Page 24 of Souls and Sorrows

I can’t tell if that’s a good thing or not.

7

Of course she runs.

I don’t know why I expected anything less.

I’ve had approximately ten minutes to process the consequences of my impulsive action. Ariana had thirty seconds, and several of those were spent being touched and degraded by a man the state prosecutor’s office has been trying to convict withsomethingfor the last decade.

Blinking at the space she occupied moments ago, I wonder if ten minutes is even long enough to fully absorb what I’ve done. In those six hundred seconds, I’ve managed to sign away a fraction of my inheritance and freedom, all because I didn’t like the idea of someone else claiming Ricci Inc.

At least, that’s what I’ve spent the majority of this time convincing myself of.

The alternative—that I’m as helpless to my impulses and desires as Lenny or even my father—is too grim to indulge.

Married.

What the fuck was I thinking, saying yes? Even when they brought me to a small office off the back of the building, where I signed the license, and they somehow superimposed Ariana’s signature on the document despite her seeming to be unaware of the result of this auction—even then, when the notary and the witness asked not once, buttwice, if I was sure I wanted her—I said yes.

Bound myself legally to a woman I don’t even know, and for what?

More money?

When will it ever be enough?

Ermes smirks at me as he sits forward, sticking his cigar between the lips of the blonde at his left foot. “She’s your problem now.”

His tone makes my veins vibrate with irritation.

“Perhaps seeing her as such is what drove her to be one in the first place.”

His smirk widens, creating a dimple in his cheek. “A noble sentiment, but way off the mark. That littlegattinawas trouble the moment she came screaming out of her mother’s hole, like she was desperate to get away. Born without a lick of loyalty in her blood.”

“Which is bad for business,” the announcer from before says, crossing his stocky arms over his chest. “Probably why her parents never trusted her with anything.”

“But now, she’s the only Ricci left in the city.” Ermes narrows his beady eyes. “And with Rafe in prison, she’s the access point to their fortune.”

“The fortune the government seized six years ago in their asset forfeiture?”

“Ah,” Ermes says, snapping his fingers. “Andwhobetter to find a loophole to release the money than an attorney?”

I don’t respond because their truth is much simpler than the reality, although I can’t believe he thinks it’sjustabout money for me. With money, there’s power, and I want my father rolling over in his grave when his ghost realizes I have more than he could have ever dreamed of.

“Ticktock, Primrose.” Ermes removes his cigar from the blonde’s mouth, tapping the butt on the tip of her nose so some ash falls to the floor. “Better go find your bride before someone else does.”

Leaving him there to continue using the two dancers as glorified ashtrays, I make my way to the front of Anteros, where Jay is waiting by the entrance with a stupid grin on his face.

“Not a goddamn word,” I warn, sweeping past him before he can say something idiotic.

Unfortunately, he follows me onto the street and gets in the way as I scan it for a woman in nothing but lingerie and a collar.

“I couldn’t have made this up in my wildest fucking fantasies,” he says, bouncing on his heels.

“Fantasize about me a lot there, Cupid?”

“Can you blame me? The amount of money you’ve made the firm in the last few years would be enough to get any dick hard.”

Rolling my eyes, I pull my phone from the breast pocket of my jacket, shooting a text to Zephyr even though I’m sure she’s asleep right now in her downtown studio apartment. The message is a simple request to scan the surrounding blocks for my runaway bride, and I suppress a smile when she doesn’t question it.

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