CHAPTER 2

Charlie heard the silent threat in his voice, saw the cold rage dancing in his eyes, and saw the way his face and body were taut like an electrified wire. She began to think twice about her actions.

Rhys noticed that she’d frozen on her seat, so he did her the honors by grabbing a glass of rich, fine wine and headed to the roof.

The minute he got to the roof, he took in a deep breath of fresh, cold air, and his body finally relaxed. 

His gaze was fixed on the moon, and it wasn’t until the tiny gasp by his side did he realize that he wasn’t alone.

“Goddammit Charlie! I told you to fuck  off." The rest of his words got stuck in his throat as he was met with warm brown eyes that reminded him of a pool of warm chocolate. The woman beside him was the perfect description of beauty, desire, and sex. 

Her lips were coated in a warm pink color, her brown hair fell over her body in waves, and then his eyes were drawn to her chest. She wasn’t dressed immodestly and wasn’t showing too much skin; in fact, she was wearing what Rhys would term as too innocent for the club he was visiting. A velvety red dress flowed out of the tightened area around her slim waist. She left so much to the imagination, and that somehow called to every primal male hormone in Rhys’s body. 

His gaze descended down to her legs, smooth and long, her feet clad in red heels, and he suddenly imagined her leg being wrapped around.

“I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to disturb you. I’ll leave.”

“Wait!” Without thinking, he reached for her arm to stop her from leaving, but the shock that rippled through their skin caused him to jerk away, and from her gasp, he was sure she felt it too.

“Please stay. I didn't mean to lash out at you like that. I thought you were someone else.” Rhys apologized and hoped she would stay. 

The lady stared at him for a while before a small smile appeared on her face, and Rhys somehow made a vow within him to make her keep smiling. 

“It's okay. I'm guessing you're having a shitty day as well.” She sighed and stared at the clouds. “I was hoping to have some me-time, so I sneaked up here. I didn't think this was also a safe haven for someone other than me.” 

Rhys smiled, and that's when he noticed something that struck his heart like a chord. This woman wasn't behaving like she knew him. 

In fact, she seemed to have no idea who he was, which is strange in this world of modern technology where everyone can be found with the use of the Internet, and with his face being splashed everywhere in the media, he'd doubt he'd ever meet someone who truly had no idea who he was. 

She could be pretending. trying to make him lose guard with her. He had to know.

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Celestine glared at her two parents as they squirmed beneath her heated gaze. They messed up; they both knew it, and Celestine wasn't happy.

“Is there something you'd like to tell me?” She asked in her usual calm voice, but her parents knew not to be deceived by that tone. It always meant that a bigger storm was approaching. 

Her father wished he could smack his youngest daughter. If he'd known she was eavesdropping on him and his wife’s conversation, he'd have locked her up in the room. But the cat was out of the bag now.

“Dear, the thing is...” Celeste’s mother started to explain, gulped, and continued, “Well, we... Uhm…there's…” 

Maverick placed his hand on his wife’s trembling ones and stared at his daughter. Now was not the time to be strict with her. 

“Stop making your mother uncomfortable. You already know what we did; there's no use asking us to explain it from the beginning.” Maverick tried to take control of the situation, but Celestine wasn't having any of it.

“Contrary to that, dear father, You do have to explain it to me from the top. You owe me that, and honest to God, I'm hoping it isn't true, but looking at your reaction, I can boastly say you made the biggest decision of my life without even consulting me. So yes! I deserve an explanation.”

By this time, Celestine was breathing hard. Her chest was rising and falling from the impending anger that loomed over her.

“It's true. We accepted a marriage proposal on your behalf. But that was like ten years ago; you were still a kid. You wouldn't have understood.” 

“Still, you should have told me. What if he's a woman-beater? A drunkard? Or, worse, a promiscuous person? What would you do then?” 

Maria winced at the harsh words from her daughter’s mouth. 

“Trust me, Celeste. The man we chose for you is perfect in all ways. He's none of those things, I promise. And his grandfather was just so nice and sweet and hell bent on making you his daughter-in-law.” 

“Did he tell you why?” Celestine asked. 

“No, only that; it must be destiny.” Maria responded. 

“And what did you guys get in return? This man sounds like he's rich; there's no way he won't add something to the deal.” Celestine crossed her arms with a raised brow. 

She wanted to know what her parents traded her for.

“We didn't want anything, Celeste. But he was adamant, so he invested heavily in our company and gave us the backing we needed then. And he also said you just had to be married to him for three years. After that, if you still don't love your Rh–” 

“I don't want to hear his name. I'd rather not know the name of my future husband until the day we're required to meet.” Celestine scowled.

“ Okay. So if you still don't love your future husband at the end of a year, you get to inherit all his grandfather’s properties.” 

Celestine’s eyes widened. “What?!”