Chapter Three

Lily

When I tell Dana about my new "job," she's happy for me. "It should be easy at least, right? After all, you're just pretending. In the meantime, you can focus on finding a regular job."

"I guess," I grumble, scrubbing our old frying pan with excessive force. "He's just such a jerk! I can't believe I have to pretend to be married to a man like that!"

"I know." She gently pulls the pan out of my hands to rinse, dry, and shelve it. "Just focus on the positive. Is he at least good-looking?"

I hope she can't see me blushing. "You could probably say that."

She shrugs. "Then maybe it won't be so bad. You get to help your sister, you get to go to fancy parties with a handsome guy, and you might even get a nice dress or two out of it. It may not be ideal, but it's not the worst way to make money."

I sigh. She's right about that. I'd marry Gabriel Foster ten times over if it meant saving Ella.

Dana must know where my thoughts have gone, because she asks, "How's she doing?"

"I still haven't been able to talk to her." I swallow around the lump in my throat. "Mom called to say she got the money, though. So at least I know that's been taken care of."

Dana wraps an arm around my shoulders and gives me a squeeze. "You're amazing, Lily. Your family's so lucky to have you."

My stomach turns. If only they felt that way.

That night, I relive the worst moment of my life in my dreams – the way I do every night.

It's all just as clear as it was the first time: my stepfather, drunk and raging; my mother, covering her terror with a snarl; and my poor sister, already sick and feeble, hiding from our stepfather's blows under the kitchen table.

No matter how many times it happened – and it happened plenty – it was still utterly nightmarish. I felt so helpless clutching onto my trembling sister, watching the man who attacked us at least once a week bear down on our mother.

"You dumb bitch!" he slurred. He fumbled for my mother's wrist and missed. "Don't you know how much better I could do than you? You're lucky to have me!"

"Oh, please. You're drunk!" she snapped, backing into the fridge. "Just get to bed. You'll be fine tomorrow."

"Goddammit, woman, don't you talk down to me!" He grabbed the front of her shirt with one hand. The other curled into a fist.

Ella sobbed into my neck. "I'm scared, Lil," she whispered.

I felt something break inside me.

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.

Looking at him so up close, I realize how handsome he is all over again. Our faces are inches apart, his breath hot against my skin. I drop my gaze quickly, clenching my fist against the sudden urge to trail my fingers over the sensual curve of his lips.

"W-what are you doing?" I stutter, looking anywhere but his face.

"What else? I'm stopping you from walking out on me again. Look at me, Lilly. Please," he adds when I don't oblige.

I raise my eyes to him, and I'm surprised to see the gentleness on his face.

"I'm sorry," he says softly. "I didn't mean to embarrass you. We don't have to do anything you don't want to. Besides, being a virgin is nothing to be embarrassed of. It makes you even more special."

I blink at him in surprise. I can't believe someone like Gabriel Foster just apologized and called me special in the same breath. Maybe I judged him too soon?

"Thank you, I guess…" I mutter, wondering what he could be playing at. "Can I go now?"

"Not until you have dinner with me."

"Dinner?"

"Yes, Lily," he replies, his lips tilting in that arrogant smile that I'm beginning to associate with him. "Your duties as my fiancée start now."