Chapter Sixteen

Darrow laughed.

"Mr. President," his head of security said after he caught him once the wedding was over. "Surely you see the mistake you're making here! What are you thinking?!"

"It's not like we can go back in time now," Darrow said.

"Yes, but I need to understand why you even allowed this to happen! Are we on the same page? You know what kind of woman you're married to!"

"And what kind of woman is Angel?"

"You know what."

Darrow laughed again.

"She is your stalker!" he said. "We've alerted you ages ago about her, but all you wanted us to do was to leave her alone. Now, look at what happened. She got you right where she wants you."

"She's something, isn't she?"

"Why would any man in their right mind marry their stalker? Especially a man with so much to lose?"

"I'll be fine, don't worry," Darrow said with a half-smile.

"Exactly what are you trying to do?"

"Well," Darrow said. "Let's see, shall we?"

❃❃❃

Angel placed her back on the bed and spread her arms outwards, catching the sheets between her fingers. She turned onto her stomach and breathed his scent in.

"How should I go about it?" Angel said to herself.

The masculinity attacked her nostrils and she felt her folds opening in response to the intoxicating smell.

"You are my sunshine," she whispered to the empty room. "My light. I love you so much."

She was about to dip her hand between her legs when she heard the door unlocking.

Shooting up on the bed, she turned around and turned her head towards the door. Darrow came walking in, staring at her sitting on his bed. He smiled thinly at her, as if he was upset that she was intruding into his room. But as she thought about that, the picture of them fucking roughly on his bed tore through her mind, setting every part of her body on fire.

"Angel," Darrow said. "What are you doing here?"

"Well," she said. "Well. It's our wedding night."

"The marriage is fake, surely you don't think I would place that burden on you?"

Burden? Hah.

"I'm fine with it."

"I happen to respect women a lot, so don't worry, you may leave."

"But what if people find out?"

"And how would they find out that we didn't have sex?"

Christ, the words "we" and "sex" left his mouth in the same sentence!

"I'm sure you're tired," Darrow said. "Why don't you return to your room if that's all?"

"Actually," Angel said too quickly, intent on stalling for time. "I need to say something to you."

"What is it?"

"I don't know how else to say this, but I- " Angel said with a racing heartbeat. "I feel… For you, I feel…" And her nerves snapped in that instant. "It's nothing, I'll return to my room." She stood up and made for the door.

But Darrow stepped between her and the door.

"Don't go. You haven't finished your sentence."

She fixed her eyes on him, her throat drying out. His smell closed the distance between them, infuriating her need for him. "It's nothing, really."

"If it means nothing, then let's hear it," he said, with an amused smile on his face, as if he knew more than he let on. "I seem to sense that you want something from me, Angel. Something that you've wanted for a very long time. What is that?"

Her breath hitched. "I want you to do your duty as my husband."

Darrow threw his head back and laughed. "Even though this arrangement is not real? Do you need sex that much?"

"I don't need sex from any man," she said, tilting her head up to glare into his eyes. "I just need it from you. I love you, Darrow. I love you so much. You are my sunshine, the light to my life!"

❃❃❃

SOME TIME AGO

"You know that crazy reporter is stalking you, Dad, so why haven't you reported her?" Freya said to him.

"Please, she's your age. What can a pesky young girl half my age do to me?"

"You'd be surprised. You've heard about how resourceful she is, and how it seems like she is able to get her hands on anything she wants, no matter how big or small that is."

"I don't know why we're still having this conversation. I'm not bothered by this threat. Why are you?"

"She could ruin everything for us!"

"Presidency was never something you wanted me to have, Freya. You think it was the deciding factor to your mother in her decision to leave me, when it wasn't."

"Mom can still come back."

"In case you haven't noticed, she is already married to another man and recently gave birth to their first child."

"She had me and she left you anyway!"

Darrow pursed his lips. That hurt.

"I'm sorry, Dad, I didn't mean that."

"You're only saying that because you want me to do what you want."

"Angel is crazy! Why can't you see that?"

He chuckled. "If you think I'm not doing anything about the situation, you're in for a treat. I have plans for her," he said, shaking his head lightly. "Plans that she would absolutely abhor."