“I’m so glad to hear it, darling.” James beamed at her, clearly misunderstanding her meaning. With a fond smile, he took both her hands in his and kissed them. “Now you see that Charles and I both have your best interests at heart. And he’s not such a bad fellow—why, he even bought us a house right beside his and your mother’s so we can spend plenty of time together after the wedding. Wasn’t that lovely of him?” He laughed. “I imagine it will come rather in handy once the children come along and want to spend time with their grandparents.”
A whole host of images raced through Elise’s brain. Being forced to live right next to the awful house where Charles had raped her. Being haunted by the ghost of her past trauma every day, especially when he and her mother came to visit, as they certainly would. But worst of all, exposing her own children to the monster next door, fearing every moment for their safety, knowing that Charles was close enough to hurt them the way he’d hurt her…
At last her stomach rebelled—this time she couldn’t stop the wave of nausea that washed over her. Yanking her hands away from James, she ran to the sink just in time to throw up.
Luckily, there wasn’t much to come up—she’d barely eaten since she returned to the Mother ship, despite Olivia’s coaxing. Still, it left a sour taste in her mouth and she heaved miserably every time she though again of the “living arrangements” James and Charles had planned for her.
At last, the retching stopped. Reaching out, she fumbled for the cold water tap and rinsed out her mouth. Then she splashed a handful in her face for good measure. God, she had to get hold of herself! She blotted her face on a paper towel and took a deep breath.
“Darling?” James put a hand on her shoulder. “Are you quite all right?”
“No.” Elise pushed his hand away and turned to face him. “I’m not. And I’m not going to be until I get the hell away from you.”
James looked bewildered. “Me? But what…why…?”
“You still don’t get it, do you, James?” She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him. “Once upon a time, I thought I loved you. And even when I decided to call off the wedding, I felt bad for you. But no more. You’re the same as my mother—Charles bought and paid for you a long time ago and you’ve been in his back pocket ever since.”
“What…what are you talking about?” James sputtered.
“You heard me.” Elise pushed away from him. “I know what Charles’s company is valued at—merging with him will more than double your net worth. And that’s all you care about.” She pointed a shaking finger at him. “Well I’m not selling my soul just so you can see your name at the top of the Fortune 500 list. I’m leaving now and I never want to see you again.”
James’ face went from shocked white to angry red in a second. “You’re acting like a spoiled child, Elise. And anyway, you can’t get out of the wedding that easily—you signed a prenuptial agreement—remember?”
Elise felt sick all over again. “I…that was to protect your company—your wealth. Not mine.”
“Didn’t read the fine print, did you?” James gave her a self-satisfied smirk she longed to wipe off his face with her fist. “Dear me, you’re not much of an attorney, after all. There’s a clause buried in the body of the agreement that keeps you from backing out.”
“You can’t be serious.” Elise ran a shaking hand through her hair. “You’re not serious.”
“As the grave, my dear. It was Charles’s idea. I didn’t think it would be necessary, but now I’m damn glad I listened to him.” James smiled, the same smile she’d seen him wear when he’d taken over a rival company and shut it down. Only this time I’m the one he’s taking over, she thought and her stomach gave another lurch.
“You disgust me, James,” Elise glared at him, trying to keep her anxiety from showing. “I don’t care what you put in that damn prenup, I am not going to marry you.”
James laughed. “We’ll just see about that, shall we?”
Elise couldn’t think of anything bad enough to call him and her head was swimming with the news he’d given her. I have to get away. Being here with him—with all of them—is like breathing poison gas. If I stay much longer I’m going to be sick again. Besides, she had to get home and study the prenup she’d so foolishly signed. Had to see if there was any way to break it or get out of it.
“Good bye, James,” she said evenly. “Have a nice life.”