Page 6 of The Grump's Fake Wife

I had stood by and watched him terrorize my family for long enough. It was time to finally do something about it. If my mom wasn’t going to toss Greg out to protect Ella, then I was going to do it.

“Stay here,” I whispered to my sister. I pried her fingers off my arm and rushed to the hall closet, listening to my mother’s cries of pain. I flung the door open and grabbed the black gun case sitting on the floor.

With shaking fingers, I opened the clasps and pulled out the gun. I checked the safety and ran back to the kitchen, the hunk of metal in my hand feeling like it weighed a thousand pounds.

I stood with my back straight and aimed the gun at my stepfather. “Get away from her. Right now.”

He stared at me blankly for a moment, then let out a loud laugh. “Please! Like you’re really gonna shoot me?”

“Don’t think I won’t.” I pulled the hammer, cocking the gun with a click. Despite my trembling knees, my aim was surprisingly steady. My stepfather had no clue I’d started going to the shooting range with the gun he left unlocked in the closet.

And I was getting good.

His face contorted in fury, and he rounded on me. “You little fucking cunt – “

That was all he managed to say before I fired a bullet through the garage door.

I put my aim back on him, my throat tight. “Get the hell out of this house. Or the next one’s going in your head.”

After a moment of starting at me in stupefied terror, Greg scrambled for the door, snatching his keys on the way. I heard him running down the block, tripping over his own feet as he went.

Silence fell over the kitchen. Ella let out a sob. I slid to the floor, the gun held limply in my hands. It was over. It was finally over.

Then I looked up to find my mother’s red, angry face inches from mine. “You idiot, what did you just do?!”

***

"W-what do I need to do?" I ask, shifting uncomfortably in my seat. Being in Gabriel’s office now is just as intimidating as it was the first time. "How does being your fiancée work?"

“You don't need to do much,” he replies. “We just have to make it seem as real as possible.”

“When you say real, you don't mean we have to…” I let my voice trail off as a slight blush creeps up my cheeks.

“To what?” he asks, his mouth tilting with the slightest hint of amusement.

That jerk. He knows exactly what I'm talking about but takes pride in torturing me.

“You know… Do we have to…?”

“Are you asking if we have to have sex?”

“Yes!” I snap, barely resisting the urge to glare at him.It feels like I'm going to die of embarrassment.

“Do you want to?”

I gasp loudly at his scandalous question. "My God, no!"

“Why are you being so prudish?” he asks, an arrogant smirk forming on his handsome face. “It's not like you're a virgin or something.”

My face explodes with a hotness that burns my skin from the inside out. I'd give anything for the ground to swallow me right now.

"Are you?" he questions, his expression morphing into that of shock as he searches my face. Suddenly, his eyes cloud up with a dark emotion that sends tantalizing sparks shooting down my spine.

“My God, Lily…You're a virgin,” he mutters, his voice an octave deeper.Sexier.

“I- I have to go,” I say, standing up shakily. Without waiting for his response, I spin around and head towards the doorway.

He's faster, though. He catches up with me at the door, his large, warm palm covering my hand as I start to turn the knob. I freeze, suddenly unable to breathe. His scent, a heady combination of wood and mint, clouds my senses, rendering me incapacitated for the moment.

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