“I’ll take care of this.” Cormac’s hand slides softly across my shoulder to cup my jaw. Not to restrain. To claim. “But you know what I want.”
My heart pounds. “You still need a wife?”
“I do.” Cormac’s fingers tighten. “And time is running out, little Ford.”
“I don’t mean to play hardball, but I need…”
“You need your tuition paid, which I can take care of with one phone call to the bursar’s office. As my wife,you’ll have a nice place to live.”
I find myself nodding.
“And you’ll have something else…”
“What is that?” I expect he’ll say I’ll have his cock inside me every night since he made it clear he’d be fucking whoever he took for a wife, whether he loved her or not.
“Protection from that piece of garbage who wants to breed you.”
Okay, not what I expected, but knowing Pierce will no longer have any power over me and would likely be afraid to look at me sideways is quite a perk.
I consider asking about the sexual rules of this marriage of convenience, but with Cormac looking so charged up and me feeling vulnerable, now isn’t a good time.
There is a bigger issue to contend with.
“My father,” I blurt.
“Easy, little Ford.” Cormac takes my hand and squeezes it. “I’ll work that out with him. Explain you’re in a jam, and so am I. Because ofhisdemands.”
My father will know the marriage isn’t real. I’ll have to make this make sense to him. I’m in dire straits financially, and Dad has made it clear over and over that he can’t help me. This marriage of convenience to Cormac is the only way I can continue medical school. He knows Cormac can easily provide financial stability.
My father cannot think Cormac is forcing me into this, or he’ll do something stupid like fire him.
And piss off the Irish Mob.
“Okay.” I take a breath. “When? When will you talk to my father?”
Cormac smiles with victory on his lips.
“Seeing you need a place to sleep tonight…” He leans in and presses his lips to mine with a kiss that already feels like a vow. “Now is a good time.”
Chapter 29
Cormac
Idon’t knock, I shove open Bradley Ford’s ornate old-world office door, and it bangs against the wall. My former professor looks up from a stack of papers.
“What the hell, Dr. O’Rourke?”
Good. He should look concerned.
Scarlett and I walk in side by side, our hands clasped together. Her breathing tells me she’s terrified of what I’m about to do. But she doesn’t try to stop me. She can’t. We both need this.
And we’re too far over the edge to stop.
Ford rises halfway out of his seat. “Scarlett? What’s?—”
“Pierce Langston just had Scarlett’s funding revoked,” I cut him off. “And evicted from her apartment. He’s threatening her career. Her future.”
Ford goes pale and sinks back down into his leather tufted chair. “That’s impossible.”