Page 2 of The Marriage Demand

This was insane.

Winnie had awakened at six in the morning to get ready.

She was wrapped in her robe, her hair pinned in rollers, and sat at her vanity, applying makeup.

The foundation had decided to pill, which was just fucking crazy.

She hadn’t struggled with foundation in so long, and today of all days, her makeup decided to take a beating.

The bronzer was sticky, the blush too bright. Her hands shook as her nerves started to get worked up.

She ended up washing her face, repeating the whole skin care routine, and then going simple, with a skin tint and minimal makeup.

Once that was done, she finished her hair and changed into one of her favorite summer dresses.

It was a cute pastel yellow, with thick straps so she could still wear a bra, and this fell to her ankles but had a slit up to her knee, allowing her the space to walk.

It was comfortable, and not figure-hugging.

No matter how many diets she went on, or exercise routines she stuck to, her hips stayed the same—full, rounded—and were not disappearing.

She decided to stop fighting nature and just love the body she was in.

It did take time.

Years of being called fat and ugly had gotten her to this moment.

She took a deep breath, expelled it, and made her way into the kitchen.

It was already eight o’clock, and it had taken her two hours to get ready.

The scent of coffee told her Elias was already awake.

She had no idea why she felt nervous.

The moment she made her way to the kitchen, she saw her husband was already sitting at the dining room table, sipping his coffee.

Without another word, she went to the kitchen, grabbed a mug, and poured herself a cup.

Next, she went to the fridge, added a splash of milk, no sugar.

She felt nervous, and she knew it was stupid to feel this way.

The first time she met Elias, he’d been killing people.

That hadn’t scared her.

In fact, she’d been thankful he’d been there, and she hadn’t been alone.

Why did the thought of going out with her husband make her nervous?

Because it is something you want to do and you’re nervous he is going to hate it.

Taking a sip of her coffee, she grabbed a bowl and a spoon and made her way to the table.

They had shared many breakfasts throughout the last four years.

This seemed to be hard for some reason.

This was the first time he was taking her out with her own desires in mind.

She didn’t know what had inspired this, but she wanted him to enjoy it.

Now she couldn’t help but overthink everything.

He didn’t say a word as she sat down, poured her cereal, and started to eat.

She didn’t look in his general direction, and instead stayed focused on what she was doing.

Time passed, and the moment she finished her food and coffee, they were heading out the door.

It was a little after nine by this point, and already the artisan market was in full swing.

Elias didn’t allow his guards to get too close, which she appreciated.

There were so many different stores, and at first, she struggled to take it all in.

Mainly because her husband was by her side, monitoring everything.

Sure, he had told her on more than one occasion that there were always threats to their lives.

He had a lot of enemies, but so far, in the last four years, nothing had happened.

There had been a few times someone had come at them with a gun.

There were always guards at the ready, but nothing had personally happened to her.

She was grateful for that.

Also, Elias had insisted she take some personal defense training.

It was non-negotiable.

She knew how to protect herself in the event of an attack, which she hoped would never happen.

He’d also insisted she learn how to fire a gun—again, something she could now do.

There had been some knife training, and unfortunately, that hadn’t gone quite well.

She thought the knife one of the guards had been using to train her was a prop.

It wasn’t, and she kind of … stabbed him.

The guy, bless him, was alive, and he didn’t have any resentment toward her for what happened.

Nate was a good guy, but he also insisted to Elias that she didn’t need to learn.

So, she was prepared to defend herself.

Right now, with her husband by her side, she was not really prepared for anything.

The market did eventually become a welcome distraction as she looked at the handmade trinkets, bags, and everything from food to clothing.

She even saw several independent makeup companies present as well.

They had been there for at least two hours, and she had encouraged Elias to have a hot dog.

She knew without a shadow of a doubt that he hated it.

A few purchases had been made, and as they stood, finishing their hot dogs, she noticed Elias checking his cell phone.

He always did this.

In the early days of their marriage, she didn’t mind.

If she was honest, she didn’t mind now.

Only there was the teeniest, tiniest smidge of curiosity that made her wonder if it was a woman who was calling or texting.

She tried not to think about it, because he owed her nothing.

Yes, she was his wife, but they hadn’t made any vows to one another.

The priest had been paid to grant a service, and it was done.

A couple of the guards had been witnesses, and then, boom, she was Mrs.

Winnie Moore.

Married to one of the most feared men in the whole city, and she would later hear possibly the whole country, which was terrifying.

Yet, he had never harmed her.

Never hurt a single hair on her head.

He’d been the perfect gentleman.

Which was why she was still a virgin.

They had never consummated their marriage.

For a long time, she didn’t care if he was out with other women.

He could live his life, and she could live hers.

They came together when he required it.

Like last night, she was with him during his poker game, or blackjack, or whatever kind of game he was playing.

She didn’t do cards, nor did she gamble.

She had been to some foster homes where one of the parents gambled, and it was never pretty, especially when they were losing.

When they were winning, that was an entirely different story.

Winning was a good thing.

Losing fucking sucked.

And she wanted no part of it.

Winnie had made a vow to never gamble.

This was how she liked it.

“You’re hating it, aren’t you?”

she asked.

Elias looked at her.

“Excuse me?”

“The market. You hate it. Admit it.”

She took a bite out of her hot dog and looked at him, waiting.

Elias just glanced at her.

“Are you enjoying it?”

“Yes, but that is not the question I asked.”

“Then I am enjoying it.”

This made her frown.

“You don’t have to enjoy it just because I am.”

“Once we finish our hot dogs, we’re going back and buying everything you admired during the first walk-through.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“I insist.”

And with that, it was case closed.

Elias always made the final decisions, and she had to follow his lead, no matter what.

****

He fucking hated the artisan market.

It was boring to him, but also, he had to be on guard.

There was a threat from one of the rising pimps, who he was after to teach a lesson.

The pimp in question was Bozo Robins.

It was no fucking joke.

The guy had changed his name to Bozo, and at first, he was a small-time pimp.

Now, girls were turning up dead, badly beaten, and in some cases, mauled, like they had been attacked by a dog.

Only, the cops had informed him they were human teeth marks. Freaky fucking shit.

Elias had been on the hunt for this Bozo, who currently was in hiding.

The pimp was trying a play for his power.

He wasn’t concerned.

It wouldn’t be the first or last time some piece of shit thought they could take him on.

But he wasn’t going to take any chances.

When it came to Winnie, he wanted her to have a good time.

During their first meeting, he had seen the darkness that had surrounded her.

Her so-called friend had been using her, and other girls like her, to become popular with a certain group of friends.

After killing all of them and taking Winnie as his wife, he made it his mission to learn everything about her.

She ended up in the system at five years old, after a cop managed to stop the mother from selling her to a different kind of pimp.

Money was exchanged, and Winnie would have been used, abused, and possibly even killed if it weren’t for this one cop who overheard the conversation.

He changed everything.

The irony of it was, Winnie’s life had been changed in a good way since going into the system.

If she hadn’t been caught when she was, there was no telling what would have happened after.

Elias was a piece of shit.

He knew this and accepted it.

He hurt people, exploited them, but there were limits.

Kids and non-consenting females were off limits.

He didn’t believe in rape, kidnapping, or human trafficking.

If women wanted to sell themselves willingly, he had ways for that to happen.

He could handle brothels and offering online porn, with a cut of the profits.

He had a lot of women who loved their jobs, and were more than happy to split the profits.

He also wasn’t an asshole, and he made sure they got their fair share.

They were loyal to him, made him money, and were rewarded.

This was true for all his businesses, which was why he was one of the best fucking crime lords the city had ever seen.

He didn’t take from his employees.

Sure, he scared them; fear was a great motivator, as well as greed.

Money made the world go around.

It helped people overlook uncomfortable alliances and shit.

He understood it.

Which is why his wife was treated like a fucking queen.

Winnie had a hard life.

He had read the police reports and social services reports about Winnie.

Before Winnie was taken into care, she had an abusive mother who loved using her fists, and had put her daughter in the hospital a few times.

She was also a fucking great actress, according to what he had seen.

The woman had cried, screaming that it was some stranger, which would always lead to a dead end.

Either way, it ended with Winnie back in her mother’s care.

Until she was five.

Then, she entered the foster system, and her life went from shit to shit, to worse.

Now, she was married to him.

So, he was going to make sure she had everything a young woman should have.

He was not the best fucking husband.

Their first encounter was of him killing her so-called friends.

In fact, the first words she said to him were.

“thank you.”

That was it.

Thank you.

He found that so fucking adorable.

Walking back through the artisan market, they purchased some clothing, trinkets, makeup, and even food.

And after that, they were on their way back home with her goodies.

For now, they were staying at one of his many apartments.

Arriving at the house, Winnie went to her beauty room, and he made his way into his office.

He pulled out his cell phone, and there was a text from Trish, stating she had some information.

Elias made the arrangements to meet her at the club that evening.

Usually, he would go to the brothel where Trish worked, but this time, he wasn’t interested.

The woman liked to think she could get him into bed.

She was one of his longest serving prostitutes, and was in her late thirties.

She had been in the industry since she was a teenager.

When he first met Trish, she was being beaten up by her pimp at the time.

Elias didn’t like men who hurt women, especially when they were already down on the ground.

Trish wouldn’t stay in line.

She didn’t take the drugs the guy wanted her hooked on.

Trish was also a mother of three children.

Fathers had come and gone over the years. She had been used by a lot of men.

Sex was the oldest profession in the book, and seeing as men didn’t like to keep it in their pants, she was going to make money out of it, which was exactly what she did. Again, he couldn’t criticize her.

Leaving his office, he found Winnie in the kitchen.

“We’re going out tonight.

I’ll pick out some clothes for you.”

The dress she wore was cute and sexy, but not what he had in mind for a night at the club.

“We are?”

He rarely took her to the club, and when he did, it was as his trophy.

No one knew anything about her.

Winnie always stumped his enemies, and above all else, it kept the women away.

For the last four years, much to his surprise, he had not touched another woman.

There had been a few moments he had thought about it, but then he would think of Winnie.

His wife.

He never thought of marriage as a real commitment, yet that was exactly what it was to him—a commitment—and one he took seriously.

Winnie was his, and he couldn’t deny that she had turned into a very beautiful woman.

He was a selfish bastard.

She could have been safe and happy with anyone else, but he hadn’t wanted to give her up.

They could have annulled their marriage, but he didn’t want to.

He wanted Winnie all to himself.

This is what made him selfish.

She could be with anyone, but he didn’t want her to be with just anyone.

His attraction to her had grown.

He was not into young girls.

He loved women.

And Winnie, with her long, brown hair, innocent eyes, and a past that made him want to fucking kill all the people she came into contact with.

He was falling for her.

And, he’d not even fucked her yet.

Not that it was going to happen.

Winnie didn’t know he had made a vow to protect her, and he was going to keep that vow for the rest of their lives.

It also meant he was going to suffer with blue balls.

He was not a good man, but when it came to Winnie, it seemed he was becoming a fucking saint.