Page 26 of Devil's Iris

I study Leni as we weave through the traffic towards my office, but she keeps her gaze fixed on the window. Is she shy now? Nervous? Having second thoughts? I text Logan to drive faster—just in case—and our speed picks up.

She can’t change her mind. Not until she’s signed the contract.

“Pretend to be in love?” Leni looks at me like I’ve gone mad.

“Yes,il mio uccellino.”My little bird. I keep my voice soothing, reasonable. “You see, my brothers are all married now, and they’re all love matches. I’m the only one who’s managed to hold onto bachelorhood, and they’d be shocked if they thought I gave it up for anything less than a grand romance.”

We’re at a truce with our rivals, and there’s no war brewing, so I can’t even hide under the guise of it being political. Hell, they all know I've been avoiding meeting Julian’s daughter specifically because I didn’t want him bringing up the subject of marriage in exchange for his supposed information.

So yes, they’d be curious. Too curious. And I don’t want to field their probing questions about why I’m marrying her. Not when I can’t really pinpoint why either. I just know there’s this burning urgency in my guts to bind her to me as tightly as possible. And I always trust my gut.

Leni doesn’t push. She nods once, almost to herself, then looks down and continues reading through the contract I drew up. The pretending to be in love clause is the only part she might object to because that’s the only real demand I’m making. Everything else is heavily weighted in her favor. Obviously, we’re going to be having sex, but I worded it more diplomatically in the contract.

Her debt gets cleared immediately. On top of that, she’llreceive fifty thousand a month in her account. And at the end of the year, she gets a final payout of two million.

“Don’t you think this is too much? I only need the one-time payment of fifty thousand for the loan sharks and some maintenance.”

Sweet, naïve little bird.

“If you’re going to be my wife, you need to look the part, and you’ll need money for that,” I point out logically.

“Oh.” She nibbles on her bottom lip as she nods.

That money is all she’ll get from me, though. Because she’s also signing an ironclad prenup along with the marriage contract. In the case of a divorce—if I tire of her within the year—she won’t get anything else.

After reading through both documents, she signs at the bottom with the pen I gave her. Only then does the tension in my shoulders ease. I have her now.She’s mine.

I take the documents from her and add my signature next to hers, sealing the deal.

Then I walk back to my desk and pick up my phone. She mentioned that the leader of the group is some dickhead named Rick, and I could piece the rest together to know which loan shark company her family borrowed from.

I dial the owner of the company—the man this Rick works for. “Callum Newsam? This is Romero Lombardi.”

“Mr. Lombardi!” There’s a distinct note of panic in his voice. “To what do I owe this… delight?”

From his tone, I know he’s anything but delighted. My brothers and I generally let the loan sharks and smaller gangs be so long as they don’t interfere with our businesses, but they still live in fear that we might decide to end them.

“It’s come to my attention that you have an Amelia and Ethan Barlowe in your custody?”

“Yes,” he says cautiously. “They owe me–”

“Forty grand. I know. Text your banking details to thisnumber and I’ll have it transferred within the day. Release them immediately.”

“Of–of course. Right away,” he stutters. “May I ask how they’re related to you? They’re just a bunch of nobodies.”

My gaze settles on Leni, who’s watching me with what looks like stars in her eyes. I like that expression. I like it a littletoomuch. “They’re my wife’s family,” I answer, hanging up.

11

LENI

The air rushes out of my lungs as I watch Romero, my heart thumping in disbelief. This can’t be real. People don’t just snap their fingers and make problems vanish.

But he just did.

The relief is so massive it makes me dizzy, like I’ve been holding my breath for weeks and can finally exhale. All that fear, that crushing weight of helplessness—gone.Forty thousand dollars of debt wiped away with a single phone call.

Mom and Ethan are going to be okay. We’re getting married, and I’m making a lot of money from it. In one year, when it’s all over, I’ll never have to worry about bills or scraping by ever again.