Page 13 of Falling for the Wife

She loudly gasped, mouth hanging ajar. “You’d do that?”

Once, I thought of nothing else but having my own. But that was all buried in the past. “Of course, every child deserves to have two parents in their lives.”

“Arranged marriage…” she murmured with a blank stare. “What are your stipulations?”

Gisele was too sharp, or maybe she knew me better than I imagined.

“Your father will expect it to be a regular arranged marriage, so I’m hoping to keep this between us. My only demand is that I’ll get to have a personal life outside of this agreement. You can divorce me anytime you want. If the time comes you fall in love and want to marry, I won’t stand in your way. I’ll move in at the compound as soon as it can be arranged. We’ll be sharing a bed until…the inevitable happens. We’ll carry on as before. No one needs to know of our arrangement. In the public’s eyes, I’ll be your guardian, nothing more.”

She nodded before directing those intense fathomless pools of gray at me. “You won’t be sharing my bed?”

“Not in that sense, no.”

“You’ll have a mistress, then?”

“I’m currently with someone; her name’s Rose. She won’t know of our arrangement, but I do intend to keep her. You can carry on with yours as well. I won’t hinder you from dating after you’ve settled into motherhood and resumed school at Stanford.”

“Right. Of course,” she said with an edge to her voice. “When do you need me to leave?”

“I applied for the marriage license yesterday. We have to leave as soon as possible. Your father wants to speak with you, too. The jet’s being refueled as we speak. Will you be ready in an hour’s time?”

“Yes, I’ll be ready.” Her lips pressed together, seemingly avoiding my meticulous gaze as she pulled her body off mine, putting a great amount of space between us.

Her immediate withdrawal made me frown. “Okay. I’ll leave you be. I’ll be in the stateroom, waiting for you once you’re set to leave.”

There was something in her eyes I couldn’t decipher. It wasn’t sadness. More of anger and something along those lines. It couldn’t have been directed at me. It had to be towards the lying cheat she mentioned before. What asshole would abandon her in her delicate state?

Poor Gisele. She couldn’t seem to catch a break. With a baby on the way and its father out of the picture, topped with her father’s impending demise, I could only imagine the turmoil and confusion she was experiencing.

Whatever happened from here on out, I’d be her silent strength, ensuring she wanted for nothing.

CHAPTER6

Gisele

“Is thereanything else I can get to make you comfortable?” Jared strode into the bedroom situated at the back of the jet where I’d been trying to sleep for the past three hours to no avail.

He found me staring holes into the ceiling, wearing only my robe. My eyes dropped, only to connect with cerulean blues, studying him with open scrutiny.

“Why are you doing this?” I found myself asking. “You’ve said you needed my vote. You have it. So why, Jared? I don’t get why you’re willing to sacrifice yourself.”

“Your father wished it of me. He’s done so much for me…This is his last wish…You know I’d do anything to make him ecstatic, Gisele.”

“You’re sacrificing a lot to achieve such results.”

“I owe him my life,” he said as if it was explanation enough. “Do you have any reservations? If so, I’d like to address them now before we get home.”

As if I’d ever turn him down. Or my father at that. “I’ll follow what my father asks of me; don’t doubt that for a second. But what I want to ask is, why can’t we try to make this into a real one, Jared? Maybe not right away, but maybe later on when things aren’t so crazy around us…”

“A real one?” He appeared perplexed, as if the thought never occurred to him.

“Yes, the whole shebang.”

“I don’t know about that…”

“Why not? Am I not pretty enough for you?” Amongst other things. I knew the answer, but I asked anyway.

He paused before vehemently shaking his head. “No, it’s not that, but I have needs I doubt you can satisfy.”