Amy smiled to herself as she thought about what a wonderful man he was. Lucas put his hand on her back as they walked into the building and went straight to the elevator. She felt a tremor run down her spine at his touch. She had tried so hard to resist her attraction to him and it took everything in her to maintain some distance.
They stepped off the elevator and Amy headed for her door. “Not tonight, Amy, we’ll use my apartment,” Lucas startled her out of her thoughts.
“I just want to go home alone, Lucas,” she said. “It’s been a really long day and I need time to myself,” she finished in a pleading tone, with a hint of annoyance.
Lucas sighed aloud and simply steered her past the door and down the hallway. “Amy, you’ll be my wife in a few days. I’m not only taking you as a wife on paper. We’ll live together, sleep together and be together in every way a husband and wife are meant to be. I’ll only marry once. You’ll be provided for very well, and in turn, I expect to be taken care of. You will share my bed,” he once again spoke in that voice that brooked no room for argument.
She was suddenly highly alert and seething mad. She was getting sick and tired of him throwing his weight around and just expecting her to follow along with everything he demanded.
“Okay, Lucas, I’ve accepted we are to be married, and I plan on doing my ‘wifely duties,’ but for the next few days, I’m not your wife and I’d like to enjoy my apartment before my jail sentence begins,” she snapped, wanting to strike out and hurt him.
She had the opposite effect of angering him. Lucas had to keep from smiling. If she saw that, she’d think he was laughing at her, which in a way, he was. He was thinking he was going to definitely enjoy his marriage. He wouldn’t have been happy with a woman who catered to his every whim. He had enough people willing to do that. He liked how his future wife had a strong personality and felt a desire to fight him. He knew he wouldn’t get bored with her, ever.
He knew he could push the issue and she’d stay with him, but he also knew to win the war was far more important than to win each and every battle. He’d put her through the wringer already and her health was more important than anything else. He’d let her have this one.
“Fine, we’ll do it your way. It will make the honeymoon that much better,” he said as he led her back to her door. Just as she was about to go through the open doorway, he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her, long and hard. Let her think about what she’ll be missing out on tonight, he thought as he watched her swoon.
He walked away feeling pretty good about himself. That was, until he got into his apartment, alone and in need of release. He sighed as he turned his shower faucet to cold and prepared himself for a hell of a long week.
Chapter Eight
“Breathe Amy, just breathe.” She felt like she was about to hyperventilate as she stood in the dressing room inside the huge mansion. She’d spent the morning being pampered for her wedding day.
Her hair was up in a bun, with curls cascading down her neck and face. Her make-up had been expertly applied to erase the dark circles and highlight her eyes and mouth. Her nails were extended and painted. She didn’t even feel like herself. They’d just put her in her magnificent dress and she was staring in the mirror at a stranger. Who was the girl gazing back? They had thankfully given her a few blessed minutes to calm herself, which she was grateful for.
“It’s time, Amy,” she heard Joseph softly say. That was enough to make her turn her head. She’d never heard him speak without his normal booming tenor. He looked so handsome in his tuxedo. She definitely knew who the boys got their great looks from. He was so alike, and yet so different from Lucas.
Joseph had great looks and had aged well. The biggest difference between Joseph and Lucas were their eyes. Lucas’s eyes were always so focused and determined, where Joseph’s had laugh lines around them and always seemed to sparkle. He seemed to be much more relaxed. She wondered if he’d been that way his entire life or if there’d been a time he’d held that same focused look as his son.
Joseph walked up and kissed her on the cheek. “I’m so glad to finally have a daughter in the family. You’re beautiful inside and out,” he wrapped his large arms around her for a gentle hug. Those words meant so much to her. He’d never know how much she needed to be included in a loving family. She’d give up any amount of money to be loved the way Joseph loved his children. She was getting just a piece of that now, and didn’t ever want to let it go.