Page 18 of Handsome Devil

My disobedience being attractive to him wasn’t a good thing, because I could never stop butting heads with that demon.

“I don’t even know your real name,” I pointed out.

I didn’t know much about my boss, but the little I’d stumbled upon inForbesthree years ago fascinated me. He’d spent hisearly years in an orphanage—or a boarding school of sorts—and was adopted as a teenager, where he took on a different name. No one knew his real name. Not even his friends.

“Tatum Blackthorn is my legal name,” he retorted. “Anything else?”

I rolled my tongue along the walls of my mouth. “I have rules too.”

“Let’s hear them.”

“The results of your side of the bargain won’t be immediate. It’d take time to see if Mum is getting better and the experiment is working. Therefore, no heirs the first two years of our marriage.” That’d buy me some time.

Tate didn’t flinch.

I continued, feeling like a heavy stone rolled off my chest. “I decide when, where, and how we consummate this marriage. You will not pressure me. There’ll be no time limit on this.”

An indifferent nod. He was oddly confident that I would come to him readily. His ego was bigger than Nebraska.

“I come and go as I please. I do not answer to you. And when my mother passes away, our marriage contract expires, and I get to decide if I want a divorce or not.”

He scowled. “Absolut—”

I held up a hand. “This shouldn’t be an issue if you plan on taking care of her. This ismyassurance. Bear in mind that if all goes well and we have spawn, I am less likely to leave. Or at least I’d give you a fair chance.”Lies.I would not. And there’d be no spawn. But he didn’t need to know that.

Tate suppressed a grin. “Such a ballbuster at twenty-six. I want to add more rules.” He stood, eating up the distance between us. He stopped a breath away from me.

My heart rioted. He smelled of tobacco, fine leather, spice, and my own personal demise.

“One, this is exclusive. You dump your little boyfriend as soon as you walk out of here. Two, you act like you don’t detest me in public. Three, do not hire anyone to assassinate me. If you want to kill me, do it yourself.”

I let out an exasperated snort. He remained stoic.

Oh. He wasn’t kidding.

“Haven’t you been married three times before?” My eyebrows slammed together.

“Yes.”

“Did any of them try to assassinate you?”

“Only one that I know of, but it is possible the other two were more discreet.” He sounded entirely unbothered. “I married my way up the high society ladder. I’d inherited wealth, not status. I needed the latter to make GS Properties what it is today.”

“So the marriages were to make connections?”

“Yes. They knew what they were getting into. But some people get incredibly touchy about being used as a tool.”

“How overly dramatic of them,” I huffed. “Children?”

“They weren’t very mature, but I wouldn’t go that far.”

“Successors.” I rolled my eyes, sighing. “Do you have any?”

He shook his head. “None.”

Tate being thrice divorced was a positive sign. If he treated marriage like a currency, there was bound to be someone more beneficial for him in the future. He’d have to enter another union. To break things off with me.

“I agree.” I choked on every word. “On the stipulation that you will secure Mum a spot in the experimental trial, fly her out here, and allow her to stay with us once she finishes her treatment.”