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Which would mean far more money lining the pockets of my family. We wouldn’t have to pay the fees that Joshua charges, even if they are severely reduced rates and he’s replaced supply for us after attacks twice.

I drum my fingers on the desk, shrugging one shoulder. “You know, I think this little crush that you have on my husband is rather pathetic. I mean, look at you right now. You’re trying to trade cocaine for a relationship. Doesn’t that scream desperate to you?”

Emily’s face turns a deep shade of red. Her acrylic nails sink into her palms as her eyes narrow. “And yet, you’re the one who knows nothing about your husband or what he’s really involved in, aren’t you? You can’t honestly think that cocaine is the only business he’s involved in.”

“When did I say I don’t know what he does with his life?”

The hair on the back of my neck prickles, though.

It seems like everyone knows what Joshua is doing except me.

That’s going to end.

Emily relaxes a little. “Fine, maybe you do know. Either way, you need to end the relationship with him. It’s only a matter of time before you both see that this marriage is never going to work.”

I sigh and get up, rounding the desk and heading to the door. I pull it open and stand to the side. “You should leave. I would hate for you to still be here when you realize that this time, you aren’t getting what you want.”

She stands and steps closer to me. “You’re going to regret this. Dad isn’t going to take the slight lightly.”

“There’s no slight to him, but you tell Grady that if he wants to have a discussion about my marital status with me, then he is more than welcome to find me himself instead of sending along an insecure little girl who needs her daddy to buy her a husband.”

“You bitch.”

“Probably the nicest thing I’ve been called.” I hold the door open a little wider. “Now, leave before you make an even bigger fool of yourself.”

Emily storms through the laundromat, slamming the door shut behind her.

I groan and lean against the wall before reaching into my jeans and hauling out my phone.

The call seems to take forever to connect, but when it does, a rush of anger floods through me.

“You better get the fuck down here now.”

And without another word, I hang up on Joshua, knowing that it’s going to cost me when he gets here, but I don’t care.

This is his problem. He deserves to be as annoyed as I am.

Joshua walks into the laundromat an hour later, his face thunderous as he storms toward me. “What the hell was that call?”

I look up from my desk and the paperwork spread in front of me. “Good morning, love, nice to see you too. I had an eventful morning with the woman who wants me to divorce you so she can marry you. How was your morning?”

He stops in his tracks, his eyes widening. “Emily was here?”

“Oh, yes.”

Joshua steps into the office and shuts the door behind him, twisting the lock into place. “And why do I need to be down here? You’re more than capable of handling her yourself.”

My eyebrows climb as I scoff and stand, rounding the desk to poke him in the chest. “I agreed to pretend to be married to you so you could avoid this little problem. Now she’s coming to my business, getting in my face, and threatening me.”

He snatches my hand, hauling me closer to him, spinning to put me between his body and the door. “You’re hot when you’re angry.”

“Well, then I must be the fucking temperature of the sun right now because I’m livid!” I try to step away from him, but he takes my chin in his hand, holding me in place.

Joshua smirks, his thumb rubbing across my bottom lip. “Close.”

“You’re infuriating.”

“And you are stunning.”

I whip away from him, putting distance between us so I can remember exactly why I’m angry. “You know, people keep telling me that there are things about you that I don’t know. Don’t you think it’s time I know about this little secret of yours?”

He scowls and leans back against the wall, tucking his hands in his pockets. “You want to talk about fucking secrets, Skyla? Let’s start with yours.”

My mouth goes dry as I look at him, head tipping to the side. “I’m not the one with people popping out of the woodwork and threatening to expose me all the time.”

“Bullshit.”

I shift, keeping the desk between us, wanting a barrier in case the erection he’s sporting gets any bigger.

I’m not going to be bent over my desk and fucked just so he can get out of this conversation.

Even if that idea is more appealing than any other I’ve had today.

Joshua pushes off the wall, moving closer to me. “You have just as many secrets as I do. Hell, you probably have more.”

“This isn’t about me right now. Your future wife wanted me to drop you and take sales from you. That’s what we should be talking about right now.”

I step to the side, keeping the desk between us as he advances on me again.

He smirks, stalking like a predator as he follows me around the table, doing an entire rotation before he comes to a stop.

Finally, I sigh, shoulders slumping as my gaze meets his. “We should just call this entire thing off. People are going to figure out that it’s nothing but a lie sooner than later. If we end it now, we can play it off as a divorce.”

And maybe my heart can still be salvageable.

With one quick move, he is around the desk and in my face again, but this time he doesn’t reach for me.

His gaze locks with mine, and it feels like we are the only two people in the world.

My heart threatens to beat right out of my chest while my palms itch. My stomach flips as he stops a few inches from me, his chest nearly close enough to brush against mine.

“We’re not ending this marriage.” His voice is raspy. “This is more than just a fake marriage, and you know it just as well as I do. These matching tattoos on our ring fingers mean something. And even if you are the biggest liar I’ve ever met, I want to be with you.”

“That sounds like a mistake.”

I swallow the lump in my throat, my heart and mind at war with each other.

I should be telling him to run now before we have the chance to hurt each other more. It would be the right thing to do.

We’re never going to be good for each other. And yet, somehow, I think we could be great together.

There’s just that pesky problem of the secrets that linger between us. And I don’t think that is ever going to sort itself out. No matter how much I wish we could.

Because that would mean losing this. Losing him. And though it would probably be the wisest thing to do, I’m not sure I could survive it anymore.