Unwillingly His

One Step Ahead

Jayden's POV

I shut the door behind me harder than I intended.

What a gut. I'd barely known her a day and she'd already locked me in my own bathroom. My own bathroom. In my own house.

I stood in the hallway for a moment, jaw tight.

She was something else. I'd give her that.

I started walking. The further I got from that room the clearer my head became. But not clear enough. Her words were still following me down the corridor.

Cheater.

I almost stopped walking at that.

I didn't cheat. Mia came to my hotel room uninvited. I sent her out. Nothing happened. But somehow Ellie had already drawn her conclusions and handed me a verdict before I could say a word.

How did she even find out about Mia? Did she hear something? Or was she just guessing and I'd walked right into it by saying nothing?

I exhaled.

The thing is, I couldn't even be fully angry. Because from where she was standing it probably looked exactly like what she said it was. The groom disappears on wedding night. Shows up the next morning. What else was she supposed to think?

But that didn't give her the right to lock me in a bathroom like a child being punished.

I kept walking toward the guest room. My father's voice found me before I even got there. Not literally. Just in my head, the way it always did when I was doing something he wouldn't approve of.

"Jayden, handle your family. That's how I'll know you can handle the company."

I pushed the door open and dropped my things on the bed.

Handle my family. She'd just given me a 24 hour ultimatum and I'd walked out without a word. That probably wasn't what he had in mind.

Two years. That was her offer. Two years of pretending, then a clean exit. No mess. No emotion. Just an arrangement with an end date.

I sat down.

It wasn't the worst idea I'd ever heard. I just hadn't expected it to come from her.

She'd walked into this house less than 24 hours ago and she was already negotiating exit terms. Calm. Steady. Not crying, not begging, not performing hurt.

Just standing there with her arms folded looking at me like she'd already decided she wasn't afraid of me.

I didn't know what to do with that.

I lay back and stared at the ceiling.

The company was closed. Everything I'd worked toward, everything I'd had to prove after falling apart years ago, it was finally within reach. My father was watching every move.

The marriage was supposed to show him I was whole. Stable and ready.

Walking out of my own bedroom and sleeping in the guest room on the second day wasn't exactly sending that message.

I closed my eyes.

24 hours. She'd given me 24 hours.

I wasn't going to agree to her deal. But I wasn't going to keep thinking about it either. I had work.

I got up, straightened my jacket and put everything else to the back of my mind.

The presentation went better than expected. The investment group was impressed and the deal was close to being finalized. Numbers that would change the company's position entirely. I left the office later than planned but lighter than I'd arrived.

It was a good day. Work wise.

Everything else I'd deal with tomorrow.

The next morning I came down before her.

The dining room was quiet. My father was already at the table, my mother beside him. Joanna hadn't come down yet. The chef moved around setting plates and I pulled out my chair and sat.

I checked my watch. I needed to leave on time.

My father said nothing but I could feel his eyes. That slow, deliberate scan he did when he was looking for something. He glanced once toward the stairs. Then back at me.

He was wondering where she was.

I picked up my fork and said nothing.

Then I heard her footsteps on the stairs.

I didn't mean to look up. I just did.

She came down in a fitted dress, her skin catching the morning light in a way that made me pause mid-movement. I hadn't looked at her. Not properly. Not once since the altar. There'd always been something else to focus on.

But right now there was nothing else.

She was beautiful. Quietly, effortlessly. The kind that didn't announce itself.

Then her eyes found mine.

And she smiled.

Only I knew that smile wasn't what it looked like. There was something behind it. Something deliberate. She was up to something.

I looked back down at my plate.

"Good morning." Her voice was warm as she greeted my father. He responded immediately, genuinely. My mother offered nothing. Joanna didn't look up.

I heard her pull out her chair and sit.

I kept eating.

That was not my business. My mother had never made things easy for anyone and she wasn't about to start. Ellie would have to figure that out herself.

I checked my watch again.

Work. That was where my head needed to be.

How's that? Want to adjust anything?

The table was quiet for a moment before my father's voice broke through it.

"Ellie, how are you settling in? Is everything okay?" My father asked.

I kept my eyes on my plate but my fork slowed.

"Yes sir, I'm doing well. Thank you." Her voice was easy. Comfortable.

"Good, good." He nodded, satisfied. "You're family now." He smiled and nodded.

"Actually…" she paused just briefly. "I was hoping we could talk. After breakfast. If that's okay."

My father looked up at her. Then smiled. "Of course. I'll send it to you."

I stopped chewing.

There it was.

That was the plan. That was what the smile at the stairs was about. That was her 24 hours. Not waiting for me, going around me. Straight to my father.

I set my fork down slowly.

What was she going to say to him? About the deal? About last night? About Mia? My mind moved fast, calculating. She couldn't tell him about the deal. That would expose her too. She wasn't that careless.

But then she'd locked me in a bathroom yesterday so maybe careless wasn't the right word for her.

She should know her place.

I checked my watch and pushed my chair back. Picked up my jacket from the back of the seat.

I kissed my mother on the cheek. Touched Joanna's shoulder briefly.

That was when Joanna leaned slightly toward me, her voice dropping low enough that only I could catch it.

"I heard about you and Mia." A small giggle followed.

I went still for just a second. My eyes moved instinctively to my father.

He was still talking to Ellie. He hadn't heard.

I straightened up and said nothing. Joanna and Mia told each other everything. Whatever version of last night Mia had given her, Joanna had swallowed it whole. That was how it always worked between them.

I walked out without looking back.

The morning air hit me as I stepped outside.

Whatever Ellie was planning to say to my father, I'd deal with it. Whatever Joanna thought she knew, I'd deal with that too.