Grudgingly Yours (An Arranged Marriage fic)

Part 1

You stared at your husband, noting the tightening of his jaw, the way his beautiful face glared back at you with utter disdain. His dark eyes brimmed with hate and condescension, ready to eviscerate you at any moment. He was dressed in jeans, an olive knit top and a leather jacket - not a tux or suit - because this may have been his wedding day but that certainly didn't mean he was going to put in any fucking effort. Of course his casual outfit didn't deter from his good looks. Dark hair slicked back, darker eyes, and a chiseled face that made him look like devil himself. He was one of the richest bachelors in the country and the eldest son of a prominent New York family, so he could have had anybody – but it was you who was marrying him and he wasn't happy about it. No, he was fucking pissed and everyone attending the ceremony saw it. But you didn't care. What he felt didn't matter, because he was your ticket out.

"Do you, William Russo, take Y/N to be your wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, until parted by death?"

Billy didn't respond, and a stunned silence fell across the room. With every second that passed, the tension in the room grew. It seemed to you like everyone was holding their breath, waiting for him to say no and make his escape. You kept your face blank, but cast his grandfather a quick glance. The old man may have looked deceptively frail sitting in his wheelchair, but you saw his steely gaze, mirroring the man across from you, and knew instinctively there was no way anyone would defy the head of the family. To do so would mean losing all of the wealth and privilege afforded by the Russo name and your soon-to-be-husband was much too smart to give it all up.

"Sure."

Not 'yes', not 'I do', but 'sure'. A lazy, insolent drawl of a response. So very much like him. And it would've made you snicker if you weren't required to put on an act for everyone.

The officiant turned to you, and repeated the same question.

It was your turn to pause. For a moment sheer panic surged through you. What the fuck were you doing? Is this really what you wanted? To tie yourself down to the kind of guy you absolutely loathed?

"Why me?" You asked, wondering once again.

Alistair Russo, Billy's grandfather, had made the offer a week ago with a deadline of today to get back to him. True to his word, the man was now sitting in your office after waiting several hours for you to get out of a surgery you'd been performing.

"You saved my life. And this is how I repay that debt."

You quirked your eyebrow. "Saving you was my job. I would've done that for anybody."

"But I'm not just anybody, and I don't like being in people's debt."

You exhaled a long breath, leaning back in your chair. You'd been in surgery for more than 7 hours. You were tired and desperately needed some sleep. All you wanted was to crawl into bed but you couldn't because you still had several hours left on your shift. And now here was this rich, old fuck back to tempt you with an insane plan that had already kept you awake for too many days. "Fine. Pay off my student debt and we'll call it even."

The old man gave you a condescending smile. "That's not how this works."

You smiled back. "So it's not really about being grateful, is it? There's a reason you want me to marry your grandson so why don't you just spill it."

Alistair cocked his eyebrow, his expression cold. "This marriage is meant to be a consequence of his actions."

"In other words, punishment."