Page 26 of When the Last One Falls
“Why?” I asked. “You told your father that we were going to be married in name only. What happened to that plan? Why do you all the sudden care about the integrity of wedding vows that you took with a complete stranger?”
“I only said that shit to piss off my father,” he replied. “I wanted him to know that he was not going to control the narrative of my marriage, even if he does feel like he has a say in it. You were never meant to hear that shit, Keris.”
“Oh, I bet I wasn’t,” I scoffed.
“The truth doesn’t change, whether you choose to believe it or not,” he said. “We’re married, and ours will be a traditional marriage where you might not love me, but we will live together, share a life together, and have children together.”
My eyes flashed up at him. “Voicing demands doesn’t make them come true, Brantley.”
“What are you so fucking mad at?” he asked. “You’re treating me like I’m the one that dragged you in front of that minister, and I wasn’t,” he reminded me. “As for that shit with my father and that bullshit that Ares told you, none of that was true. Ares Cormac and I are bitter rivals, though we’ve always done our best to remain as professional as possible.” He straightened his back as he stared down at me. “However, all that came to an end last week when he got personal with you.”
“How did he know that we were married?” I asked. “How did he know about Rochelle if you guys aren’t friends?”
“Just like I keep tabs on Ares, I’m sure that he keeps tabs on me,” Brantley answered. “Our marriage is public record, so it wouldn’t be all that difficult to get wind of it. As for Rochelle, we weren’t exclusive, Keris. I have no doubt that she probably closed a lot of business deals for a lot of men in this city. That’s what she likes, that’s her thing. You’re placing way too much importance on a woman that never mattered to begin with.”
I hated how much I wanted to believe him. I hated how I kept remembering how he felt last week. I hated how my body was still clenching from his little stunt in my bedroom earlier. I hated how I didn’t want to be miserable for the rest of my life. If Brantley had wanted to be married on paper only, I could make a life out of that. However, since he was determined to live as a married couple, did I really want to be fighting with him every day? God, the thought felt so exhausting. No matter what, Huntley was right about Brantley never divorcing me. Civil or not, no man in his right mind would give up control of those damn mines, so that left me at a crossroads. Right now, in this moment, I needed to make a decision about my marriage and what kind of life I wanted, and that pressure felt heavy as hell.
Before I could say anything, Darius and Lorna Kingston approached us, and I finished off the rest of my champagne versus throwing it in Darius’ face. Sure, my parents were to blame for all this, but Darius wasn’t exactly innocent himself.
“After that debacle last week, I think it’s best if you two start looking like a loving married couple as opposed to two individuals who hate each other,” he clipped out, and the man had nerve, that was for sure. “Everyone is watching.”
“Your son just had his hand on my breast earlier, Darius,” I responded tightly. “How much more loving would you like us to get? Would Brantley flipping up my dress and screwing me in front of all your employees do it for you?”
“No need to be crude,” Lorna Kingston hissed. “Your marriage affects us all.”
“No, it doesn’t,” Brantley stated. “My marriage is none of your business, Mother. We did what was asked of us, the rest of it is none of your concern.”
“Appearances need to be kept up-”
“Screw this,” I said before walking away from their disfunction. Granted, I had no room to talk because my family was obviously just as screwed up, but at least they had the decency not to harass me about the clusterfuck that they’d place me in the middle of.
Depositing the empty champagne flute on a passing tray, I searched for the women’s restroom, not necessarily to hide, though that was debatable. I just needed a moment. I didn’t want Darius Kingston butting his nose into my marriage any more than Brantley wanted him to, and I could see how that would put us on the same side.
Shutting the door behind me, I didn’t even care if someone was in here. Let them see me having a mental meltdown. People were already talking about my marriage to Brantley, so what was one more thing to talk about?
Looking in the mirror, it wasn’t lost on me how I kept finding myself searching for solace in the restroom whenever Brantley and I were in public. I needed to reinforce my backbone if I was going to keep doing this. Being Keris Kingston wasn’t going to be easy, especially since I didn’t really want to be.
When the door opened, my entire body froze when blue eyes clashed with mine in the mirror.
Chapter 18
Brantley~
Refusing to make the same mistake that I’d had last week, I immediately chased after my wife, leaving my parents to go eat a dick on their appearances bullshit. Even though I was used to their shit, Keris wasn’t, and if I didn’t find a way to make things work with her, then I was in for a miserable fucking life, and I refused to let that happened.
Watching my parents care about appearances more than reality was the reason behind my determination to honor my wedding vows. While I didn’t expect love, I was not going to be the husband that paraded a huge line of mistresses behind him. I also wasn’t going to be the husband that turned a blind eye to his wife’s conquests. Even if I didn’t want to make sure that my children were really mine, sharing Keris with other men was out of the question.
“What are you doing in here?”
“Doing what I should have done last week,” I answered honestly.
She turned from the mirror to face me. “Chase me into the women’s restroom?” I stepped forward, and Keris immediately straightened, getting into her battle stance. “What are you doing, Brantley?”
“Doing what I should have done last week,” I repeated.
Her chin came up. “And what’s that?” I grabbed her by her hips, then placed her sexy ass on the countertop. “Brant…Brantley, what are you…you doing?”
Staring into her green eyes, I asked, “Are you still wet from earlier?” Her breath hitched, and if this was what I had to do to make her come to heel, then I was going to keep my dick buried in her every free moment that I got. “Can you still feel my fingers?”
