Chapter 22 Chapter Twenty-one
ARA
Alarms exploded in my head, they were sharp and deafening.
Gabe’s voice echoed from months ago, casual, eager. I remembered the words he'd told me back then.
“Let’s go off birth control, babe. Let's make it happen faster.”
I’d agreed. I'd been so stupid and trusting.
Even after I walked in on him buried inside Emily, sweat-slicked and groaning, I never went back on the pill.
The betrayal had gutted me so completely that survival took everything I had.
Birth control was the last thing on my mind when I was trying to remember how to breathe.
Thayne hadn’t released me. His arms tightened instead, pulling me flush against his chest.
He swept my hair over one shoulder with deliberate fingers, exposing my neck, and pressed a slow, scorching kiss to the curve where my shoulder met my throat.
His lips lingered, his breath hot and possessive.
He’d said he wanted an heir. And he’d come inside me.
So this was good for him, right?
The thought barely formed in my head before the door slid open with a soft hiss.
“Oh my God!”
The scream tore out of my throat before I could stop it.
Sasha stood in the doorway, her work tablet in her hand, eyes wide for a split second before they narrowed.
Thayne reacted instantly, one arm banding around my waist, shielding my front while leaving his own bare ass completely exposed.
He didn’t care. He never cared who saw him.
“What the fuck, Sasha?” he growled, his voice rough from sleep and sex.
Sasha’s gaze dropped and lingered.
Her tongue traced her bottom lip, slowly and hungrily.
“I called every line,” she said, her voice husky. “None went through. Now I see why.”
She lifted her eyes, finally meeting mine. The look she gave me was pure venom.
Dislike didn’t even cover it.
I saw hatred in her eyes, sharp and polished.
I shrugged, small, defiant, even as heat flooded my cheeks.
Thayne chuckled low against my breasts, the vibration sending hot sparks straight to my core.
He didn’t cover himself.
He dipped his head and took one nipple into his mouth, sucking slowly, then fast and hard.
I gasped, half-moan, half-yell.
“Your PR agent is standing right there!”
He pulled off with a wet pop, his eyes dark with amusement.
“I’ve seen worse, Miss Irvington,” Sasha said in a flat, bored tone.
The implication hung heavy..She’d seen him with others.
Many, many others.
My stomach twisted. I swallowed the jealousy.
“Please give us privacy to get dressed.”
“I’m sorry, but this can’t wait—”
“Leave,” I cut in, my voice like steel. I needed to remind her of her place.
She snorted, spun on her heel, and left.
We dressed in silence.
When she knocked again, her face was all business, anger simmering under the surface.
“Thayne,” she started, eyes on her tablet.
“Madison just went…. Nuclear. She told the world you’re a bastard heir. And that Ursula was an accident.”
I felt Thayne tense beside me. He was toying with my hair, twisting a strand around his finger.
“We know,” he said in a distant voice. “Next.”
Sasha’s eyes flicked up.
“Your fiancée,” she said, looking at me like I was dirt, “has been called a product of rape. In Ursula’s post. New York NewsGuard picked it up five minutes ago. It has one million reposts already.”
The words landed like punches. My origin.
My mother’s pain.
Exposed for the world to devour.
Thayne’s hand stilled in my hair.
“We need damage control,” Sasha pressed, staring at me now. “Now.”
I wanted to ask Thayne what he planned.
I’d meant to ask before the kiss in the hallway, before everything spiraled.
But the real bomb was coming.
“Read it out,” Thayne ordered in a calm voice, deadly calm.
Sasha sighed.
“We have confirmed from a legitimate source that Slade Senior is divorcing Maggie Slade. And that Ara Irvington, Thayne Slade Junior’s fiancée, has been declared collateral by Darius Reedson, head of the Reedson syndicate…”
Darius Reedson..The name was legend.
Drug lord. Killer. And untouchable.
Thayne had promised to clear Neil’s debts. He’d promised.
“Stop.” Thayne’s voice cut like ice. “Give me the tablet.”
Sasha handed it over.
He scrolled for a bit. His face didn’t change or show any reaction.
Then he hurled it.
The tablet flew, spinning, missing Sasha’s head by inches, smashing against the door with a crack that echoed like a gunshot.
The screen went dead. Sasha’s eyes went wide like saucers.
Thayne’s fists clenched, his knuckles going white.
“He’s baiting me,” he muttered, his voice low and dangerous.
He was about to punch something, I just knew it.
“Your father used Madison to sell the ‘arrangement’ story,” Sasha summarized, her voice tight. “And now Darius wants her delivered.”
“They’ll have to kill me first,” Thayne growled, primal, possessive.
“No. One. Touches. Her.”
I couldn’t tell if it was love or ownership talking. Maybe both.
But one question burned hotter than the rest.
“You promised you’d paid the debts,” I said, my voice small and cracking.
His eyes met mine, a fierce, blazing green that bore into my soul.
“I did. I met Neil. And I made him list every creditor three times. Every single account. I wired it myself.
“Then how—”
“I didn’t miss one,” he said fiercely. “Believe me.”
I wanted to. God, I wanted to. But right now? Trust felt like glass in my mouth.
“You think I left one on purpose?” My voice rose. “To keep me chained to you? Is this ring not enough?”
I flashed the diamond, my hand trembling.
His jaw ticked, a storm brewing behind those eyes.
“I checked three times,” he said calmly, even though his voice was lethal enough to start a war. “I didn’t miss anything.”
I looked away. Love had betrayed me once.
This arrangement was supposed to be different.
Safe. But it was crumbling too.
Was I cursed?
Sasha cleared her throat.
“We need damage control. We need to make the public believe you’re madly in love. Drown out the bastard story, the rape story—”
“The fact that I’m a product of rape?” I finished, bitter. “No need to soften it.”
Sasha’s phone buzzed and she held up a finger. She put the call on loud speaker so we could all hear the caller speaking.
“Darius Reedson just put a bounty on Ara Irvington. One hundred million. Dead or alive. The first one to deliver wins.”
The line died. The room froze, icy fear crawling up my skin.
One hundred million.
Every killer, every hunter, every desperate soul would come for me.
Thayne’s face went deadly still.
“I love when they force my hand,” he said, his voice flat and empty.
“Make a press release by dawn.”
“For?” Sasha asked, lifting her brows.
“Our wedding is in four days.
My head snapped to him.
“You can’t just—”
“I can’t protect you as a fiancée,” he cut in, eyes locked on mine.
“As my wife, your enemies become mine. I’ve claimed you. Nothing changes that. Not even a hundred million bounty hunters.”
His words were final, possessive and terrifying.
And the scariest part? I believed him.
But believing him didn’t make it love. It made it war. And I was the prize in the middle.