The Marriage Debt: Chapter 14

After locking her in the room, I storm back to the living room. Nothing can quench the fire raging inside. With a loud roar, I thrust my fist into the statue of the naked woman I bought two years ago. A piece of her tit breaks off, but I don’t even fucking care.

The pain in my knuckles is sharp, but I bite through it. Pain is the only way I know how to deal with my anger, how we were taught to deal with it.

If I’ve known one thing for a very long time, it’s that my family’s way of dealing with emotions was anything but healthy.

But we don’t choose our family.

We only choose how we react.

And I reacted by bringing in as much distraction as I could. Cigarettes, liquor, drugs, possessions. Women.

Anything I could get my hands on, especially during my younger years.

Back when we both still lived with our parents, and Jill only saw glimpses of my life.

Glimpses of a guy addicted to the temporary buzz.

But that’s just the surface. She never saw what was underneath.

What truly lies hidden in this wretched, shriveled-up heart of mine.

Three years ago, age 18

“Is that the girl you texted?” Jill asks.

“Yeah, so?” I reply, taking the girl’s coat. I grab her hand and drag her with me. “C’mon, Gillian. Let’s go.”

“What?” Jill frowns as I pull her toward the stairs. “I thought you were supposed to—”

“You have Jasmine now. Entertain yourself,” I retort.

“You know what our parents—”

“I don’t care,” I interject, barking a little too harshly, which makes her sink into her seat. Still, I can’t get over the sour look on her face, and it pisses me off even more.

“You want to come lie in my bed too?” I ask, letting my tongue run along my lips.

Her eyes widen and twitch as she tries to hide her shame. “No, no, no. No, thank you.”

Entertain them. That’s what my parents told my brother and me when the Baas family came back to our home after our dinner party at a restaurant.

But when my brother went upstairs with Jasmine and left me alone with Jill, I should’ve known it would get too hot underneath my feet.

So I called Gillian over for a hookup. Big fucking deal.

Fuck Jill and that golden horse she rode in on.

Gillian runs up the stairs behind me, giggling loudly. The second we get to my room, I lock the door, and she’s immediately on me like my lips are made of honey. But her kisses are raw, harsh, like a girl desperate to swallow, and it’s making me want to shove her away.

“What the fuck was that for?” she snarls.

“Nothing. Just calm the fuck down.” I roll my eyes and walk to my bed to sit down, but the girl immediately follows me and throws her legs on mine, grabbing my face to lick my earlobe, and I fucking hate it.

But why? Why the fuck can’t I enjoy myself and this random girl I invited over?

I asked her to come. I wanted someone to fuck.

But then why can’t I enjoy it like I should?

I’m a De Vos, for crying out loud. We don’t play fair, and we fuck whoever we damn well want to. So then why is something bothering me so much?

I close my eyes and fall onto the bed. With my eyes closed, all I see is the image of a pretty blond girl dancing in front of me, seductive lips pursed, ready for the taking, her innocent eyes luring me in, begging me to come take her cherry.

Jill.

My eyes burst open, and I sit up straight in bed.

“What’s wrong?” Gillian asks as she sits up too and throws her arms around my neck.

“Nothing,” I say, glancing at her over my shoulder, wondering if I’m losing my shit because there’s a beautiful girl right here with me, and all I can think about is someone else.

I definitely am.

Jill isn’t and won’t ever be interested in me.

This girl is.

But then why can’t I fucking get Jill to disappear from my head?

I groan to myself as the girl behind me presses more kisses below my ear, trying to tempt me. “Come lie down with me. Spoil me. Use me.”

But the more I think about doing just that, the more guilt floods over me.

Because Jill is downstairs, sitting all by herself, waiting until my parents are done talking to hers.

And my mind immediately wanders to her again. To how she grabbed a pillow from the couch and chucked it at my face. The glorious grin on her face, and how badly it made me want to grab her by the throat and pin her to the couch.

I swallow.

I don’t even know why I threw that pillow back at her.

Or why I loved seeing the look of amazement on her face as we kept throwing them back and forth.

And when she fell on top of me, it almost felt like the world stood still. As if, for a second, I could pretend she didn’t hate my guts. Her body pressed up against mine made me stiff, and all I wanted at that moment was to rip off her clothes and thrust inside.

Fuck.

“C’mon,” the girl behind me says, pulling me from my thoughts. “Let’s have some fun.”

She kisses me, and I lean back to try to enjoy it, but all I can think of is just how upset Jill looked when she saw me bring this girl inside.

I texted this girl to come over because I didn’t know what the fuck to do with myself … or the giant boner I got when Jill fell on top of me minutes ago.

The way she accidentally stumbled after we threw cushions back and forth in an innocent game really got me silent. Her eyes peered straight into mine as her whole body leaned on mine, and every inch of my body wanted to hold her there.

Wanted to kiss her.

Touch her.

Grope her.

Fuck her.

Fuck.

I groan again as the girl pulls away from me.

Fucking Jill Baas.

Even when I tell myself I don’t want her, all I can think about is her. She’s screwing with my mind, and it’s exactly why I brought this girl over.

But fuck me, that image of her lying on top of me will never leave my mind.

Right as I turn around to focus on the girl I invited over, she pulls off her shirt and out bounces these giant, gorgeous tits that would make any guy’s dick hard as a rock.

I can’t lie and say that it doesn’t do it for me. But it’s tainted by that goddamn image of Jill swirling through my head, and it’s ruining everything I want to do.

“Fuck, no, wait.” I get up from the bed and march to the window to take a breath. “I can’t fucking do this.”

“But you asked me to come over,” she says, sounding disappointed as hell.

“I know.” I sigh as I rub my forehead. “Fuck.”

As I turn around, she quickly puts on her top again. Even though it’s on the wrong way, I don’t say anything. I don’t want to embarrass her further.

“It happens,” she says. “No hard feelings, right?”

“Right,” I say, but I don’t feel at all good about any of this.

Because if I can’t even fuck a girl without feeling guilty … what the fuck has Jill Baas done to me?

I clear my throat and turn around. “Let’s get you back home.”

Present

If Jill only knew the effect she had on me, even back then…

Someone knocks on the front door, pulling me from my thoughts. “Yes?”

“Sir, are you okay?” Max, one of my guards, asks as he steps in. “I heard some noise in here.”

“I’m fine,” I reply, holding my hand under the faucet to cool off and see if I need bandages.

“Okay, sir,” he replies as I fetch bandages from my office.

My guards have learned not to intervene or judge my responses. As long as I tell them I’m fine, there’s no need for them to know why I smashed my own statue.

“Sir, your mother called. She’s downstairs and says she wants to speak to you.”

“Let her come up,” I reply, sighing. I’m really not looking forward to talking with her right now. But my parents still have the majority of the business under their wing, and until they make me the sole owner, I have to keep them happy. For now.

After a few minutes, another knock on the door follows. One short tap, then two long ones. My mother’s signature knock and the one she uses before she starts berating my father.

“Come in,” I sneer as I wrap the bandage around my hand and secure it with some tape.

The door is pushed open, the click-clacking of her heels on my expensive flooring a nuisance to my ears. “What a warm welcome for your mother.”

I grab a glass and fill it with water, chugging it down in one go before I say, “Why are you here?”

“I just wanted to see how you two were getting along,” she muses, walking about my penthouse.

I turn around and clutch the counter. “Does it matter?”

She touches everything she passes—from the furniture to the flowers Lita bought to “cheer up” the house to the statue I just broke. It’s like she’s inspecting everything and deeming it unworthy with a single tip of the finger.

“Hello? Is someone there?” It’s Jill, shouting from my room. Dammit. “Please let me out.”

My mother stares at her door and then at me and sighs. “You disappoint me, Luca.”

What else is new?

“Did you really lock her up?”

I raise my brow. “What else was I supposed to do?”

“She’s your wife, not your pet,” she says, rubbing her forehead. “You must make her like you.”

“She hates me.”

She stares me down as I start pacing. “Make her happy.”

“Happy?” I snort. “She wants to kill me. Especially now that I’ve threatened the one guy who cared about her.”

My mother throws me the look, the one that oozes disappointment, and it makes me want to throw my knife at her eyeballs. “Be careful.”

“I know.”

“No, I don’t think you do,” she says. “If you put this family in danger—”

“I haven’t,” I interject, throwing her an equally threatening look back. “I’ve taken care of it.”

Her nostrils flare. “That girl in there is your wife. You two must learn to coexist for this deal to hold and for our family to reap the benefits.”

“Why do you suddenly care about any kind of relationship with the Baas family?” I ask. “You despise them.”

“Luca …” She makes a tsk sound. “Who do you think taught you to keep your friends close but your enemies closer?” She smirks. “Our family ties must appear strong to the outside world. Never weak. And there will always be someone out there trying to find any sign of weakness and destroy our empire.” She makes a fist and shows it to me like it’s my marriage she’s holding in the palm of her hand. “Make her happy. Give her what she wants.”

“Like what?” I quip.

“Food she likes. Clothes. Hobbies. Anything.”

“So you want me to bribe her,” I retort.

“Warmth. Attention. Adoration,” she adds without breaking eye contact. “Give her whatever her heart needs, and it will belong to you.” She licks her lips. “Your father did it with me when I hated him, and now I love him for it.”

Sure, she did.

After she realized he was rich.

But that won’t hold up for Jill. And my mother’s forgetting one thing.

“She killed my brother,” I reply through gritted teeth.

She steps closer to me and adjusts my collar. “She deserves every ounce of your wrath. But the Baas family are still our partners, and we must keep them on our side for now.”

I take in a deep breath and sigh. Of course. It’s always been about the business for my mother. Even my brother’s death.

“But make no mistake,” she says, planting her hands flat on my chest. “They will pay for what they’ve done. And when they’re gone for good, you’re free to do whatever you like to that pretty little girl.” A wretched smile forms on her thin lips. She turns and walks off. “I’m going to the hospital with your father.”

“Why?” I frown.

“Oh, just some tests.” She waves it off like it’s no big deal, but I know it’s because of the cancer diagnosis. With the amount of blood he’s been coughing up lately, I doubt there’s much they can do.

“There’s going to be a new business dinner Saturday night. Baas will be there,” my mother adds, throwing me a stern look. “Bring her.”

She slams the door shut and leaves me to my own thoughts.

My own emotions that I’ve tried hard to keep buried.

I thought I could use Jill as a toy, but it turns out she’s going to have to perform her wifely duties in more ways than just with her mouth and pussy.

And something tells me she won’t be willing to play the good wife.