“You have no idea what this means to me, Dante. I know we’ve had our issues in the past, but I swear you won’t regret this.”
A sardonic smile tipped one corner of his mouth. “Somehow I doubt that.”
“No, I promise you won’t.” Feeling like she needed to make some offer of goodwill in return for his change of heart, she scooted closer to him and without thinking, draped her hand over his much larger one. “I’ll also make sure your cousin gets top priority when it comes time to choose a contractor for the building construction. You can count on it.”
Dante stared at their joined hands for a long moment before slowly lifting his gaze to hers. “Lilly, you haven’t heard what my asking price is for the land.”
Her heart skipped a beat as she read the wary determination in his eyes. Refusing to bow to the sinking feeling in her gut, she shook her head. “As long as it’s not an unreasonable sum, my colleagues are prepared to make it happen.”
“I don’t want money.”
She gaped at him, certain she’d misheard. “Pardon?”
“Hell, I’ve got plenty of that. What I need is a little more…complicated. And you’re the only one who can provide it. Not the lynchats.”
“I don’t understand. What could I possibly have that you suddenly need?” And why the hell couldn’t he have come to this epiphany—whatever it was—eighteen months ago? It would have saved her a mountain of trouble and endless stress-related headaches.
Dante’s hand shifted beneath hers so that they were palm-to-palm. The warmth of his work-roughened skin seeped into her, stirring her pleasurable tingles into overdrive. She tried to ignore the sensation, but it became impossible when his fingers enclosed hers.
“I need you to be my wife.”
Her eyes widened, and she choked on a series of coughs. Dante’s free hand came around and thumped her on the back. She scowled at him. “I always knew you were an asshole, but really, this is taking it too far, you son of a bitch.”
It was his turn to blink. “Why the hell are you so angry?”
She turned up her glare by several degrees. “How can you even ask that? Are you such a rat bastard you don’t see how cruel it is to lead me on the way you just did?” Shaking with fury, she poked a trembling finger in the center of his chest. “Your wife? I’m surprised that was the best punch line you could come up with.”
Wincing, he carefully pried her finger away from his sternum. “It’s not a joke, Lilly. I’m dead serious.”
She was about to deliver a blistering retort when she noticed the gleam of determination in his eyes hadn’t departed. If anything, it’d intensified. The furious words dissolved on her tongue, and she stared at him, stupefied. She almost expected Rod Serling’s voiceover to float on the air, preceded by the Twilight Zone theme. Suddenly reminded of the seductive heat of Dante’s palm beneath hers, she jerked her attention to their linked hands. An alarming sense of recognition ricocheted through her, adding to the already staggering level of insanity she’d just been dropped into the middle of. She attempted to wrench out of his hold, but he only tightened his grip. Her pulse beat in triple time. “Have you lost your freaking mind?”
“At least hear me out before you accuse me of being crazy.”
“Why? Nothing you say is going to convince me otherwise.”
“It’s strictly a business arrangement. You become my wife and get the land. I get my dad off my back about marrying Anna Gifford.”
“Who the hell is Anna Gifford? And what does she have to do with any of this?”
“She’s the top bitch of the Gifford pack. Trust me, calling her that is an insult to all bitches.”
“Why does Foster want you to marry her?”
Dante’s face tightened. “Forced pack merger.”
She wasn’t entirely sure what that meant. The power dynamics of werewolves and their pack systems was pretty much a mystery to her. Other than her assuming their rituals involved something so astoundingly twenty-first century as holding belching and farting contests to choose their leaders, she had no idea what really went on. “I take it that isn’t a good thing?”
“Shit no. Why the hell do you think I’m proposing to you?”
“This is a proposal?” It took every ounce of her willpower not to laugh in hysterical disbelief. “Telling me you need to get out of marrying another chick? How romantic.”
“Lilly, I told you this is business. Nothing romantic about it.”
She met his gaze. “Oh my God. You really are serious.”
“This can be advantageous for both of us.” His eyes sparkled with temptation. “You know you want that land. So bad, you can taste it. Well, here’s your chance.”
She sucked her bottom lip between her teeth. Was it wrong to even be considering this? If she said yes, she was in essence selling herself for a piece of land. How pathetic and immoral did that make her?
Then again, there were plenty of people who got married for the wrong reasons. At least this way she knew what she was getting herself into. And really, it wasn’t like she had to worry that she was missing out on meeting the husband of her dreams if she accepted Dante’s unconventional proposal. She’d known for a long time she wasn’t exactly marriage material—which made this conversation pretty damn ironic, now that she thought about it. But the truth was she loved her independence. Embraced it with every fiber of her being. Not to mention she was far from being the June Cleaver domestic goddess that most men out there secretly desired for a wife.
She gave Dante a suspicious glance. “Hypothetically speaking, if I agreed to this ridiculous proposition, you wouldn’t expect me to be your live-in maid, right?”
“I already pay my cousin Tess to clean for me once a week.”
Okay, that answered that question. “I don’t mind cooking—once in a while—but I’m much better at dialing up takeout. Especially if it’s Thai or sushi.”
“We don’t have a damn sushi restaurant up he—” Dante must have correctly interpreted her arched eyebrows because he growled before quickly smothering it. “Fine. I’ll do most of the cooking. I enjoy it anyway.”
“I wouldn’t give up my career. Or my house downstate.”
Dante grunted. “Good. I’ll look forward to my brief reprieves from your nagging presence.”
She tossed him a saccharine smile. “Same goes here, wolfman.”
Thick silence stretched between them while he gave her a prodding look. “Is that a yes?”
She chewed her lip again. “Would it have to be permanent? Our marriage, I mean?”
“Looking to divorce me already?”
“I just want to know exactly what I’m getting into here.”
He nodded. “Or at least for as long as I’m head alpha. Once I retire and choose my replacement, you’re free to do whatever you want.”
She grimaced. “Wow. That’ll really give me something to look forward to when I’m eighty.”
Dante’s mouth twitched into a grin. “Actually, I wasn’t plannin’ to retire until ninety.”
“Even better.” She gave him another distrusting stare. “This isn’t some Victorian arrangement where you expect me to bear you an heir, is it? Because I’m drawing the line on that one, buddy. This womb is not for rent.”
Dante tweaked the bridge of his nose. “Don’t worry. I’m not looking for a brood mare.”
“Good.” She squinted. “Just so we’re clear, this marriage would be strictly in name only? You’re not thinking you’re going to get side benefits, right?”
“We’d have sex, if that’s what you’re hinting at.”
The arrogant assurance in his voice made her teeth grind. “Do I get a vote on that?”