Page 29 of Claiming His Wife
“Thanks for saying that.” She smiled. His heart soared.
“You don’t have to thank me. I am damn proud of you and your accomplishments. Don’t forget to take some time out for yourself, though. Being around too much sadness can take a toll,” he advised. She looked up into his eyes, her dark eyes turning light.
“Thanks Finn.” They continued staring into each other’s eyes for a while until she relented and averted her now sad gaze, breaking their eye contact.
Damn propriety,Finn dragged her by the hand and away from the dance floor. They stepped out of the restaurant and into the balcony hidden by long curtains that effectively shielded them from prying eyes. It was empty as well.
“Tell me: what’s going on?”
***
The light from inside provided the balcony with a soft intimate glow. She turned to face Finn and could see the concern etched on his face. She instantly regretted her behavior at dinner. He’d done nothing but sing her praises since they’d last met and she was a brat during supper. Granted, she was salty about him inviting himself, but it was no reason to be rude.
“I’m sorry about my behavior during dinner.”
He told her that she didn’t need to apologize for that and asked that she tell him the reason she had suddenly become sad.
“I’m just worried about my sister. I can tell she’s been through something and I would like the chance to make up for not being there for her.”
“I’m sure your sister will appreciate it but listen to me babe: You can’t be hard on yourself. You have your own issues to deal with and I’m positive your sister understands that. If she didn’t, she wouldn’t be spending so much time with you now.” He was right she knew, but the guilt still ate at her.
“She seemed happy tonight, didn’t she?” She asked him.
“She seemed in good spirits, plus I really did enjoy our dinner conversation.”
“I noticed.”
They remained in comfortable silence for a bit until she finally said, “Anderson sisters. Screwed up by their parents. Doomed from birth to always be used by them. They sacrificed their first daughter and God only knows what they did to the second.”
“There was no sacrifice,” he responded trying to convince her.
Of course he would defend them. “Have you forgotten that I had no say in the direction of my life?”
“I loved you Lilah. I still do. I had always planned on getting married to you and it wasn’t for any other reason except solely for love. Your father found out about our relationship; I don’t know how he did, but he had called me for a meeting and asked me if we were seeing each other, I told him that not only were we in love but I would propose to you soon. At the time I thought he would fire me or tell me to stay away from you, however he told me how pleased he was his business would remain in the family and that after our wedding he’d give me the position of COO of the company. I agreed with the offer simply because I wanted to be able to provide for my wife after our wedding.”
“Really?” she asked coldly.
“Yes really. We were in love and I wanted to make you mine in every sense of the word.”
“That doesn’t make sense. I heard my father say that you would get the company after you married me.” She answered airily without bothering to look at him. She moved to the balcony railing and leaned against it lightly as she looked at the city’s light shimmering over the water.Could all of what he’d just said be the truth?Did she disrupt their lives over her own misunderstandings? She didn’t want to admit defeat.
“After I told him that I loved you and would marry you,” he insisted.
She couldn’t believe it. She refused to think about what his words could mean if this was in fact true.
***
“Was it so bad marrying the man you were in love with?” As soon as he said the words, he realized he didn’t want to know the answer.
“It was hell in the beginning after we got married. You know for a while I couldn’t believe that you would use me to get what you wanted. I had never hated a person as much as I hated you on our wedding day and then the days, weeks and months that followed.” She returned calmly and that scared him. He couldn’t believe she loathed him that much. He was also aware that she didn’t say years.
“Kalilah.” His voice was slightly raised in a warning.
“No, I need to get it off my chest.”
“Go ahead,” he offered and waited for the blows to land.
They fell with expert aim. “I hope it’s been enough Mister COO, I hear all about your work and how well you handle the company you got as a dowry for marrying the first Anderson daughter. I hope it has satisfied you.”
