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"It’s always like that," he replied instantly "What else is wrong?"

My eyes snapped open He sounded a little too sure of hi froht in the chair "You’ve been married before?" I attributed ave myself a pass

"No I have Not" He punctuated his words with a ham more behind this denial than his usual pissiness, so I decided to poke the bear

"Are you lying toani outdoors in the dark, would have made me wet myself

"I Will Never Lie to you Never Do you understand?"

Oh dear Poking the bear produced unpleasant results "Sorry It just sounded like there was more to what you said"

I don’t kno silence can vibrate with erowls and gruling a brand-new, catnip-filled feather toy in front of a cat My ears perked up,"What happened?"

"She didn’t love me is what happened," he thundered "She was only after my money!"

After a fewofsick

"It’s different with us," he saidwhy I couldn’t speak

"How, exactly?"

His voice turned vulnerable, alh the heart Bullet to the brain Fall fro With that one sentence, he killed"Oh God"

"It’s ancient history, Bianca I’m over it I wouldn’t have even mentioned it if you hadn’t asked" His voice took on a brisk, brittle quality "And I’m the one who offered this deal, re"

Oh, but I could And I did I bla a cold-hearted, cash-hungryfury I usually reserved for people alk too slow and block the sidewalk

"This is crazy," I whispered, so full of guilt that if someone falsely accused me of murder, I’d confess and demand the electric chair "We can’t do this"

"Is that what you’re going to tell your ery?"

I went froed shouty person in two seconds flat "That is so not fair!" I hollered, sla ly "This is a business deal, Bianca A good one for both of us We’re not doing favors for each other No one is getting taken advantage of here We’re going into it with our eyes open, fully infory that’s painless and precise Which is a hell of a lot es"

God, the bleakness of that Whoever she was, the woed to had certainly done a number on him Thatman-eater

It dawned on me that those scars on his jaw he said had been caused by ashark were from his ex-fiancée What did she do, hit hie that Ito him e firstworried, Jackson said, "What was that noise?"

"My head and the desk getting better acquainted"

A low chuckle, and he’d officially cycled through every emotion a human can have in the course of a three-minute phone conversation "Funny, I never pictured you as a drama queen"

I never pictured myself as the bride of hot Frankenstein, either, but here ere "So what’s the next step?" I said, recovering enough to attempt rational conversation

"Do you own or rent your home?"

I wrinkled my nose at the phone Noas a Realtor? "Rent"

"Give notice We need to have you transferred to Rivendell by my birthday on the sixteenth"

He s? Furniture, clothes, books?"

"Pack what you want to keep, and leave the rest I’ll send over e unit If your landlord charges re you leave behind, I’ll take care of it"

My lip chewing must have been audible, because Jackson pro itself? When will that happen?"

"As soon as you o this weekend, but if you need to arrange--"

"Wait Meet your parents? Go?"

His voice turned dark "We need to et married"