An arranged marriage. An illicit affair. An unforgettable passion. A forbidden love...
A spoiled socialite clashes with a streetwise mechanic who challenges the order of her privileged life while an arranged marriage threatens even more.
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With swollen eyes, I fumbled with my phone Friday as I got ready to call Jadyn. I could barely speak, but I needed someone to talk to. The only person I had left.
"Hey," Jadyn picked up almost instantly.
"Hey." My voice was hoarse from all the crying. My throat was sore as well. One look in the mirror and I'd come to realize I looked like shit. I was in no shape to face housekeeping when they came to do their daily cleaning.
I'd locked myself in my spare bedroom where I'd been all night, too hurt and ashamed to sleep in my own bed.
"Kenn? You don't sound so good. What's up?" Jadyn's concern caused the tears to well up in my eyes.
Just when I thought I couldn't cry anymore, I turned into a blubbering fool as I rambled on about what happened. At the end, when there were no words left to say, I let the tears take over.
And Jadyn listened, being the greatest friend she could be.
"Kenn?" Jadyn asked softly when the line had gone quiet for a while on my end.
"Yes?"
"What do you want to do?" she asked. "I'm riding with you whether you want to go through with this or not."
I sniffled and wiped at my nose. I appreciated her genuine support, but I wanted her honesty. "What do you think about what...K-Keith said?"
Jadyn took a minute to gather her words while I waited on pins and needles. "I think that man cares about you. I think he fell for you. I think this took its toll on him and it wasn't fair to string him along. He said some real shit that ultimately you have to sit and think about.
"I understand where you're coming from, though. This is your dad; he's always been there and supportive of you. It's gotta be a lot of pressure to feel indebted to go through with this marriage so that he can get a casino out of it. But at the end of the day, is his legacy worth your happiness?"
It wasn't. "No."
"And Cain..." Jadyn groaned over on her end. "He has the charm and the looks, but have you tried getting to know him? He's infatuated by an idea, but has he gotten to know you? Not that you're not worth it, because you are, but jumping into marriage because you seem ethereal is wild."
I hadn't tried to get to know Cain. I'd rebelled against the whole idea of taking him and our relationship seriously from the start. While I loathed the idea of the man, there was no denying the part of me that felt sorry for him, that sympathized for his upbringing and all that he'd lost. He was cruel, there was no doubt about it when I considered his threats to kill any man who touched me. But then he was thoughtful too, when I thought about the way he treated me when we were together.
Wiping at my eyes, I thought about the possibility of trying to get to know him. Of trying to see where things could go if I gave in and gave him a chance.
