Page 10 of By His Vow
I might be focused on Miles, but I don’t miss the way Tate’s lips purse in anger at my words.
“I’m not your wife,” she sneers.
“Not yet. But you will be.” For once in your life, you’re going to do as you’re told…
Her expression hardens, although she’s pretty difficult to take seriously right now with a hoodie down to her knees and bits of hair everywhere.
“Miles, please,” she begs. “We need to discuss this. Go check on Mom. I’ll be out soon.”
With another concerned look in her direction, Miles finally walks toward the door.
He pauses when he gets there and looks me dead in the eyes.
“I’m fucking watching you, Kingston.” Hearing him use my full name makes me smile, a reaction he probably doesn’t want to see.
“Miles,” Tatum snaps, and finally he walks out of the room and closes the door behind us.
She stares at the dark wood as if she’s praying for some kind of miracle, but sadly for her, it’s unlikely to happen.
Her future has been laid out now. There’s only one way her life is going.
My way.
“Tatum, Kingston, please, take a seat,” Richard says, speaking for the first time in a while and reminding me that he’s still sitting there.
With a nod, I move forward and drop back into the seat I stole from her with a smirk playing on my lips.
“Baby?” I ask, dragging the chair next to me closer and gesturing for her to sit.
“Don’t call me that,” she sneers. “Don’t ever call me that.”
My smirk grows.
Fuck. I shouldn’t love riling her up as much as I do.
As a kid, it was always one of the reasons why I loved being here and hanging out with Miles. Sure, she was annoying as fuck, running around with her Barbies and other girly shit. But watching anger blaze in her eyes whenever she so much as bumped into me made it all so worth it.
“We’ll see,” I mutter. “At least sit down.”
“I’d rather stand.”
“Brat,” I say under my breath.
Richard looks between the two of us as if he’s watching a tennis match.
“So, what’s the deal here? We get married, try not to kill each other for a year, and then I’m free?”
Richard pauses for a moment before answering, and I can’t lie, his hesitation piques my interest.
I may have been aware of this part of Jonathan’s will—hell, I fucking agreed to it. But I don’t know the details, or even the reasons.
I just saw it for what it is. A business deal. And quite frankly, it seemed like a pretty fucking good one to me.
So, here we are.
“Yes and no,” Richard finally confesses. “Your father has stipulated how he would like your relationship to progress from here on out.”
“You mean he’s still trying to dictate my life from the grave?” Tatum snaps.