Contract of Deception

Chapter 2

The first thing Scarlett noticed when she opened her eyes was the needle in her arm, a steady flow of liquid trickled into her veins. The antiseptic smell in the air and the steady beep beep of a thousand machines confirmed she was in a hospital. She made an effort to sit up but a sharp pain throbbed through her head, causing her to wince involuntarily.

She closed her eyes and tried to recall the events of the night. She had left her parent’s home and walked for about twenty minutes in the city, the chilly air causing her to rub her palms together over and over.

There was a red light and she attempted to cross the street when the lights almost blinded her. The driver must have been trying to run the red light and he had almost killed her.

The driver…

She gasped.

She suddenly felt a cold breeze wash over her, almost like something sinister was in the room.

It couldn’t be… she thought. But he looked exactly like -

“Good, you’re awake.”

The deep voice made her jump a bit and her eyes opened in shock. The man who had almost hit her strode into the room holding a coffee cup. He was wearing a white button down that was only halfway buttoned. She couldn’t help but notice how broad his chest was, his arms were muscular but just in the right way, he wasn’t overly muscular. His pants fit like they were made just for him and she knew he must have had it custom made for him.

“Are you done checking me out?” He had a slight smirk on his face.

She almost choked on her own spit. “I wasn’t… I wasn’t checking you out.”

“Yeah, of course not,” He had a look on his face that told her he didn’t believe her. “Well, at least now we know you haven’t suffered any cognitive damage.”

“Excuse me?”

He ignored her and looked at the watch on his wrist. It looked expensive. “The doctor should be here any second now.”

“Shouldn’t you apologize or something for almost killing me?” His arrogance rubbed off on her the wrong way.

“You’re the one who was stupid enough to walk in front of my car,” he bit back and looked at his watch again.

Her eyes searched his face, as if looking for something. He had a jaw that could cut through wood, his eyes were dark… almost black. His nose looked like it had been sculpted by a god. Even his moustache was perfect.

He had an intimidating look about him, she couldn’t quite understand it but he exuded so much power and confidence. He looked like the kind of person that could control a whole room just by walking into it.

And she couldn’t quite shake the feeling of uneasiness within her.

“Who are you?” She asked.

“Wade Simon,” He answered without missing a beat.

She audibly gasped. The Wade Simon was the one who almost hit her? She suddenly understood why he looked so intimidating. Wade Simon was one of the richest men in the country, he held so much power and everyone knew not to mess with him. She had once heard that he shot a man just because he didn’t like the way the man looked at him.

He was also the man she was to marrry.

Despite having that much influence, Wade lived a relatively private life, there were only a handful of photos of him out there, and no one really knew what he did besides what he let everyone see. And she had never been particularly interested in the blogs, that must have been why she didn’t recognize him. She mentally scolded herself for never looking up the man, her father worked for him afterall. What were the odds that the same man who had just broken down her world as she knew it was the same one who had almost just run her over with his car?

“And you are the girl who carelessly stepped in front of my car. If you were trying to kill yourself, you could have done it somewhere else,” He continued. It sounded like the whole thing was an inconvenience to him.

“Scarlett. My name is Scarlett.”

“Well you shouldn’t have been on that side of the road in the first place Scarlett!”

His sudden outburst scared her and she crawled back into her shell. Wade Simon was a dangerous man, and the last thing she wanted to do was start any trouble with him, especially if she was going to spend the rest of her life with him. She had enough on her plate already.

So she took a deep breath and waited silently for the doctor to come.

—————-

His jaw ticked for the thousandth time that night. He hadn’t planned for this to happen and he certainly didn’t have the time to be dealing with this. He contemplated leaving the moment he dropped her at the hospital but he worried this would be another thing the media would be excited to hear.

Billionaire Wade Simon abandons woman at the hospital, after almost running her over.

He could already see all the headlines, it would be the final straw that would begin his destruction. So he decided to wait till he knew she was completely okay.

He took a sip of his coffee and looked at the woman in the hospital bed. She had decided to close her eyes and totally ignore him, or maybe she was just intimidated, which wasn’t surprising at all. She was beautiful, he gave her that. Her face was delicately sculpted, her eyes were like endless pools of chocolate that were framed by long wispy lashes. Her lips were full and supple, with a light pink hue.

He wondered what they tasted like in that moment.

The doctor choose that moment to walk in and he was grateful for the interruption. Moments later, they were both walking out of the hospital. As he watched her walk with a slight limp in front of him, his mind danced with a dangerous though.

“Scarlett?” He called out before he could stop himself.

“Yeah?” She turned to look at him and those locks danced under the light again. What if this was fate? What were the odds of him almost hitting this woman on a road she wasn’t even supposed to be on?

“Are you hungry? Allow me take you to get something to eat.”

He watched as her eyes widened in shock and she struggled to come up with an answer so he continued.

“Consider it my apology for almost hitting you with my car.”

“Oh… Yeah, that’d be nice.” Her lips curved up just the slightest bit and she looked pleasantly surprised, like she hadn’t expected him to apologize.

His driver hadn’t emphasized on his daughter’s beauty enough. He shook his head to stop the thought from overpowering him.

They finally walked out the doors of the hospital and to his car.

“Try not to kill me this time?” She said as she strapped up her seatbelt. He only let out a grunt in response and started the car.

She was quiet for the duration of their journey, only focusing her attention on the buildings and the other cars they passed. He was grateful for the silence, he liked a woman that knew how to shut her mouth, but he couldn’t help but notice she looked like she had a lot on her mind. Guess he wasn’t the only one having a bad night.

It was only a ten minute drive and they were soon pulling up to the restaurant. He unlocked the doors and let her in first, gently closing it behind him. He watched her as she admired the whole room, she had a grace about her, her movements were precise as she took in every inch of the room.

“It’s empty and you have a key to the place…” Her eyes slowly widen in realization. “This is yours?”

“Yes,” He shrugged. “It’s not open to the public yet, there’s a big launch coming up soon, but for now it’s the perfect spot for a quiet dinner.”

“It’s pretty,” She mused, almost to herself.

“Take a seat anywhere, I’ll be back in a bit.” He said and went into the kitchen, which was really just a demarcated area where the guests would be able to see the kitchen staff cook.

He could feel her eyes following his every movement while he cooked, but he refused to acknowledge her.

A while later, he was walking to the table with their food in his hands.

“I didn’t expect you to know how to cook.” She said as he placed the food down and took a seat.

“Well, there are a lot of things you’d find surprising Scarlett.”

Her eyes scanned his face intently for a second before she focused on her food.

“This smells really good.”

He only grunted in response. He had made creamy pasta, and as he watched her savour the flavors with her eyes closed, the white sauce on her lips took his mind places he wished it didn’t. So he decided to break the spell.

“Tell me about yourself Scarlett.”

“I’d have thought you knew enough about me, since you asked to marry me and all.” She deadpanned.

“Your father’s stories barely brushed the surface. If we’re going to be married, I at least want to get to know you, in your own words.”

She looked surprised again as she opened her eyes. He didn’t blame her, he wasn’t one to spend time with women alone in confined spaces , he certainly never bothered to know their names. He had the occasional encounter with women to satisfy his needs and he never went back to the same woman. Yet here he was, eating dinner with a woman he just met.

Scarlett was intriguing, they’d gone into a steady flow of conversation. She told him she was the eldest daughter of her parents, she had two little sisters and she grew up around a lot of family, he told her he had opted for an open kitchen for this restaurant because he believed cooking was an art, and he wanted the patrons to have a full experience of their meal being prepared. He learned she was an artist but he’d never heard of her before and that she lived alone and when she wasn’t visiting her family, she worked at a bar on the weekends.

He noticed she was being evasive, and he had expected it.

He didn’t know why but he felt pulled to her in that moment. She was simple, he wanted simple. He decided not to waste any time and just blurt it out.

“Let’s get married Scarlett.”