Page 63 of Vows In Corruption

“Okay, two years.” My nods are slow, trying to digest the fact that I’m spending two years of my life with this man.

Two years.

It will pass quickly. Two years will be nothing.

Right. It will be nothing.

Apparently, I’m so stuck in my head that Bennett thinks I might pass out so he guides me to the conference table and orders me to take a seat.

“Are you okay?” He asks, concern very distinct in his voice.

“Yeah,” I say looking up at him, a smile that doesn’t reach my eyes on my lips. “I’m just trying to process everything.” I definitely didn’t think that my first board meeting would go like this.

“Before we nail anything down, I want to apologize.”

The way he says the words takes me more by surprised than the words themselves. It’s a complete contrast than the man that was telling me that he craves power.

“Why are you apologizing?” I ask, looking into his eyes and seeing a bit a fear in them.

“Because this is a big ask. Not only with the marriage aspect of things but also with the time that we are going to be dedicated to this. I’m basically asking you to sign away your life to me for two years. ”

Interesting how he doesn’t say that he would be signing his life away to me. He’s making it sound as if for the next two years, I will be his property and his property alone. Wouldn’t the same sentiment fall to me?

Maybe it’s his way of telling me that he can full around during our two years of marriage but I can’t.

I try hard to push down all the weird emotions that were spurred by the thought of Bennett fooling around behind my back, and concentrate on what’s going on in the present.

“This is something I’m agreeing to. There is no reason for you to apologize.” My words come out with a bit of a bite to them and Bennett notices but he chooses to ignore it.

While he doesn’t say anything about my tone, he grabs the notebook that I brought in to the conference room with me and looks back at me when he has it opened to a clean page.

His eyes look into mine and for a second I get lost and forget about what we are about to talk about. And that continues to happen for the next hour or so.

Every time Bennett looks over at me, I find myself trying to find all the different shades of blue and green in his eyes when I should be concentrating on the rules that we are putting together to make this marriage not only work for two years but also seem believable.

Public displays of affection both in public and some small displays while we are in the office. Hand holding whenever possible. Me traveling with him at least eighty percent of the time to make it seem like I can’t be more than two days away from him. Dates at least twice a week in a public space to throw doubt to the naysayers.

Sounds doable.

Doable but there is no doubt in my mind that my heart is going to hate me at the end of the two years.

“Would I be able to tell my sister about this ‘arrangement’? I won’t be able to lie to her for two whole years.” I say as Bennett is writing something down about a family vacation in the next six months.

Apparently that’s what I’m marring into. A family that takes family vacations.

In my whole life I’ve never taken one and now I’m going to be a part of on in six months.

Bennett gives me a nod at my request. “Yes. She’s very much one of the need to know people. My older kids would eat me alive if I held something like this from them and given that they live with me, it would be hard not to explain.”

My eyebrows shoot up a little bit. “Kids?”

He could be talking about his brother’s children, but I could be wrong. Maybe the has a kid that he hasn’t mentioned in the short time that I’ve worked for him.

“Sorry. I meant my niece and nephews. It’s become a habit calling them my kids since it’s easer to explain.”

“I find it sweet.”

I’m rewarded with a smile that I put away for safe keeping.

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