Page 86 of Bound in Debt

Victoria could’ve said anything else. But those six words…

If her faithfulness runs that deep, why am I already dreading this sham of a marriage? Victoria doesn’t place demands on my attention—in fact she’s purposely tried to escape any involvement with me.

I’m always the one reaching out to her. Offering to step in, to save her, to be part of her solution.

She doesn’t need me emotionally.

But maybe I need her.

27

VICTORIA

“You just couldn’t wait, could you? You should’ve waited until we got divorced.”

I’ve never seen any man so irritated and turned on at the same time, but I’d be a damn liar if I said I was feeling guilty for doing this to Dante.

Instead, I’m reveling in the fact that he let me touch him, kiss him, and straddle his lap without tossing me on my ass. He doesn’t find me revolting, so that’s a plus. I was beginning to think that I had misunderstood, that he wasn’t attracted to me.

But, bit by bit, Dante’s curtain of mysterious dealings and emotions is starting to become transparent. He might say he’s not my knight in shining armor, acting as though that kind of hero is something I should want.

I don’t.

I yearn for someone who’s going to stick by my side, no matter how crazy or unpredictable life gets.

And Dante just saved my career for no reason except that it’s mine.

When my mother heard I married Dante rather than Liam, she absolutely lost her shit. She probably got a call from someone at the school and, likely in the same conversation, immediately had my funding pulled with zero consideration for the time I’ve spent busting my ass in school.

I outsmarted her.

I did my research, spoke to the lawyer, and I know every little detail of my trust.

It spelled out that I had to marry someone, just like my mother said.

I did that. Dante and I should have the money in the next thirty days.

It said I have to prove a pregnancy in order to touch the next quarter, and I’m working on that.

If I’m unable to bear children, the rest will release upon medical confirmation of my infertility.

And if I do give birth to a child, the rest of my trust will move into my account and I’ll be forever free of my mother’s bullshit.

For some unknown reason, the pregnancy doesn’t scare me anymore—but that might be because I’m high on the feeling of Dante’s cock pulsing inside me, too lost in carnal pleasure to worry about the consequences.

I need to worry about them.

There’s no freaking way I’m having a child right now. I have things to do, like a degree to finish and a bakery to open, and I refuse to become a single mother when Dante decides he wants to leave after we escape this mess. And it doesn’t sound like he wants a kid either.

Dante’s fingers squeeze my thighs and I clench around him. It’s hard to focus on words, but his comment about waiting for our inevitable divorce deserves some kind of response. He’s already tossed our relationship aside, making his priorities more-than clear.

“And do what, exactly, in the meantime?” I ask. I doubt he’s the kind of person who’s willing to share.

But I’m stupid enough to test the theory. Just once.

“Whatever it is that you want to do.” His darkening eyes give him away. I’m not a freaking mind reader, but I know he feels this connection between us. What we have feels too good and sinful to set aside and never explore again.

“I’d never cheat on my husband.” It’s the truth. I might enjoy pushing Dante’s buttons, but I’d never betray him. It doesn’t matter that this marriage isn’t real to us. It’s still sacred and deserves respect, no matter how we got here.