Chapter 2 The Devil's Proposal

I had exactly $14 in the bank, two letters to vacate on the kitchen table, and a sister in the hospital fighting for her life who needed a deposit I couldn't pay. The devil then called.

I was sitting on the cold kitchen floor with unread hospital bills and rejected emails all around me. The yellow light from the cracked ceiling flashed above me. The flat smelled like old coffee and hopelessness. As I opened another email, my hands were shaking.

"Thank you for your interest, Miss West, but we have moved forward with another candidate."

The same thing. Today is not the same.

"Dammit!" I slammed my hands together and threw the phone across the room. I held my breath. It hurt my chest. It had been days since I had cried because it didn't help. I tried to stop today, but I couldn't.

I failed Ava. I let Dad down. The worst part was that I failed myself.

My phone rang.

Number Not Knew.

I cleaned my face and took it. "Hello?"

"Miss West," a voice I knew called out. It's cold. Buffed up. Not safe.

I went cold. That sound hadn't been heard in a year. Not since the shame in the workplace that broke my life.

"Julian Blake?"

"I need to see you," was all he said.

I opened my eyes. "Excuse me?"

"My driver will be there in thirty minutes." "Be sure to dress right."

He put the phone down.

Like a rocket landing in a junkyard, the car pulled up in front of my run-down building.

The driver just opened the door and didn't say anything. I thought about it for a moment as I looked at my reflection in the shiny black paint. A stranger with droopy hair and tired eyes looked back at me.

Julian Blake hadn't seen this side of me before.

I felt shackled by the silence inside the car. I had to force back bile when we got to the same high-rise that used to feel like my kingdom.

The lift to the top floor was very quiet. My hands were shaking. But I felt like I owned his office when I walked in.

In a well-fitted suit, he stood by the window and looked like a sin.

"Aria."

"Julian."

His mouth moved. Not a smile. Not yet.

"You look... different."

"You look the same." It's cold and expensive."

"Still sharp-tongued, I see."

I put my arms down. "Why am I here?"

As he turned, his eyes were as bright as steel. "I have a proposal."

I laughed very hard. "You made me look bad, Julian." kicked me off the board in front of thirty people. What possible deal could you make me?"

He didn't move.

"Marry me."

I had to stop laughing.

"What?"

"Get married to me for six months." Very business-like. I'll pay off your loans, take care of your sister's bills, and give you ten million dollars in return.

Keep quiet.

I looked at him like he had grown horns.

"Is this some sick power game?"

"No." To stay alive. Yours. "And mine."

I moved back. "You're insane."

"Maybe. Ava doesn't have much time, though, does she?"

What he said cut like a knife. My body got stiff.

"How do you even know about her"

"I do things my way." Take a look. You have 48 hours.

As I turned to leave, anger boiled in my chest.

He called out, "Aria?"

I turned around.

His face couldn't be read. "You always said I'd come back weak." You were right. That is, I'm not moving. I'm giving you everything. How much is your pride worth?

I yelled and stormed out, but his offer made my heart race.

Get married to the devil, or my sister will die.

I had 48 hours to make up my mind.

I was sure this road would take me there.

Into his arms.

Or straight to hell.

I didn't like how calm he looked. Like that wicked smile he made with his mouth wasn't enough to destroy my whole world a year ago.

I mumbled, "I don't understand," and grabbed the armrest of the chair. "You want me to... marry you?"

"For six months." Julian leaned in closer, and I could smell his dark, expensive, and enticing cologne. "You'll be my loving wife." Outside. At events for the family. Events for fun. That's all.

"Without anyone else?" I shot back with a voice that was sharper than I meant.

He didn't move his eyes. "We'll talk about those terms." But I want you to be loyal. The ring will be on you. Stay in my house. And make sure to smile for the cameras.

I blinked, and my breath caught somewhere between shock and anger. "You made me feel bad." I was fired like trash. Now you want me to smile for the press?"

With his hands together behind him, he stood up and walked toward the window. "I don't trust people easily. At that time, I had no idea who you were.

"Oh, and now I'm suddenly ready to get married?"

When he turned around, the look in his eyes stopped me in my tracks. "You need help badly." I need help badly. This plan works out well for both of us. You need cash. "I need a bride."

I stood up too, feeling something tight in my chest that was like shame and something else. Something very close to being interesting. "What do you get out of it?" What do you have hidden, Julian?"

His eyes became harder. "You'll find out." "If you agree."

I put my arms together. "Why me?"

Slowly, he walked up, and his voice down. "Because you're not smitten with me." Since you dislike me. And because I have power over that.

As he brushed a hair off my face, my breath caught. His fingers were there for too long, half a second too long. A flutter in my heart told me it was lying to me, but I didn't want to see it.

"Forty-eight hours," he said in a deep, silky voice. "Tick tock, sweetheart."

Before he could see how scared I was, I stormed out. Even though the car door shut behind me, I could still smell him.

I took out my phone and looked at Ava's hospital bills. The calculator app made my thumb shake.

Then it made a noise. Number Not Knew. A new message.

"If you say no..." I'll find someone else. She loves your sister more than you do, though.

I went cold.

What the hell did he know?