Their contractual Beginning

chapter 5

I chuckle nervously, there's no way I'm accepting defeat. "You have the wrong person, I'm Emily."

A glint sparked in his eyes, but he didn’t take my bait.

Instead, our gazes held for a charged moment before he slid his palm into mine and swept a clinical, detached gaze over my body.

My hand tingled with warmth, but everywhere else, coolness touched my skin like the indifference of a god faced with a mortal.

I stiffened again beneath Alexander’s scrutiny.

"Nice try, Let's go." He ordered.

"Hey! Let go of her." Amanda snaps

Eyes belonging to the rest of the group were on us. Watching our entire entire drama play out. The way they only looked and stayed silent, It felt as if none of them would dare involve themselves in the situation.

"Khloe Adams? I'm Emily!" I lie again. I have no idea why the lies are falling out of my mouth so easily. It's obvious I've been made and should just confess, but there's something about the way he ordered me that makes me wamt to be stubborn.

He ignores Amanda "Cut the crap, you're coming with me."

"No." I huff and look away. Next thing I know Alexander wraps his hands around me and hauls me over his shoulder like I was a bag of chips.

"Let me go! This is unacceptable." I yell out loud as I'm pounding on his back. Amanda runs after us but Clinton holds her back and whispers something in her ear that makes her stop. The frown on her face is the last thing I see before we leave the club premises.

Darn him and his tall,magnificently built body.

"I'm going to put you down now. You've got to promise not to make a fuss or try running." Alexander tells me.

"I promise." I lie so he can put me down. The moment my feet touch solid ground, I'm sprinting out of here!

He's crazy.

"Okay." He mutters and lowers me on to the floor "I'm sorry fo -" The rest of his speech dies down as I take off, but I don't seem to be going or moving very far because Alexander is still very close.

What the hell? I look between us and see that there's a tie joining us together.

"You tied us to each other? You're crazier than I thought!" I barely know this man and he's already managed to make me angrier in a night than I've been in weeks.

"I had to stop you from running one way or another. It was either that or tossing you in my car and driving off." He informs carelessly.

I sigh defeatedly, "Okay, you caught me. Now, what do you want? An apology? I'm sorry, there. Now, please let me go."

"Sorry?" He yells "That's all you can come up with" I could hear the anger rising from his tone."You made a fool of me by pretending you were someone else," He scowls.

"I was going you tell you if we ever got the chance to talk, but I didn't.

"Yeah, right. Is what Madam G said even true? Is your sister really sick? Or is this all fun and games to you? A sob story for a quick payout?"

I refuse to let him talk to me that way.

Alexander’s lips thinned, he was less than impressed.

A mix of unease and irritation twisted my stomach when those dark, unforgiving eyes found mine again. We’d exchanged only a handful of words, yet I already knew two things with gut certainty. One, Alexander was going to be my fiancé. Two, we might kill each other before we ever made it to the altar.

"Hey, I only lied about my name. Everything else was real"

"Why? We were bound to meet. I'd eventually find out who you are."

"Well, I wanted to find out more about you. I wanted to know the man I'd be giving my virginity and a child to. Nothing wrong with that." I paused "My baby sister, Kassie is sick and I'm doing everything in my power to save her. That's the only reason I even know madam G or why I agreed to marry you." I hate that I'm already spilling my truth to this strange man that I'm supposed to call my husband soon.

"Khloe–" he starts but I cut him off.

"Save it. If you're only going to judge me again. I'm not like you, Mr. Wilson." I interrupted "I can't blow a thousand dollars on a bottle of wine or fly to Tahiti on a whim. You can think whatever you want of me, call me whatever, just know I'll do whatever it takes to save my sister as long as there's a chance to do it.

I reach for the tie and start undoing the knot, but Alexander places his hand on mine stopping me. "I'm sorry."

"Okay. Can I go now?"

"I felt like you were another liar looking for a quick payout. I didn't mean to speak to you that way." He apologizes. He moves closer and stares down at me, his gaze full of remorse. Lifting a hand to my face, he gently strokes my face. "I'm sorry, Khloe. Truly."

His touch is soft like a breeze whispering against my skin and the anger I felt minutes ago, melts away.

I should move away. We're supposed to be fake, but this here and now feels real. Too real. But the way Jasper looks at me makes the world and all my problems disappear.

"So can you forgive me for being an asshole?" He asks

"What do you think?"

"I'll take that as a yes." He flashes a small smile and gently strokes my cheek again, sending shivers down my spine.

"I guess we just had our first fight" I chuckled

"I think that makes us official." He jokes.

He gives me a smile that makes knots form in my stomach. He takes my hand and then walks me to his car.

"This is crazy." I say suddenly realizing

"Which part?" Alexander asks.

"Well, meeting you this way. I was so nervous about meeting you tomorrow and moving in with you. I guess fate had it handled already." I replied.

Alexander laughs "Yeah, I guess so."

"I wonder what my parents would say about this whole thing" My face expression changes

"What happened to them?

"They died. My sister, Kassie is the only family I have left. And the other day she reminded me that we are not even real sisters." I don't know why I'm telling him this, Kassie didn't even mean it.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"I was adopted, actually. I was about 4 when I got to the orphanage. My life before that is pretty much a blur."

"Do you ever wonder about your real family?"

"I try not to" I say "it hurts too much to think of why they gave me up or if they even had a choice. I'd rather focus on the things I do know." That was my way of coping. Besides, I have Kassie to focus on.

"I'm sorry."

"I'm not" I tried to sound unbothered. "I got adopted by a great family and had an amazing childhood. I can't complain. I was loved." I smiled. Alexander opens the passenger door for me and I get in.

"Your family sounds amazing." He replies when he gets into his seat. He starts the car and the warmth engulfs me, completely forgetting about the harsh cold outside.

"They were the best." I smiled at the brief memories that fill my head.