KIER
"Does your father still think we’re in the 1800s? Who still forces their children to marry so random girl they don’t even know?" Veronica huffed, clearly more annoyed by the situation than I was, the one actually in it.
I let out a small, humorless smile, but as my eyes drifted toward Genesis, the smile vanished.
Why was she smiling?
I glanced at Charlie, who was leaning in too close to my wife, that ridiculous grin plastered on his face—the sa one he always wore around won he fancied.
And she wasn’t even pulling away.
Okay, she wasn’t exactly leaning in, but she was sitting there, smiling at him.
I didn’t like that.
Wait—saying it like that made sound like a controlling asshole.
I just didn’t like that she was smiling at him.
I thought she didn’t like strangers. She barely even talked to . But now, she was completely comfortable, amused even.
And that bastard was—
"Kier, are you even listening to ?"
Veronica’s voice snapped out of my blatant gawking—no, no, not gawking. I wasn’t gawking. She was my wife. Looking at her didn’t an I was gawking.
I turned to Vera, who wasn’t even looking at anymore. Her gaze was locked onto Genesis and Charlie, a slight crease forming between her brows. Then, she turned back to .
"Do you like her?"
The question caught off guard. My eyes flicked back to Genesis, only to find her staring at . But the mont our eyes t, she looked away, a soft rosy tint blooming on her cheeks.
And just like that, I felt my dick twitch in my pants.
Shit.
I sucked in a sharp breath, forcing my mind to think of the most unappealing thing possible to kill the reaction. Thankfully, it worked.
"Wow," Veronica murmured, smirking. "You do like her. The fact that you’re not saying hell no or shut the hell up, Vera is proof enough."
There was sothing odd in her tone, but I didn’t have the energy to dissect it.
I sighed, running a hand over my face. "I don’t hate her. That doesn’t an I love her. I don’t even know her."
Veronica scoffed. "You married her."
"Yeah, well, I didn’t exactly have a choice, did I?" I muttered.
I should’ve been focused on the conversation, but my eyes kept drifting back to Genesis.
She was still at the table with Charlie, her fingers resting lightly on the surface. Her expression was unreadable, but then—
Charlie leaned in closer, lowering his voice, that smug grin never leaving his face.
And she...
She lifted a hand to cover her mouth, shaking her head.
Was she laughing?
My jaw clenched.
Genesis wasn’t the type to open up to strangers. She barely even looked in the eye. But now? She was smiling. At Charlie. Like he was the most interesting person in the damn room.
I hated it.
My fingers curled into a fist, and Veronica noticed.
"For soone who claims he doesn’t love her," she mused, watching carefully, "you sure look pissed that she’s talking to soone else."
I ignored her.
Charlie, the bastard, leaned in even closer, resting an elbow on the table, his full attention on Genesis.
"So, tell ," he said, grinning. "How did Kier manage to land soone like you? I an, the guy’s got the personality of a rock. You must be into the quiet, brooding type?"
Genesis blinked, tilting her head slightly as she studied him.
And I waited.
Because for so reason, her answer suddenly mattered to .
Charlie sighed dramatically. "Right, the whole can’t talk thing. That’s okay, you don’t need words to say a lot. Like that look you just gave ? That says, ’Charlie, you’re the most handso man I’ve ever seen.’"
Genesis looked down at the table, but the corners of her lips twitched.
That was it.
Before I even realized what I was doing, I pushed off the counter and strode over.
Charlie glanced up, amusent flickering in his eyes. "Oh, look who finally decided to join us. Worried I’m stealing your wife?"
Genesis stiffened at the word wife, her fingers twitching slightly against the table.
Charlie saw it too. His smirk deepened.
I ignored him, my focus solely on her. "Are you done eating?"
She hesitated, then nodded.
"Good. Co with ."
I didn’t wait for a response. I grabbed her wrist—not hard, just enough to make sure she followed—and pulled her away from the table.
Charlie let out a low whistle behind us. "Damn. And here I thought you didn’t care."
I did care.
I just didn’t know why.
I felt the tension in her wrist beneath my fingers. She was rigid, cautious.
So she was tense and uneasy with —but with Charlie? She was relaxed. Smiling.
Fuck.
Why the hell was that getting to ?
When we were far enough from them, I stopped, pressing her gently against the wall.
She looked up at with wide, uncertain eyes. Fearful.
I hated it.
I didn’t want her to look at like that.
Before I could stop myself, I was closer, my body pressing lightly against hers, my fingers tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
That’s when I saw it.
A deep, bruised mark on her neck.
Like she’d been bitten.
Like her animal.
My jaw tightened.
Well, I had taken her like an animal.
I cupped her jaw, tilting her face up to mine. "Why do I hate it when you smile at soone else but not at ?"
She just stared, her wide doe eyes unblinking.
My gaze dipped to her lips—full, pink, soft.
I wanted to kiss her.
I shouldn’t.
I closed my eyes, breathing deeply, trying to steady myself. But when I looked down, I was already hard. Painfully hard. And she hadn’t even touched .
I clenched my fist, pressing my nose against her neck, inhaling the soft scent of her skin.
Get it together.
I forced myself to step back like I’d been burned, turning away before I did sothing I couldn’t take back.
But just as I was about to leave, I glanced at her again.
She was breathing heavily, her ches
t rising and falling, watching with a dazed expression.
She was waiting.
Expecting sothing.
"I have a rule for you," I murmured, my vo
ice rough. "From now on, you don’t smile at another man. Ever."
She blinked.
I turned and walked away.
Because if I stayed any longer, I’d break my own damn rule.
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