The Billionaire’s Bargain Bride

First Fight

CENRIC

Having a constant raging hard-on was a motherfucker. And now she thought I didn’t want to fuck her. She didn’t have any idea what I did to control this urge to stop myself from taking her wherever I wanted. Now that she was in period, the struggle was far more severe. What is one week I can’t handle? Easy peasy. But it was a lie.

“I want to work.”

I focused my mind on the tv screen. Cooper just lost a few decades, and it was that one of his team was getting older while he only got a few hours older.

“Cenric.”

“I heard you, babe.”

“That’s good.”

“Not until I settle out with your brother. You’re still not safe.”

“If I get an office job, he has to go through a security guard before he can get into me. Devin will send and pick me up after work.”

I completely understood that she wanted to work. She had been going through a rough patch for years in the hands of her brother, but not until I accomplished my plan.

“Still.”ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

“Still what?” Her voice raised.

I paused the movie. “Look what happened earlier and look at your arms. And what exactly did he say to you before Devin found he was choking the hell out of you?”

She looked at the tv screen and shrugged. “Nothing.” She was lying. I was unsure if she was protecting her brother or scared of the repercussion if she told me.

“I know that you’re hiding something from me, Sadie. And I know you’re terrified to tell me, and you might as well have said something that provoked your brother for him to do something like that.”

“It wasn’t the first or the third. If Jasper liked to hit something, instead of hitting the punching bag, he came to me instead.”

“Fucking asshole.” I vibrated with anger. My teeth ached to how hard I tried not to scream in front of her.

“My family has been like this so long I can remember. And I’m still dazzled, and I didn’t know why of all the women, gorgeous and sexy, who treated you like a god, you didn’t choose one of them.”

“That’s absurd.”

“That’s how I see it.”

“For the love of God, Sadie. Stop being so insecure about yourself. And it’s hard to figure out someone with intentions. They know how to mask their emotions. When you think you’re in love with them, that’s the time you realize that they’re only after something. And you’re beautiful enough. You’re more than enough that I don’t even deserve someone like you.”

“You can’t say something like that to me when I want a job.”

“You will get a job. I’m working on it.” My expression turned sour. She wouldn’t drop this subject until she got what she wanted. And it fucking annoyed me.

She rose to her feet. “Cenric, I don’t want your influence to land a job. I want to find my own. You should be thanking me that I tell you first before I started working.”

“Just trust me on this.”

“I trust you, but let me do this on my own.”

I sighed. My patient was running thinner and thinner. “I know why you’re doing this. You keep in mind of paying back that money your family owed me.”

“I don’t care about that anymore. I know I can’t pay it, and I’m not responsible for that, but I’m sick at home. I want to do something for myself. I want to do something productive, meet deadlines, talk to someone in the office or even waitstaff. I’ll take it.”

“Don’t make me repeat, again and again, Sadie. Just give a few weeks.”

“God!” She threw her hands in the air. “You’re unbelievable! Why don’t you just lock me up in the attic or one of your properties if you’re just going to treat me like this?”

I played the movie. “We’ll talk about this tomorrow, okay?”

“No, we’re not. We’re going to talk it tonight or never.”

I was horny, annoyed, and pissed off. I didn’t know if I chose to punch a wall or bend her over and take her hard until I lost my rage.

“Don’t provoke me,” I muttered calmly.

“I’m not provoking you. What’s so hard to give me a little bit of my freedom to work?”

I raised my gaze at her. “Did I ever lock you in the room? Did I ever mistreat you? Did I ever starve you? Until I fix your problem with your brother, you won’t work. Do you understand me?”

Her eyes widened, starting to fill with tears. Oh, fuck me.

“You are the worst person I know.” She shook her head as she stared at me in disbelief.

And I was still the worst person to her after saving her fucking ass from her family. Unbelievable. She didn’t know what I had sacrificed to save her. I literally sold my soul to the devil, and this was what I got after what I had done. I deserved a little gratification. But she knew nothing.

“I hate you!” She turned on her heels and walked away.

“I know, and you will hurt me even more,” I muttered before a bang echoed, vibrating the entire penthouse. Fucking great.

The movie didn’t show interest to me anymore. I just stared blankly at the screen. I knew Sadie would never understand until she knew the whole truth, but if she did, she would just cost me my plan, she would just cause a hiccup, and I couldn’t let it happen not right now that I was too close to achieving the fruit of my years of work.

I turned off the tv when the credit rolled. This was supposed to be our movie night. It turned out to be one hell of a huge fight.

I understood why people in long-term relationships still ended up with divorce papers after marriage. Right now, I wanted to wring her neck to make her understand that what I was doing was for her own good. So that she wouldn’t be looking terrified when just mentioning her brother’s name. I saw her pain, her fear, her regrets, and it wasn’t fun to watch—it twisted my guts—all the time.

I went up, hoping she had cooled down. She was lying in bed, her eyes were open, yet she was dripping away somewhere.

“Can we talk?” I started imperturbably.

“I’m done talking.”

“And this where the gap in a relationship starts.”

“And may I remind you that I was forced to be in this relationship. I played my part, I behaved, and one thing that means something to me.” She looked at me as I stood at the door. “You don’t give a fuck!”

“Language!” I just lost it. My chest heaved hard. “I tolerated your tantrums, your choice of words, and your disrespect, but pushing me to the limit? I won’t.”

She sat on the bed, her feet on the carpeted floor without breaking eye contact. “Did I already reach the limit? Clearly, you have a short one, and you haven’t been scratched my surface, husband.”

Damn, this woman. I wanted to squeeze her to stop because I couldn’t handle someone or anyone answering me, provoking me, let alone pissing me off.

“And you don’t know me.”

“Oh, I know exactly what kind of person you are. You think you control everything around you, people kneel at your feet, and you think you can have anything you want. Well, you don’t know me. I won’t bow down on you. You can’t make me—”

“Don’t, Sadie. Please don’t make me say it. Just stop. You have to know that I’m fucked up, and I’m not good at consideration.”

“I don’t give a shit!” She yanked the drawer at the nightstand, grabbing what was in it. Those are cards and keys, and her phone. “These? You can have them. I don’t need them!” She threw them at me, hitting me in the chest. She then rose on her feet, like a predator stalking its prey as she walked towards me. “You and I are over.”

“You don’t have a say. I own you, remember? Know your place, Sadie,” I retaliated.

“Make me.”

“As you wish.”