Page 19 of The Stallion (Men Under Revue #2)

Dallas

Ponyboy…

Of all the nicknames I would have considered her giving me, that was one I hadn’t even considered.

It made sense, though, seeing as it was the most popular song we danced to in the show. The moment that song played, the entire theater erupted into a pandemonium of screams and shrieks from all the women in attendance.

I released a sigh, staring down at the black marble counter where I had Bria caged, right before she turned down my advances and stormed out of the kitchen.

I was strong enough to stop her, but I let her shove me aside as if I were nothing, to give her a confident moment of victory.

I could only hope that her hate of our unconventional arrangement would fade with time .

Long-term, I didn’t want a loveless marriage. I strived to have a connection like my parents. However, with the pressure to retain my leadership position, I had to make a tough choice.

There were only two options: I could’ve waited for the right woman to come along, bonded, and married her with time—most likely losing my status in the process. Or pull the trigger when I felt the slightest hint of a gut feeling, hoping it wouldn’t lead me astray— obviously, I chose the latter.

Bria was my gut feeling, and not a single second has passed since that made me regret my ultimate decision—even from that very first night with her.

She’d be the one— eventually. There was no doubt about that.

As far as I was concerned, there was no one else better for me—only her.

I gave Bria her space for what was left of the morning, lounging in the living room with the TV on. I sat there lazily, my arms fanned out across the back of the large couch I had slept on the night before, and one foot resting on the coffee table.

If I was going to wait for Bria to come out of hiding, I could at least make myself comfortable.

Time felt like sand passing through an hourglass, and I knew I still needed to prepare for my meeting with Dustin. Oh, how fucking wonderful that conversation was going to be.

My mind was so far from where it should’ve been that I couldn’t recall half of the shit that was addressed on the news. The TV was nothing more than background noise to my internal thoughts .

An audible click from the hall caught my attention, and I shifted my gaze from staring off into nothing to the hallway where Bria now stood, fully dressed in a pair of tiny cutoff denim shorts and a plain black tank top.

“I need a car. Ash and I always carpooled together, and if I have to drive back and forth between here and Phoenix, I need a reliable vehicle.” Her demand was brazen, as if she had spent this entire time rehearsing her request.

I half expected her to still hold a grudge against me from my earlier remark.

“We can go shopping for one later today when I return from my… work meeting. What do you have in mind?”

“Well, since you need me to play the role of your wife—convincingly, I might add. I want a Jeep Wagoneer… Series three… all the additional accessories and packages.”

If she thinks her expensive vehicle choice will immediately throw me off my game, she's got another thing coming.

I’ve got all the money to burn just for you, sweet girl.

I’ll give Bria everything her heart desires, no questions asked.

“Color preference?” I asked with a broad smile, and I could see it catch her off guard by the way she hesitated with her reply.

“Bright white.” I expected her to want the black or maybe even red. I didn’t take her for bright— “Actually, scratch that, I want the Diamond Black.” That’s my sweet girl.

“Done.”

“That’s it? You’re not going to try to talk me into a cheaper car? Something smaller? More affordable?” Bria narrowed her eyes at me as if I were toying with her, playing some mental game that she was more than prepared to win.

I had to admit I loved how forward and unafraid she was to call me out on essentially anything, but as for winning…

“Why would I do that? You’ve seen what I drive, where we live…”

“Well, yeah, but—”

I quickly pushed myself off the couch and stalked across the room to her.

Bria didn’t move, not even a flinch. Her arms were firmly held, crossed over her chest, closing herself off with her hip pushed out like the sassy siren she was.

“But nothing.” Once in front of her, I wrapped one arm around her waist, pulling her close against me.

I raised my free hand to cup the side of her beautiful face, tracing my thumb along her cheekbone.

“Whatever my sweet girl wants, she gets. No questions asked. You want to dine like a celebrity on The Strip every night? Done. You want to switch up your car every month out of pure boredom? Sure, why not? You want a ten-thousand-dollar champagne bath before bed? I’ll join you. ”

“Money isn’t everything. You can’t buy love and affection.” Bria hissed through her teeth, trying to wiggle her body free from my grasp.

I could hear her disgust dripping from her tone. Well shit.

Here, I took her as a woman of frivolous value. Someone who would spend every dime I had just for the fuck of it. And now I felt myself wanting to backpedal from my words, realizing the massive error in judgment that I had made in saying them.

I didn’t care about the money. Everything I had spent over the years was for a purpose.

The McLaren may have been a little overkill, but the house and the furniture were all meant to build a life and a family; it was never just for me—it was for them, for her .

For the woman who would inevitably come into my life and become my better half.

“No, you’re right, it isn’t. And I’m not trying to buy anything from you.

Money means nothing to me—” I stopped myself from continuing with a hard swallow, my emotions carrying my words to a place I wasn’t nearly ready to enter.

“I have to get ready for my meeting… We’ll discuss your car later when I return. ”

I let go of her and stepped away, heading into the bedroom and shutting the door behind me. I then dragged my hands through my hair as I tried to reel myself back in.

My skin felt as if it were buzzing, a sensation I was completely unfamiliar with until I met her.

Bria was doing things to me with every form of contact we had, and I didn’t know how long I could hold out and avoid them—to keep my feelings in a neutral space.

She wasn’t at all what I had expected—she was so much more.

And I was fucking all of this up.

“Three weeks,” Dustin concluded, sitting comfortably behind his desk and rolling the bottom of his rocks glass.

“Three? Don’t you think that’s a little too soon?” I assumed I would have at least a month to work with Bria and help her transition into her new life.

“You skipped the line and the entire process with your marriage to your wife. I could schedule her for tomorrow instead if you’d like?” His tone was one of boredom and unfazed indifference.

This was nothing more than a punishment for breaking the rules.

While working closely together, Dustin and I rarely saw eye to eye. I had nothing against him, but my being a Legacy caused us to butt heads more often than not.

I knew just as much about the inner workings of the MUR as he did, and we'd be on an equal playing field if it weren’t for his last fucking name. Mine was better.

I clamped my mouth shut before saying something I knew I’d regret later. I worked far too hard to get to where I was, and yes, while I fucked up the steps required to marry, Bria was the woman I needed, and I wasn’t about to lose that chance by spending weeks following the fucking protocol.

They always pissed me off—the rules of leadership.

Dustin’s father created them during his reign, and he hasn’t even held his own fucking son accountable to the same standard as the rest of us.

There was always something to be said about nepotism and being above the law .

“Good. Since we both agree, I’ll schedule her test for three weeks from today. If I were you, I’d spend that time wisely—preparing her.” The jackass.

Throughout my drive home, I constantly massaged my forehead as I thought about how I would approach the subject with Bria.

How do you prepare someone from outside of our world to commit murder…

Do I tell her outright or wait until I detect the slightest hint of affection from her?

Who was I fucking kidding…

Bria would most likely take months to develop remotely any romantic feelings towards me, and disclosing the MUR—who we were and what we did—would only complicate things between us even further.

But at this point, I ultimately had no choice. I had three weeks to bring Bria into my world and hoped she wouldn’t turn tail and run when I revealed everything to her— this sounded so much easier on paper.

Considering our timeline, I could focus on spending time with her during our first week together, attempting to break down the barrier that had formed between us and building our bond from the ground up, as it always should’ve been.

The only issue with that plan was committing myself to the feelings I had started developing toward her—the infatuation that was starting to loom over me like a dark storm cloud.

Pulling into the driveway, I sat in my car, staring blankly at the garage door, lost in thought.

What would happen if I let myself fall for Bria wholeheartedly?

What if she never grew to love me?

Was it fucked up of me to think that—worst-case scenario, if she fails her test in three weeks, I’ll have to kill her anyway?

Christ, Dallas. What the fuck have you done?