The Billionaire’s Bargain Bride

Proud Husband

CENRIC

I woke up with a hammering headache and sore muscles, and I was in the clothes yesterday. The memories of last night were coming back in bits and pieces. I remembered getting drunk and cursing the shit out of Peters.

I didn’t see that coming—too late to realize that I should have thought the company name well—too caught up in impressing my woman.

“Fuck,” I swore under my breath as I got up from the couch, but my head was killing me.

Then the door swung open. I didn’t have to look who just entered based on the smell and the feelings I got when Sadie was closer.

Shit. Our dinner plan.

“This might help with your headache.” Her tone was harsh. Who wouldn’t when I literally bailed out our dinner.

“Babe.”

“Morning, drunkass.” She placed down the bottle of painkillers and a glass of water.

“I’m sorry about last night.” I was still pressing my temple, and it didn’t help when I could feel her glaring down at me.

“Which one?”

I quickly glanced up. Sadie was gorgeous, even her eyes narrowing at me like a pissed-off lioness.ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

“All of it.”

“No.” She shook his head and crossed his arms over her chest. “You’re not.”

“I messed up, okay? I was caught up in the office, and we went out for a drink—”

“One shot led to another, and then you got drunk,” she continued. Her expression turned impatient.

“Yeah.” I never lied to her. I only kept something for her own good.

“I know everything, Cenric. I grilled your friends. I know why you were mad and why you got drunk. I know about the company you wanted to start for me but declined because of my surname.”

“Fuck,” I swore under my breath. “I’m gonna kick their asses.”

“Then I’ll kick yours if you even try.”

I blinked up at her and gaped at her resilience. “I just wanna build something for you to start over.”

“Behind my back. What is it supposed to be? A surprise? I didn’t want your grand gesture, Cenric. All I want is just a job as long as I get paid.”

“I know, but you also wanna help people. I thought you could manage our own company and start your own charity.”

“With you controlling everything? That’s not starting over or me running a company. I know you put a lot of effort and time into making this happen, but you should have involved me in the first place. Not by doing everything for me.”

“I want to—”

“Make things easy for me. I get it, but that’s not what I want. I can handle things. I can work hard. In fact, I want to work hard, do something, and challenge myself, but I can’t do it if you keep interfering or controlling my life. That’s not how this relationship works, Cenric. It should involve both of us. If only you control this whole damn thing, then it’s not marriage. It’s ownership.” She laughed out loud with sarcasm. “Well, you literally owned me.”

“That’s not true. I don’t care about that money anymore. I care about your life and your freedom. I have dealt with the devil over that.”

“Then stop treating me like a child! Stop treating me like I’m not capable of something!” She was really pissed off. Her face was red and was vibrating with anger. Oh, boy, pissed off Sadie was kind of intimidating and hot as hell. Right now, I wanted to smash those damn sinful lips against mine.

“Is everything okay in there?” It was Beck who just peeked out from the door.

“Get out! This conversation is between this man and me!”

I wanted to burst out to laugh, but I couldn’t as she might throw this table into my face. When it happened before I learned how much she meant to me, I might have yelled back or locked her in her room for a week, but things had changed between us.

“I’m not treating you like a child, okay?” I answered her calmly.

“I am not blind. Don’t you think I don’t notice what you’re doing? You’re a controlling son of a bitch! And my opinion doesn’t matter to you because you don’t see me as equal.”

Now she pissed me off—fucking pissed me off. Heat flooded my face. “What the fuck? Do you think I don’t see you as equal? I respect you, and I admire you. And if I don’t see you as equal, I’d never allow into my life, and I don’t let many.”

“Then you should just send me back to my family until you figure out what my use for you.”

“Jesus fu— Christ, Sadie Charmaine Armelle. Are you even listening to me? You’re a Wollf. My fucking name. You’re not a Greer anymore. I won’t do this in the first place if you’re a Greer. I won’t dream with you. I won’t consider starting a family with you. Fuck, I won’t even take you to that house I consider home. I let you stay here, and I don’t give a shit. If I want to fuck, I do it with someone else, because like you said, I owned you, and you couldn’t demand, and your words meant nothing to me. But here we are, all I wanted was what’s best for you because you are my wife. I respect you more than anyone. And you and I are equal—that’s why I built that company so that you can run it and start making your dream come true.” I just spilled my heart out, and she just stood there. But based on her reaction, she now realized her actual value to me.

A painful silence followed. Say something, for fuck’s sake!

She didn’t look in my direction anymore. I loved that she was worried about me and that she noticed everything and what I cared about, and what I did because if she didn’t, she would just bat her eyelashes like other women who only after my money. Maybe this was what made me fall for her because she had no hidden agenda other than to be seen equally.

Watching someone, you care about being this hurt was not so much fun.

I sighed deeply, fighting my exhaustion and headache. I sat down, grabbed the painkillers, took two pills, and downed with water. I pinched the bridge of my nose when she bubbled.

“Imadeaterriblemistaketoday.”

I paused, trying to comprehend what she said. I looked at her. “What?”

She grinned sheepishly then twisted her fingers.

“What did you say?”

“I said I made a terrible mistake today,” she spelled out slowly.

“And what did you do?” My eyes narrowed.

“May involve me getting an assault charge.” Oh, she looked so guilty.

“We’ll handle it. We have the best defense lawyers in town.”

“Why aren’t you asking me what I did?” she insisted.

“You’re not capable of killing someone. You don’t have that killer instinct in you.”

“Maybe you don’t know me well.”

I chuckled. “You’re not hiding, there’s no horror-look in your eyes, and you’re still not panicking in front of me.”

“Oh.” She tugged her bottom lip between her teeth.

“Now, what did you do, wife?”

“Um—” Before she could spill, my phone buzzed in my jacket pocket. “Oh, God. Saved by the phone,” she sang.

“We’ll still gonna talk about it,” I sang back.

My eyes narrowed when I saw the caller ID. I looked back at my wife as I hit the answer button. “What can I help you with, Mr. Peters?”

My wife’s eyes just went wide. Now, I got it.

“Tell your assistant to bring the documents to me on Monday,” Peter said.

“What changed?”

“Your wife.”

“Thank you.”

“She’s special, Mr. Wollf.”

“I wouldn’t have married her if she isn’t.” I hang up the phone. “So you’ve been busy during my nap.”

“How big?”

“My dick? You know it by heart in length and diameter.”

“Not that, Cenric,” she grunted.

“The trouble you made, you mean?” I remained calm, as if I didn’t just receive good news. “Huge. Fucking huge.”

“I’m sorry.” She was about to burst into crying, and I couldn’t take it anymore.

“Just come here on my lap. I need you right now.” I gestured my hand.

“I’m serious, Cenric.”

“So do I, babe. But we’re gonna have a permit soon.”

“What?” She gasped. “How?”

“Ask yourself.” I wrapped my arms around her and nuzzled my nose between her breast. “God. I missed you, babe.”