Mated To The Billionaire's Wife

Chapter 3: The Threat

Mia’s POV

Eric screamed on his phone as he paced up and down the living room. He was absolutely enraged, not at me for once, though I was a minor reason why he was in that state. Gulping hard, I watched him loosen his tie and open up the top button of his color as he boiled in fury.

“What do you mean you don’t know how it happened? The b*stard used my wife to threaten me! How dare he even touch my wife?!” he yelled as his voice echoed through the mansion.

To any other person, his protective words and possessive nature while he screamed on the phone would have sounded romantic. But, I wasn’t just any other person. I was his wife that saw him for the man that he truly was and endured his rough side when the doors were closed. So, to me, those words meant nothing. They were only words used to show people that he cared for me or my safety.

“Fine! Call me back when you find out more and send out someone to keep tabs on that a*shole,” Eric shouted before ending the call.

Throwing the phone on the couch, he exhaled sharply and pinched his forehead before turning to look at me. “Are you okay?”

That was the second time today he had asked me the same question. The first time he asked me that was the minute I walked into the mansion after he found out what had happened. Honestly, when he questioned about how I was, I thought he was just concerned that I was hurt because that would give him more ammunition to go against whoever threatened me. But, when he asked me again, this time in a softer voice, my heart clenched and I almost sobbed.

“I…I’m okay,” I replied softly as I bit on my trembling lips as my finger caressed the fresh scratch on my arm.

Slumping down on the couch next to me, Eric sighed and leaned back against the couch. “F*ck. I never wanted you to be put in this situation.”

His voice was laced with regret and worry, twisting my insides. For the first time since we got married, I saw him as the guy I dated briefly before marrying, the guy who bought me flowers and who would wrap his arm around my waist even when there were no paparazzi around. Gulping back my hesitation, my eyes trailed his hand that was on his lap, pounding against his knee and my hand reached out to comfort him by holding his hand.

Unfortunately, before I could, Eric jumped back to his feet. His sudden movement startled me and judging by past experience, my arm quickly raised up to block whatever he was about to do to me. Luckily, he didn’t see it but instead, continued pacing up and down in front of me.

“Tell me again what happened,” he requested, lighting up the cigarette on his lips.

Sighing softly, I shook my head. “Why? You already know what happened.”

“Just f*cking tell me woman!” he yelled and my heart nearly jumped out of my throat.

Nodding obediently, I cleared my throat and prepared myself to narrate the entire incident to him. “I was at the mall, our mall, doing some shopping. The driver was in the car in the lobby and George was with me, following me a few feet away as I requested him to. Halfway through my shopping trip, I walked out of a*****e and used the pathway leading to the food court to get to another boutique. That was when a group of people walked toward me and one of them bumped into me, a guy. Whoever that guy was, he bumped into me and dropped a box on my feet and then scratched me with something like a paperclip or something else. By the time I turned around, he was nowhere to be seen and George couldn’t locate him. He just vanished.”

“So, this was the box that was dropped right?” Eric asked before picking up the box and sitting next to me again.

Opening it, I looked at the contents of the box for probably the fifth time today. Inside was a close-up wedding picture, taken during our wedding more than a year ago. But what was worse was that someone had circled my face with a thick red marker and written the words ‘Watch Out!” underneath it.

Eric slammed the box shut and threw it on the table before getting up again. “I know who did this to you. It’s that f*cking Hans Walker. He’s been my arch-enemy and competitor for years now, but he couldn’t shake me for years. He must have seen the interview on our anniversary and thought that you were my weak point.”

“Am I?” I blurted out before I even realized what I was saying, curious about his words about me.

Eric stopped pacing and turned to look at me as a brief look of compassion flashed across his face before disappearing. “What kind of question is that? Even though we have our differences and even though sometimes the very sight of you frustrates me, you’re still my wife and he has no right to touch you when his beef is with me.”

Honestly, I didn’t know whether to be happy, sad, or angry at the sound of Eric’s statement. But one thing was for sure, it was the first time he referred to me as his wife in a good way even though there was no one else around. Nevertheless, I knew that his anger was mainly because his rival tried to threaten me and chose to use me like a coward. After all, Eric Prentiss was a human metronome. One minute he would be friendly, nice, and caring while the next minute he would be ruthless, angry, and abusive. I just never knew it with him.

“That Hans is going to regret messing with me. If he wants to lock horns, then so be it. By hook or by crook, that b*stard is going to pay for this,” Eric growled, putting out his cigarette and lighting up another one.

My forehead furrowed at his words and actions. “Is that really necessary?”

The devil I called my husband swerved his head towards me and his eyes narrowed in anger. The minute he began huffing, I knew what I had done wrong and was coming. True enough, Eric rushed over to me and gripped the back of my neck in his palm as he pulled me up from the couch. But, he didn’t stop there, instead, he pushed me against the wall until the back of my head slammed against it.

Bringing his face close to mine, his upper lips twitched in rage. “Excuse me? This is my life, my business, and my arch-enemy. Even you belong to me. So, I will do what I want and you will shut up. Don’t you dare question my decision again!”

“I…I’m sorry. Please let me go, you are h…hurting me,” I stuttered out through my stifled sobs when I felt his nails digging into the skin on the back of my neck.

Suddenly realizing that we were out in the open living room, Eric quickly huffed before letting me go. That was one thing about him, he was only abusive to me behind closed doors and he didn’t dare to touch me in that way in front of anyone, knowing well what it would do to his career. To be honest, there were times I thought about recording something and leaking it out to the press to put him into trouble, but I was terrified of both what he would do to me if he found out what I did and also what my life would be like after that. After all, I had gone from my parent’s house to my husband’s house and hadn’t worked a day in my life. To me, if I ever did choose to run away, I would need to change everything about me so that he wouldn’t find me and that itself frightened me. So, despite feeling disappointed in myself and my decisions, I chose to stay. For now, at least.

“Go tend to the scratch on your arm and your neck. It would look bad in photos,” Eric said before he picked up his phone and walked out of the mansion.

~.~

The next morning, after an unpleasant night with barely any sleep since Eric was continuously grumbling and occasionally yelling on the phone next to me, I stood in front of my dressing mirror. Leaning forward, I applied concealer to the dark circles around my eyes as well as the other injuries around my face and neck, courtesy of my husband.

Then, I headed into my walk-in closet which consisted of products from almost every luxury brand that ever existed. It was one of the perks of being the wife of a billionaire, but there were so many more disadvantages. After getting dressed in a pair of shiny black slacks and a cream flowy blouse, I wore a pair of my most comfortable heels and headed downstairs with my handbag. As soon as I walked down the hallway leading to the front door of the mansion, Eric’s voice reached my ears. He was in his ground-floor office, still shouting at god knows who, and judging by the strong stench of cigarette smoke, he had been in there for a while.

Ignoring him, I continued walking forward but somehow he spotted me and stepped out of his office with yet another cigarette in his mouth. “Where the hell do you think you’re going?”

“To the mall. I didn’t finish my shopping yesterday,” I replied coolly as I tried to gauge his mood towards me for that day as I always did since that was the only way I could prepare myself for what to expect from him.

Unfortunately for me, it was still hot red, judging by the way he pulled me into his office and closed the door. “No. Absolutely not! You’re not going anywhere until I arrange for a new personal permanent bodyguard for you so that you will be monitored constantly.”

However, I misunderstood the situation. Thinking he was just concerned for my safety amid the threat posed by his rival, I tried to appeal to his soft side, the side that thought of me as his wife, oblivious to what I was getting myself into.

“Eric, I don’t need a babysitter. I have done this before and I can take care of myself. Please,” I pleaded softly as I gripped his wrist gently.

My husband’s arm tensed under my hand and his head which was cast down, shot up to look at me. Fury radiated in his eyes and his jaw locked, contorting his face into an expression I knew all too well, which immediately made me realize how wrong I was. With a huff, he yanked his hand away roughly before he stormed out of his office and shut the door behind him, but not before giving me his final undisputable ultimatum.

“I don’t f*cking care! Like it or not, you’re getting a bodyguard.”