Rule's Seduction (The House of Rule 4)

Erin didn’t even try to contain her heated glare. His eyes darkened warningly but she ignored his silent message and disputed, “You tricked me.”

Instead of pissing him off, her accusation almost seemed to amuse him. He merely smiled as he tapped her on the bottom lip and sat back, making himself more comfortable. “That I did, sweetness.”

She felt a wave of fury engulf her at his arrogance—at his lack of concern at her anger. “Why?” she snapped.

He let out another sigh, as if having to explain himself was an irritation. “Because I wanted you here, Erin.”

His seeming boredom pissed her off further. “Why me? And why married? I know this is about my brothers, so just get it over with and admit it.”

He continued to watch her, and after a moment, said quietly and firmly, “I believe I’ve already acknowledged that.”

At his answer that was entirely devoid of emotion, she took a fortifying breath and then another while twin emotions of fury and hysteria fought for control. “Why bring me into it?”

He studied her features as if trying to understand her state of mind. “Think of it as business, love. Nothing for you to worry about.”

“Business.” She repeated the word under her breath as she felt a huge wave of outrage build in her bloodstream. She tried to contain it, but it was useless—her mouth opened as her temper snapped. “Are you fucking kidding me? Nothing for me to worry about? You tricked me into a wedding ceremony—you brought me to Argentina against my will and now you have the goddamn nerve to tell me it’s nothing for me to worry about?”

At her outburst, his posture became rigid as his jaw clenched. “We can do this one of two ways. You can clean up your language and your attitude this very second and I’ll treat you with the respect that my wife deserves.” He leaned in closer as his eyes narrowed. “Or you can continue on a course of defiance, and I’ll be forced to take matters into my own hands.”

“And do what?” she sneered.

“I’ll lock you in a room for the duration and handle the business end of things with your brother.” He whipped his cell phone from his pocket and tossed it on the coffee table as if prepared to make a call at any moment. “You have three seconds to decide how you want this to go. Starting now.”

“Which brother?” she asked before she could stop herself—as if it mattered.

He lifted an eyebrow, but surprisingly, gave her a clipped answer. “Garrett.” His eyes narrowed. “Two seconds.”

Lock her in a room? She broke out in a cold sweat at the thought of being a prisoner here and immediately knew she couldn’t let that happen. She was too smart to let that happen. “I don’t want to be locked in a room,” she said quickly in a controlled voice.

“You sure?” he swiped the phone off the coffee table and looked as if he was scrolling through his contacts. He pressed a button and swiveled the screen in her direction. The name Garrett Rule was displayed in bold prominence as if awaiting a single touch of a button. “I’d thought to make this easy on you by letting you make your own decisions—but trust me, locking you up and dealing with your brother is no skin off my teeth.”

She shook her head, refusing to let things get any worse than they already were. If he phoned her brother things would go south in a heartbeat. If she had to contain her truculence, then so be it—but she had questions. “Do you know Garrett personally?”

He seemed to study her for a moment before her question made his eyes glint with something akin to contempt. “Oh, yeah. We’re the best of friends,” he sneered.

“Sounds like you’re not,” she said neutrally.

He inclined his head. “Your brother despises me and I return the sentiment.”

Wondering just what the hell she’d gotten herself into, she tried to control the panic that was making her blood run way too fast. The combination of rage and fear held her almost frozen. She was pissed and she was scared. No, she couldn’t afford to be scared—fear couldn’t help the situation. Right.

She knew immediately that he wasn’t bullshitting her—the guy would lock her up if she wasn’t careful. As she struggled to control the urge to jump up and flee, she tamped down her fear, but unfortunately, the most prominent emotion left was anger. As if it showed on her face, he leaned forward into her personal space as his mouth tightened. “If you continue to be belligerent, I might return that belligerence—an act that would undoubtedly bring acrimony to our relationship. It would be so much better for . . . us . . . if we got along, yes?”