A Perfect SEAL

I straighten my shoulders. “Jayson still needs to control my shares.”

The other woman gains her feet in one fluid motion. “Not any longer. He’s reacquired all other stock, and the company can easily purchase your stocks. He has control of your stock, so I am not sure why he’s keeping you around. Perhaps he has decided a divorce is too expensive, or he doesn’t want to risk you being petulant and refusing to sell the shares now that the company is almost fully under his control.” Her eyes narrow, and the smile widens. “My theory is he has decided to woo you into signing over those stocks. He’s trying to make you so besotted that you will agree to anything. Once you give up the stock, it will be the end of your ‘marriage.’” Her laugh is full of cruel mockery.

“I want you to leave. If you come back — ”

“Oh, I shall return. Soon, I will be Kyria Satyros. I made a foolish decision years ago, but I refuse to let Jayson slip through my fingers again.” An expression resembling pity flashes across her face. “You can’t really think you would be able to compete with me?” Without another word, she turns and strides from the room, her heels tapping against the marble.

I sag into the chair, leaning down to pick up the dropped envelope. Pulling out the papers, I examine them more thoroughly. My signature appears on several pages, all authorizing Jayson to control my shares of the company for as long as we remain married, unless I revoke the right. At the time, I signed them without really reading, assuming the papers were more paperwork relating to the marriage contract.

Nausea burns in the back of my throat, and I swallow thickly. Jayson told me I was penniless. Selling the stock would’ve allowed me to finish my education and have the life I’d wanted. He must have thought I’d choose my own comforts over allowing him to keep the company under his control.

Marriage was such a drastic step to secure the shares. Of course, he’d needed a companion for Sophie. It must have seemed like a small sacrifice, exchanging three years for total control of the Satyros Corporation.

So why had he suggested extending the marriage? Had he developed feelings for me? Or was it as Maia had theorized, that he’s trying to make me fall in love with him so desperately that I would do anything he asks? Is it simply a matter of convenience? He said he didn’t want to start over in another relationship. Am I merely his convenient wife, made even more convenient now that I’m fulfilling all the wifely duties?

He didn’t expect Maia to be available. Would he change his mind now that he knows she wants to take on the role she shunned years before? Or would he keep Maia as a mistress and me as his wife?

My lips compress at the thought. I refuse to be in that position. It doesn’t matter why he changed his mind, or even if he changes it again. What matters is our marriage began under false pretenses, and he deliberately withheld the only way I could have maintained my original plans for the future. In just a few minutes, the truth shatters all the trust I’ve placed in him.

Anger cuts through the numb disbelief, and I jump to my feet. The pages scatter around the floor, but I don’t stoop to pick them up. My focus is centered on returning to packing, but not with the intention of waiting for Jayson to decide it’s time to return to New York. I’ll arrange for the jet to take me home. Once in the city, I’ll move my things from his penthouse apartment and go on with the plans I made when our marriage was supposed to dissolve at the end of summer.

Anger fuels my movements, and I fill my cases in less than an hour. I’m stuffing clothes into the last bag when the bedroom door opens. My spine stiffens, my heart races, and my stomach churns as Jayson comes in.

He seems to be in a better mood than yesterday, and I briefly remember Sophie’s plight. If he’s still intent on forcing a marriage, I’ll do my best to stop him. Forcing a marriage must be his answer to everything.

He draws up short, his gaze on the packed bags. “What’s going on?”

“It’s time to return to New York,” I say in an icy tone.

Jayson frowns. “Has something happened? Is Sophie ill?”

I shake my head. “No.”

He walks closer, wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling my back against him. “What’s the rush? I thought we could stay a while longer, just the two of us. It could be the honeymoon we never had.”

I stiffen at his touch, and now I jerk away. “The honeymoon we never had that went with the marriage we never should have had.”

With a sharp exhalation, he turns me around to face him. “What happened? You’re angry.”

“Yes, but more than that, I’m just done.” I don’t like the hint of defeat bleeding through in my voice.

His face reflects his bewilderment. “Done with what?”

“This.” I wave my hand vaguely. “The whole situation, Jayson. I’m through with this sham of a marriage.”

He frowns. “What happened to extending our arrangement?”

“What happened to honesty?” I advance toward him, spurred by anger. “You lied to me. You kept my share of the company shrouded in paperwork, taking advantage of my grief to take over the stocks, knowing I was in no state to realize what you were doing.”

Jayson flinches. “What are you talking about?”

“Ask Maia,” I toss out glibly. “She knows everything about your motivations for the marriage. More than I do, but I’m just your wife.”

“I had no motivations beyond Sophie’s welfare,” he snaps.

“I don’t believe you, Jayson.” I turn away from him. “I can’t trust you, and we can’t have a relationship if there’s no trust.”

“You’re leaving, just like that?”