Luck of the Devil (The Forge Trilogy #2)(18)

“I need something from you, and you want something from me. So, yes. This is a negotiation.”

I shake my head and spin around to grab the door handle. “I’m not interested.”

“Would you be interested for a hundred million dollars?”

My hand stills on the knob, and I blink at the wooden panel over and over. Surely, I didn’t hear him right.

“What did you say?” I whisper.

“One hundred million dollars. I’ll deposit it into your bank account in thirty days, and all you have to do is not file for divorce.”

My fingers tingle. As much as my pride wants me to tell him to go to hell, a hundred million dollars is a lot of fucking money . . . and it turns out my pride can be bought.

Never accept the first offer. Play the man, not the game.

Slowly, I turn around and cross my arms over my chest. The T-shirt droops off one shoulder as I stare at the naked man before me.

“We didn’t sign a prenup. If I divorce you, I’ll get a hell of a lot more than a hundred million.”

“We’ve been married for twenty-four hours. No judge is going to give you half of anything. Take the hundred million. It’ll be the easiest money you’ve ever earned.”

Fuck. He’s probably right. A billionaire wouldn’t get married without a prenup, regardless of some potential upside that I still don’t understand, if it could cost him half of everything. That would be stupid, and Forge is anything but. Besides, I don’t want half his businesses. I want enough cold, hard cash never to have to worry about money for the rest of my life.

I straighten my shoulders and lift my chin. “Fine. But I want two hundred million, and not a penny less.”





16





Forge





It takes everything I have not to smile. She’s fucking magnificent, not to mention opportunistic and ruthless. I approve.

“One fifty,” I counter.

“One seventy-five,” she shoots back.

“Deal.” I step forward and hold out my hand.

Indy’s attention drops to my dick, which is also wide awake and rising to attention. Her gaze darts back to my face.

It’s a good dick day. What can I say?

“Do you always shake on deals over”—she waves her hand toward my cock—“that situation?”

I don’t know how it’s possible, but I lose control of my lips and they curve into a smile. I shouldn’t be surprised. This is what she does to me every damn time I’m around her . . . at least, when I’m not baring my teeth to chase someone else away from what’s mine.

I wait another beat with my hand outstretched. “Rarely is anyone staring at my dick while they’re shaking my hand.”

“So you think.” She forces her attention back to my face, then slides her hand into mine and squeezes it. “I bet there are plenty of people who’ve been dick-struck by the Kraken. But don’t worry, I’ll get over it. In thirty days, it’ll just be one more dick in a long line of dicks I get to experience over the rest of my life.”

My grip tightens around her hand as my smirk fades away, and I yank her closer to me. Indy tries to pull away, but I’m not letting her go yet. Not until she and I are very clear on the claw-like jealousy that grabbed hold of me.

“I’m only going to say this once. Regardless of the circumstances, you’re my wife, and I don’t share. Remember that, or I promise you won’t enjoy the consequences.”

Her blue eyes, now back to normal, widen at my quiet, low words.

“Am I understood?”

“Your hard-on is jabbing into me as you stake your claim on your property. I hear you, Forge. And just so I’m clear—I don’t share either. You touch another woman, and I’ll make sure the Kraken doesn’t live to tell the tale. Not because I’m jealous, though.” She pauses to clarify. “But because I don’t need you making me look like a poor, cheated-on wife before this is all over. I do have a reputation to uphold.”

“Fine. I agree.”

She jerks her hand out of mine and steps back. “There’s one more thing we need to agree on.”

“What?”

“Our story. What we’re going to tell people. How this started. How it ended.”

I study her for a beat before I start with the truth. “I saw you. You fascinated me. I wanted you. You married me because of my . . .” I glance down at my dick. “Charm.”

Indy’s nostrils flare, and I know she wants to argue, but she doesn’t. Probably because she’s saving up to strike another blow.

“Fair enough, as long as we agree that publicly, everyone will know that I’m the one who ended it.”

I narrow my gaze on her, inexplicably annoyed that I have to talk about how this is ending.

Why the fuck do I care? It was always going to end. There was never any other option. I just hadn’t thought about it, and now that I’m getting to know her . . . it’s not a subject I want to discuss.

“We’ll deal with it when the time comes, in a manner that won’t reflect badly on either of us,” I tell her in my most bored businesslike tone.

She lifts her stubborn-as-hell chin. “Fine, but I’m still the one ending it.”