Keep Me (Sinful Manor #1)

Chapter Six

Chapter Six

Anna is standing in the airport, waiting for me as I walk out of the terminal. She greets me with a smile, and I force one in return.

Somewhere between the neurotic night I agreed to this, and the moment that airplane put its wheels down on a runway in Edinburgh, I completely talked myself out of this wild scheme.

But here I am anyway. Because I want to be? No.

Because I have a point to prove? Yep.

“Ms. Devereaux,” she says in a polite greeting. “How was your flight?”

“Please, call me Sylvie,” I reply. Anna is probably only a few years older than me, but she talks like she’s Scottish royalty, and we’re all in some historical romance simulation. “It was good. Thank you,” I say, hoisting my backpack higher up on my shoulder.

“I hope you were able to get some rest. We have a busy day ahead of us.”

“Yeah, actually, I did.” Which is true, thanks to those first-class sleeping pods they flew me in. I bet the folks back in coach are feeling a different way right now.

She starts walking briskly toward the exit. “We’ll be heading straight over to the house today,” she says in a straightforward, businesslike sort of way. “You can meet Killian a bit more properly now.”

My stomach tightens at the mention of seeing him again.

“It’s about an hour to the manor from here. We can go over some of the terms and rules in the car.”

I nod as if this is completely normal business and not the most unhinged, reckless thing I’ve ever done.

After we get my baggage from the carousel and our driver carries it out to our car, Anna and I climb into the back seat together. She offers me some water and something to eat but doesn’t waste any time before getting down to business.

“Now, I trust you’ve gone through the contract you signed, so none of this should come as a surprise to you.”

I nod, taking a gulp of water.

“But there are some important stipulations to the agreement that I feel we should reiterate.”

“Okay…” I mutter, waiting to hear them. I did read the contract, but contracts are contracts, and the language was superfluous enough to be confusing and vague. So I signed it.

“The term of marriage must reach one year from the date the certificates are signed in order for you to receive your payout.”

“Got it,” I say. Easy enough.

“After you’ve reached one year, you will sign the deed to Barclay Manor over to our aunt Lorna, who will handle the estate from there. Your marriage will be annulled, and you can return to America with your ten million dollars.”

I force myself to swallow. She makes it sound so simple, but this part of the bargain has me feeling dizzy. I hope by the end of the year, it will be so easy to just take this man’s house from him and go home as if nothing happened.

“Both you and Killian must remain faithful to each other for the duration of the twelve months in order for commitment to be considered maintained.”

“Both of us?” I mutter as I pick up a piece of meat from the tray of snacks she gave me when I climbed in.

“Yes, both of you. This is important, Miss Devereaux.”

“Why should I lose out on my ten million if he can’t keep his dick in his pants?”

I don’t bother to tell her that I failed to keep my real boyfriend loyal, let alone my fake husband.

“This is part of the rules in the trust, Sylvie. It’s not something we can negotiate. If anyone is caught stepping outside of the marriage, the union is considered void, and none of the legal propagations stand.”

“What kind of rule is that?” I stammer. “If a wife is loyal to her husband, but he cheats, she loses out on her house? Fuck that.”

Anna purses her lips and gives me a stoic glare. “Life is rarely fair.”

I stare out the window of the car as we drive down the busy city streets, wondering how the hell I’m supposed to keep a man like Killian faithful to me when we’re not even in a real relationship.

***

The rest of the drive is more boring talk about the contract. It starts to feel hopeless by the time we reach our destination. As I approach the manor for the second time in my life, I stare at it, amazed that anyone can truly live there. It looks like something out of a historical novel, not the twenty-first century.

I know from experience that the inside isn’t quite like the outside. The interior has been renovated, the kitchen opened to the sitting room. The walls aren’t dark and foreboding but white and airy.

“Welcome home,” Anna says with a smile as our driver opens our door.

As we step into the manor, memories come flooding back. I pick up the same cologne and spice scent I remember from the first time I was here.

But something is different this time. Unlike last time, there is a heavy beat of music playing somewhere in the house.

“What on earth?” Anna mumbles.

Then I hear the unmistakable giggle and moan of a woman upstairs. My cheeks heat and I bite my lip as I turn my attention toward Anna to gauge her reaction. I know the sounds of sex when I hear them. The last time I walked into a scenario like this, it was my boyfriend. This time it’s my soon-to-be husband.

“Excuse me,” Anna says to me as she stomps angrily into the house. “Killian!” she calls with fury.

I hang back in the entryway for a moment.

The girl upstairs giggles even louder.

When Anna reaches the living room, she lets out a scream. Her hand flies to her mouth, so I hurry to catch up, curious to know what has her so bothered.

As I turn the corner into the large sitting room, my jaw drops when my gaze lands on a completely naked woman scurrying to cover herself on a dark-green upholstered sofa.

“I’m so sorry, miss!” the young woman stammers as she rushes to get dressed. “My apologies.”

“Killian!” Anna shrieks as she takes off toward the stairs. Her heels click loudly against each one.

I stifle a laugh, biting my bottom lip as I turn away from the naked woman and follow Killian’s sister toward the stairs.

Killian’s loud footsteps echo through the house as he rushes to meet his sister’s rage-fueled attack. A moment later, there’s a heated argument between them, and I stop in my tracks. I’m about halfway up the stairs, eager to listen to their fight but not interested enough to get involved.

“You can’t just barge into my house!” Killian bellows.

“Will you please put some clothes on?” Anna shrieks.

“I’ll do whatever the fuck I please,” he replies, that deep Scottish accent bringing back memories of the day he yelled in my face. It should scare me, but it doesn’t. It just activates my anger.

Heavy footsteps pound against the floor. I take a few more steps, peering over the railing to see Killian’s white ass as he disappears into one of the bedrooms.

Anna turns back toward me, looking flustered. “I’m sorry about this. I told him to expect us today.”

I shrug. This entire scheme is growing more futile by the second. The likelihood of me making it more than a few months is dwindling by the second.

Twelve months? Impossible.

“You realize there is no way this is going to work, right? He’s not going to keep his dick in his pants, and I’m sure as hell not going to—”

Feeling his anger-laced green eyes on my face, I slant my head to see a now-dressed Killian watching me from the bedroom.

“Yes, he will,” Anna mutters heatedly. “There is too much on the line.”

Another young woman comes bounding out of the bedroom. Her cheeks are still flushed, and her hair is messy with knots and tangles in the back, which is a pretty good indicator of what they were just up to.

That explains all those giggles.

“Excuse me,” she murmurs sweetly to Anna and me as she scurries past us, still buttoning up the top of some sort of black shift-dress-style uniform.

Anna glares at Killian, and then she glances softly at me. “Don’t worry, Sylvie. We’ll be hiring a new cleaning staff.”

I press my lips together. Somewhere in the distance, I hear a door closing.

Which means I’m now alone with my soon-to-be husband and his sister. Killian saunters out of the bedroom, running his fingers through his long brown hair as he pulls it into a bun at the back of his head.

“You again,” he says to me.

I square my shoulders as I turn to face him. “I was invited this time,” I reply.

“I’m surprised you came.”

“Well, I’m just full of surprises.” I cross my arms in front of my chest and glare up at him.

“We’ll see about that.”

His green eyes are so fierce it becomes hard to stare at them for too long. His heavy brows hang over his eyes in austere contemplation. It’s almost like I start to shrink under his gaze, and it grates on my nerves to feel that way.

But I don’t back down. Soon, we’re in a heated staring contest, and it’s Anna who finally breaks it up.

“Killian, get this mess cleaned up. I’m going to show Sylvie her room, and we’ll meet downstairs for tea in thirty minutes. I expect you to be there. We have some things to go over.”

The corner of Killian’s mouth lifts in a crooked smile. “I look forward to it.”

Without a response, I turn away from him and follow Anna down a long hallway to the left, opposite from where the giggling girl emerged. The entire time she gives me a tour, I try to shake the feeling of irritation from that short interaction with Killian.

I realize he was trying to get under my skin. He was trying to assert dominance by mocking me and making me uncomfortable. I won’t give him the satisfaction.

The truth of the matter is, I want this money. I need this money. Which means I have to make this work one way or another. Whatever this family plans to do to Killian when all of this is over isn’t any of my business. I don’t care about him or the house he wants to keep.

I’m in this for me .

Which means over the next twelve months, I’m about to become this man’s worst nightmare.