here on this high roof ready to end my disgusting life. Disgusting because my life right now was unbearable, uncomfortable, and saddening—rumors are supposed to end but after t

oor to the terrace was just shoved open so hard. The door slammed shut again and footsteps moved swiftly across the deck. I don’t e

ng my head against the stucco wall behind m

thing I made out of his features was his height—even leaning over the rail, I could tell he was ta

ontemplations about ending his life just like me. Maybe we

around and kicked one of t

. Rather than give way beneath the blunt force of his foot, all the chair did is scoot fa

I noticed for the first time how his shirt didn’t fit him very well around his biceps. It fits him everywhere else, but his arms are huge. His sleeves were rolled up to reveal his tattoo

noticed me on the exhale. He stopped walking the second our eyes met. His

ey slowly dragged over my body without revealing a single thought other than shock. His gaze was n

e will penetrate past my ears and reverberate straight down through my body. He had one of those voices. Deep, confident, creamy, and… what the fuck?

It sounded too weak to even reach his ears fr

tighter. He glanced at my p

t. Up. Here” he spat, gritting his teeth as though my sight was the most irritable

ut I woke up to find myself here” I replied in a pouty-cringy little voice.

uicide on my property and you dare joke about it in my face?” He m

someone's property would probably take more than three m

he fuck up a

hopped down and wiped my hands across my je

ing his breath. I passed him to head for the side of the roof with a better

e is an

lding that overlooked the street, I leaned forward and stared down at the cars below, trying not to appear impressed by him. I could tell by his haircut alone that he was the kind of man people are

property—my private property with high security. How did you get here?" His voice was a drug in itself. I wanted to apologize and explai

eyebrow, waiting for me to talk sense and after weighing my behavior, I thought it would be best if I did. “I wanted fre

no guards wh

from my eyes and I quickly wiped it off. Something about his

need fresh ai

t is best if I leave your property. I'm sorry for imposing” I made to leave but got pulled back by a strong arm and collided with a hard chest. Raw electrifying surges gushed through my body from the contact that I almost lost my bearing. I look

h to speak but m

t with some bottle of shots or shouts? Instead of letting it out to the universe that wouldn't spare two f