Price

I was initially confident in my ability to afford his rates, but just as the sprinklers around the estate came alive, my confidence seemed to waver. I came into this with a rough valuation of my assets; it should be enough.

"All I need is to be in some semblance of a relationship. In fact, all I need is to be able to freely say that I'm interested in someone." Had it been anyone else, I'd probably be paid instead. But what to do? I need his ruthlessness.

With his gaze on the estate's gate, he interjected, "We both know that's a load of bull."

"Once that dolt opens his mouth, I'll enter the crocodile's radar. And do you really think she'll just stop to watch?" Lucian sneered at the thought.

"Hmph. Like she'd be able to even touch you? You couldn't even be bothered to remember who she was!" I murmured, trying to haggle by making this deal sound less complicated.

"Just because a fly hasn't landed on me does not make it any less annoying when it zitters."

Momentarily feeling bad for all these innocent creatures, I figured that negotiations wouldn't be as easy as I hoped.

"We haven't even gotten to the effects of this non-relationship agreement that you're going for." 

Ahh, I was afraid he'd get to that. I blew up my cheeks in slight annoyance.

"I'm no saint. But to intentionally lead on a Thornhill? Are you planning to execute me?" Lucian continued to pile together the disadvantages of this arrangement, and I get it; this was precisely why we couldn't find anyone that fit the role."

"Let's just cut to the chase. You've been docile since earlier. I would've loved to just thank you and go, but we both know your silence had always been expensive." Like a lounging cat, Lucian had always been observant and alert, ready to pounce on anything he deemed worthwhile.

He's smiling, like we haven't been talking about deceitful plots, so I continue to prod, "The fact that you haven't upped to leave means that I have something you can consider." his smile growing even bigger. Gorgeous. But that's the face he sported when he's about to rip someone off. 

"Now tell me, why are you even here?" I asked, deciding to go big or go home.

It's ironic how he looks so relaxed while I've probably developed more wrinkles today than I would've in a year.

"I need a wife." Without a hint of dread or an ounce of importance, Lucian managed to keep a straight face.

My ears rang for a while, wondering if I had misheard him, so I couldn't help but ask, "Come again?"

"I. Need. A. Wife." if he didn't spell that out for emphasis, I would imagine this to be the tone he uses to ask for the menu.

I gestured to point out how imbalanced and shocking his statement was. "You realize that I only need someone to chase, right? While you need an actual wife. One that probably breathes."

In a tizzy, my brain has tried figuring out how he's gotten into an even worse situation than me when it suddenly clicked. "The elders. The family head must've had you in a chokehold." I looked at him wide-eyed.

Probably predicting my take on the matter, Lucian decides to hit hard, "You think you just need some poster boy, but what happens after? Say you pine over a guy for a year, then what? For how long can your poster hold?"

He knows that I know. It's nothing more than a band-aid, a respite for someone as tired as I am. 

Frankly, I'd have pined longer than a mourning wife after a year. Even then, I should consider myself lucky if the poster managed to hold on for a full year, and Alexa is a pro at this.

His arguments sounded reasonable, and anyone else would've jumped the gun from the beginning, but this is Lucian Sinclair, and if it were that easy to nab a Sinclair, then he wouldn't have wasted two hours of his measured time.

Just to make sure, still optimistic that maybe there was another viable approach. "So, did you want me to find you a wife then?". Stupid, I know. He's looked at me just as Rina would look at Jasper.

Times like this is when I get reminded that they're cousins. 

I couldn't help but give him a full once over, still confused about why he was looking for a wife. "Save for your horrendous personality, what else could be so wrong with you that you've had to actively look for one?" 

We've always been at odds, but anyone with at least a semi-functioning eye would have to admit that when the heavens decided to scatter the good shit, he was probably right there drowning in them. 

What if he's impotent? Thinking deeply, Lucian glowered at me, disrupting my wild conjectures.

"Go there, and you'll end up with a demonstration." Evidently pissed, I have decided to treat Lucian as a possible mind-reader.

"I need someone tolerable."

Wow.

No wonder he hasn't found anyone. If he kept opening up with that, anyone with a smidgen of self-respect would bow out.

"But that's just it. You cannot tolerate me," I said, failing to see the logic in his proposition.

"You've never needed me to tolerate you."

With my eyebrows almost leaving the plane of my forehead, I waited for an explanation.

"Have you ever thrown a tantrum for failing to receive my attention?" I'm looking at this alien while wondering about his usual thought process.

"Sounds haughty. But you should be the most familiar with this. Finding yourself in some hospital because someone threw a tantrum? Does that ring a bell?"

Taken aback, I listen for more. "What about getting random calls at work for petty crimes done in your name? You're probably thinking that I'm to blame. But what do you do when all you've ever had in common was attending one charity gala?"

"What are you? The next Helen of Troy?" I couldn't help but empathize since Alexa had always been a full-blown riot. 

"You need a loyal shield, and I need a mentally stable wife. If short-term relationships could have solved your glaring problem, then you wouldn't have chosen to deal with me."

I sat upright, very rigid. I was initially prepared to reject this deal but was insanely curious as to why he'd resort to this, but now I couldn't help but ponder it.

Driving through the gates and straight onto the main entrance, I managed to get out of the car. Still dazed over today's events, all I remembered was Lucian's last words before heading out.

"Think it over. After all, you'd only be married once."