Page 6 of Enemies to Wife

"I certainly hope not," I growled low in my throat. "I would hate to have to punish you so quickly for breaching our contract." I ran my finger down her throat before grasping it in my hand. I leaned in close and whispered in her ear. "Or more like I would love to punish that sweet ass of yours, but you would definitely hate it." I felt her body shiver and wanted nothing more than to push her into the bathroom next to us and make her scream my name so that nobody, especially Alec McIntyre, would mistake exactly who she belonged to.

"I-I swear I didn't say anything," Lily stammered. There was nothing as sweet as the sense of fear. It was like it carried its own scent, one that I was accustomed to being around. Be it when one of my marks realised I was there to dispatch of them, and certainly now looking into the wide eyes of my dear sweet wife. I wouldn't be ordering a hole for her body, but by the time I was done with her she would probably wish that I was.

I narrowed my eyes on her for a few more seconds before nodding. I knew she was lying, but it didn't make a difference right now. What exactly would McIntyre be able to do about it? He couldn't go running to his daddy about it, it was William McIntyre that had referred me to the agency in the first place. I was not happy when I had been told that I needed to make a good impression if I was going to acquire the role I wanted in the Foundation. It didn't seem to matter about all the work that I had done for them for the last four years, all the blood that had passed through my fingers. No, if I wanted to claim my heritage and my rightful place, I would have to at least appear to be an upstanding member of society, and that apparently meant being married. I had been told that because of my previous unsatisfactory record I would have to work extra hard to show that I was the right material for the Foundation. A record that I wouldn't have had if it wasn't for the woman in front of me sabotaging everything. I smiled at her, knowing that it didn't reach my eyes, and nodded again.

"Well okay then," I said and let go of her throat. I stepped back and held out my arm. "Shall we continue to share our happy news and enjoy the party? I could use a drink, and I am sure you could use one too." I watched as Lily looked down at my arm and then back up at me. Slowly her body straightened, and the fear seemed to bleed into determination with an enticing fire spark and she reached out to take my arm. I allowed a smug smile on my lips, I knew that my new little wife was hiding something from me, but I was nothing if not the extractor of all secrets.

We headed out from the hallway into the main entrance hall and the other guests. The party was, as usual, full of pretentious members of the elite society that I had grown up in. As I took two glasses of champagne, I recognised more than one that I had worked with, each one as corrupted as the other. The men nodded at me while the women had a mixture of reactions. Some were lustful, some glanced at the woman on my arm with intrigue, and some glared at her with distaste and jealousy. I glanced over to see that despite holding her head high, Lily was very much aware of the ill feelings directed at her. Part of me wanted to assure her that she belonged here just as much, if not more than a lot of the women here, but then another part stopped me, reminding me that I had already offered her the world four years ago and she had stomped on it and crushed it like it was beneath her. No, Lily Appleby would have to earn her place here now.

It was only an hour later, after polite conversations and delighting in introducing an obviously unhappy Lily to some people as my wife, before I found the one person who I was looking for. I quickly guided Lily in that direction and headed over with a grin on my face.

"James," I said letting go of Lily's arm to reach out to shake his hand. James Killinham smiled back and shook my hand. He had been my main contact at the Foundation over the last year or so and had actively been helping me get an audience with the right people after I had helped him with one of his own personal issues about tracking down a particular person who was very important to him. I had found the girl and James had been very grateful.

"Sebastian," James said with genuine pleasure in his voice, "I am so glad to see you here tonight." James glanced over at Lily and his grin grew.

"Is this her?" he asked, and I grinned again. James turned to Lily and took her hand bringing it to his lips, much to her surprise.

"Mrs Lynch, it is a great pleasure to meet you. Sebastian here has told me so much about you," he said, and Lily narrowed her eyes on him, clearly not impressed.

"Clearly not," she said with a sneer, "Otherwise you would have known that we had already met." I took Lily's hand and squeezed lightly in warning. I would be damned if I was going to let her fuck this up for me, again. James seemed unfazed about her insolence though, and his smile grew.

"Of course I remember you, dear," he said. "It was a sad affair what happened. I was sure you had so much promise in the school. It was why I matched you with Sebastian in the first place." My eyes widened as he spoke. I glanced at Lily whose expression matched my own. James laughed like someone had told a joke.

"Oh, you younger generation think you know more than you do," he said, and patted me on the back. "I assure you there are many strings being pulled all over the place." I wasn't sure I like the sound that I had somehow been manipulated, I was the one who did the string pulling, I was nobody’s puppet. James laughed again and then he glanced over at me, his face becoming serious.

"On the subject of strings," he said in a quiet tone, "How goes our little show?" I pushed aside my annoyance and allowed my business mind to take over.

"So far, everything is going according to plan," I said, "as long as you keep up your end, we should be able to deal with the matter efficiently." James nodded in satisfaction.

"Good," he replied. "I don’t want this dragging on any further."

"And when I do what needs doing, will that be enough for-" I began to ask but James shook his head quickly and nodded behind me. I turned to see the host of the party himself heading our way. William McIntyre was a well-respected man in society, but I knew him in a very different light. A light that by looking at the way he was staggering slightly was showing.

"James," he called out as he dragged his latest gold digging whore along by the arm. As far as I was aware they had only been seen a few times but by the look on the girls face she was already realising the mistake that she had made. William made it to us and patted James on the back and then turned to me.

"Ah, young Sebastian," he said a little too loud. "Are you ready for the final assessment next month?" I glared at him while James grimaced.

"William, this is Sebastian's new wife," James said through gritted teeth. William looked dazed at the change of subject until his eyes fell on Lily. The look he gave her was no less than predatory and I wanted to punch him square in the face.

"Well, hello there," William smirked at Lily and reached up to paw at her. Lily was obviously a smart one and backed away from his advance slightly. I stepped forward putting myself between his wandering hands and my new wife. William didn't notice and continued to leer at Lily.

"I must say Sebastian," he slurred without taking his eyes from Lily. "You picked a good one here. It's a shame I didn't see her first, I would have done some damage to a beauty like this one. Maybe we could still arrange something." He then turned to the blond with him and slapped her ass hard, the sound resonating through the room. "You would like that, wouldn't you sweetheart?" The woman flinched slightly and looked uncomfortable, bordering on frightened, before nodding her head quickly. I clenched my fist, digging my nails into my palm before I chose to punch the bastard. I knew full well that William was too rough with his women, which was why he couldn't keep hold of one. I glanced over at Lily who had wide eyes, glinted with fear. She glanced me with an uncomfortable look before looking away again. I took a deep breath and forced a smirk on my face.

"Apologies gentlemen," I said quickly. "But it has been a long day, and I am ready for bed." William smirked at me and winked.

"Oh, I don't think I would leave my bed with a bitch like that to play with," he said. James shook his head quickly, warning me not to mess anything up. I knew he was right, but I was ready to be done with kissing up to William McIntyre. Next month I wouldn't have to worry about him anymore. Until then, though, I would have to play it safe.

I took Lily's arm and with a last nod I steered her away from the men and towards the house exit. I pulled my phone out and sent a quick message to Davis to say I was ready to leave, knowing he would be waiting outside already.

"That was Alec's father?" Lily asked quietly as we made our way to the entrance. I nodded quickly.

"Yep, William McIntyre himself," I sneered. "I wouldn't get any ideas though, the man is not very nice to his women."

"Well, that was obvious," Lily scoffed. "I saw how terrified the woman was." I cocked my head slightly. Lily was observant. I recognised the all-out fear in the woman's eyes, but then I was used to seeing fear in people’s eyes, and I was normally the one causing it.

"Well, you won't have to worry about him," I said as we headed out of the building and towards the car. "I won't let him get a chance to hurt you." Lily snorted as we reached Davis who had the rear door open ready for us. I stopped before allowing her to climb into the car and turned to face her.

"What's so funny?" I asked. I didn't like that she was so dismissive of the promise. Lily sneered at me. Even then, her face was a picture of beauty. One that I hadn't forgotten in the last few years since she had ruined my life.