Craving Jessica

Chapter 10

Jessica's POV

"Marcus, your wife's so pretty, and I'm thinking of taking her in at Glams Studios to become one of our models." I watched Marcus's grip tighten on his spoon the moment his mom said those words to him, his knuckles whitening around the handle.

"What?!" He snapped his gaze up from his food to look at her, a cold and heavy frown settling on his face.

"What did you just say, Mom?" he growled, the air between us tightening instantly.

"Well..." His mom sighed, setting down her cutlery with a soft clink before turning to give him her full attention.

"You know Glam's would be having its 10-year anniversary next week. I'm planning to put your wife's name among the list of nominees and introduce her to the rest of the board as one of our upcoming models." She spoke evenly, but almost immediately the frown on Marcus's face deepened.

"What? Hell no!" he snapped. "You want my wife to work as a model under you—why? So she would be exposed to the eyes of your male clients?" His voice was low and sharp, dripping with possession, and he grabbed my wrist like he was making a point he’d carve in stone.

I gritted my teeth in frustration. Of course I knew it would come to this. Even though he doesn’t care for me the way a husband should, he never fails to show how possessive and obsessive he is with me.

"Oh, come off it, son," his mom frowned slightly. "You and I know it's far from that. You guys have been here for more than a week now, and all your wife does is sit at home and do nothing. She's new to town, and the least you could do is give her some sort of exposure." Her words were pointed, but Marcus, being the asshole he was, just scoffed.

"Yeah, but if my wife does anything aside from sitting at home, then it depends on me, not your decision to make, Mom," he spat seriously, but his mom didn’t buy that. She continued to probe, her eyes flickering toward me.

"Yes, but you can't let all this beauty go to waste. See, she's a woman, and women deserve a chance to shine—"

"No! No woman under my roof will get that kind of shine. If she wants anything, I can get it for her, but work? Hell no." He cut her off with a snap, and I had to bite my lip to stop myself from scoffing.

What a control freak?!

Not that I was surprised. Marcus had never failed to show just how egoistic he could be; even back when we were abroad, he was always making sure I didn’t work. But hearing him admit it outright in front of his mom?

"Ok... but still give her a chance to express herself and let me know her own opinion. So, what do you think, Jessie?" "His?" asked Mom, turning to face me. Almost immediately my pulse quickened.

Working had always been on my list of things I wanted to do. As a matter of fact, I wasn’t always like this. I used to be a secretary in Marcus’s company back when we were abroad in Australia; that was where Marcus first met me. But after we got married, he made it clear: no woman of his would work for anything in his house. Having no choice, I had to oblige. But that didn’t mean I didn’t want to work. I would love to, and his mom bringing such an opportunity felt like a dream come true...

I looked at Marcus, hoping maybe he'd at least consider his mom and give his approval, but hell, the look he gave me was anything but welcoming. My gaze dropped instantly.

"I... um... um..." I faced his mom, fidgeting with my fingers under the table.

"It's okay if you don't want to give your reply now. I'll give you time—take your time to think about it."

"She won’t agree without my permission. And if I say no, it’s no, Mom, so drop it."

"Marcus!" His mom turned to glare sharply at him.

"By the way, where's Ethan?" He asked suddenly, clearly trying to change the topic; his eyes darted to the last empty chair at the table where Ethan normally sat.

At the mention of him... my breath hitched, and my gaze slowly drifted to the chair.

For close to a week now, I haven’t seen him—and I knew exactly why. It was because of that kiss. Just like that, it became a mistake in his mind, and he didn’t fail to show me how much of a mistake he thought it was. Because for the past week, he’s been nowhere in sight, and it's obvious he's trying to avoid me. But strangely enough, I’m kind of thrilled.

I know he’s trying to fight me off, obviously, and I really can’t wait to see how long he’ll last. I won’t go to him. No. Not again. From the moment he kissed me, I knew his restraint had cracked, and it’s only a matter of time before it breaks completely, and when it does, I'm sure he'd come running back to me.

"Well, I don’t know what’s happening to him recently. He’s been acting really strange. He’s withdrawn completely now; he doesn’t go to work anymore, doesn’t come out to eat, and when I try speaking to him, he won’t say a word," she said. From my position, I couldn’t help the small, knowing smirk tugging at my lips.

I glanced at Marcus, but he still had that cold, detached expression, the one he always wore whenever Ethan was being mentioned. Honestly, I was surprised he even asked about him. I know they’re not on good terms, so this sudden curiosity made me want to see what his reaction would be.

"And how long has this been going on?" he asked.

"A week ago. It started that same night you went on that trip to Paris," his mom replied.

"Good." His face remained emotionless.

"What?" His mom squinted at him.

"Are you going to try to talk to him? Yeah, I know things aren’t good between you two right now, but he’s still your brother. Maybe you could try to—"

"Don’t even bring that up, Mom," he cut her off immediately and stood up hastily to his feet. I swallowed hard.

"Anyway, I’m off to work," he said, grabbing his briefcase from the stool beside him, then turning to peck me on both cheeks.

"Take care, wife." He muttered, and just like that, he started leaving.

"Marcus," his mom called coldly after him.

He halted just by the entrance door.

"Yeah, I get it—that he’s still my brother. But I don’t think whatever s**t he’s going through right now could be compared to what I went through five years ago. So he should deal with it!" He turned to leave again, but his mom’s voice followed him.

"Marcus, you know you can’t continue being a cold-hearted jerk forever. For once, have some human sympathy."

"I stopped giving a f**k about humans when he f*****g betrayed me years ago. So this humanity talk? Drop it, 'cause it won't get to me." He spat out the words and finally stormed out.

The moment he did, I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding. f**k, Marcus could be so... something sometimes.

"Gosh, he’s so cold." I turned to look at his mom, who suddenly let out a deep, frustrated sigh, rubbing her temples.

"My gawd, I think the five years he spent in Australia really did something to him. I can’t even get to him..." she continued, still rubbing her temples. Then, out of the blue, she faced me.

"And now that I think about it... how and why exactly did you get married to him?" She asked suddenly, the frustration in her face dropping and being replaced by a look I couldn’t quite read, her eyes fixed on me.

"Wh... what?" I stuttered out, clearly not expecting her to ask something like that.

What does she mean? How and why did I get married to her son? Did she perhaps suspect something?

Subconsciously, my fists tightened against the tablecloth as I tried not to meet her eyes...