Sentenced to Marriage by MadlainQ

Idea | leaned back in my seat, my head spinning as | couldn't process what Jack had just told us. Anger buzzed withinas | thought that Callan was messing with us even after he died. “This is absurd! You told us before that the pathologist couldn't find any evidence that Callan’s death was a murder, and now you can be accused of killing him?!” My frustration went beyond the limits | could handle.

Aren placed his hand on top of mine. “Calm down, Cora. We will find a solution; we just need to think carefully.” | inwardly slapped myself for enjoying Aren’s touch and then slipped my hand away from his. As | did, he glanced atwith a hint of odd sadness flashing in his expression. Was he surprised that | was going to avoid his touch? Well, too bad he hadn't thought about it before degrading everything we had to casual sex. Jack noticed our change in behavior right away. “You two had a fight?” My “yes” csimultaneously with Aren’s “no.” We looked at each other slightly awkwardly. Jack chuckled. “Aren, you should hurry up and apologize, or | can sense no sex for weeks if you don’t.” He got that right. Aren might have been the sexiest guy | had ever dated or even the sexiest guy | had ever seen, but | was not going to surrender to my desires, not anymore. Aren slid his hand around my waist, pullingcloser. “Forgive me, beautiful,” he purred seductively, his lips curving in an alluring smile. | wished | could kick his balls at that moment. Did he truly have no idea what he was doing toand how much it hurt? Sadly for him, | wasn’t going to play the part of a good and forgiving wife.

“If you think that your half-assed apology could makespread my legs for you again, then you miscalculated, handsome,” | said before jerking his hand away with a bright smile painting my face.

Aren glared at me, but that only madesmile more beamingly. | could have been his contractual wife, but | demanded respect and | was not afraid of him. Jack burst out laughing. “Cora, you are a ray of sunshine in this shitty life of mine.” As | shifted my eyes to him, a sting of guilt pierced my heart. “I'm sorry, Jack. We shouldn't have bothered you with our little problems when you could be prosecuted for something you haven't done...” Jack shook his head. “It was a nice form of distraction.” Aren stayed silent, his eyes without a pinch of a smile turning from Jack to me. | suddenly got an irresistible urge to tease him. | blinked my eyes. “Don’t be mad at me, husband. You said it yourself, that we need to put emotions away.” God, it felt good to use his own weapon against him. He raised his eyebrows in surprise, but as WE he added a cold smirk to his expression, chills ran down my spine. He wasn’t planning revenge for what | just did, was he? | waved off that thought as we finally focused on Jack and the investigation. “Do you think that it might be Wintons’ doing?” | asked. “I bet that they were looking for someone who would pay for Callan’s death, and if they found out that you were Aren’s friend then-" “No,” Aren cut in. “The Wintons might seem strong when they talk, but they don’t have the means to mess with the FBI. | know that they have sconnections in the NYPD, but this would be too big of a case for them to handle.” “Any other suggestions?” Jack smiled wryly. “If not the Wintons, then | guess it must have been the guy who kidnappedand lockedin that warehouse,” | said, glancing at Aren. He nodded. “If he could gather an army of men to assassinate me, then who knows, maybe he has good political connections as well.” “Someone from the political family, from the government, or the senate?” Jack suggested. Aren smirked. “Not necessarily.

Money talks louder than any political beliefs. All you need to do is to find the right person, willing to do whatever you need to get the money.” | felt shivers down my spine as | listened to his words. “You sound as if you were saying that from experience...” | laughed nervously. “You don’t want to know, beautiful.” He winked at me. Jack took a deep breath. “I guess that narrows the list down to the richest people in New York.” An uncomfortable grimace painted Aren’s lips. “Not necessarily New York...” A sound of frustration escaped Jack’s throat. “Fuck, Aren! How many people outside New York have you pissed?! Can we narrow this down to a few states at least, or are we talking about the whole country?!” Aren shrugged. “I'm running a global consortium, Jack, and | bought over fifty companies on my way. Sometimes people got fired or lost their wealth, and now they certainly wishdead, but they can only do that. If | were to make a list, I'd put five big names on it. They all hatefor business reasons.” “But this is personal,” | said, making Aren and Jack look atwith interest.

“What do you mean?” Jack leaned forward on the table.

“I read a few messages from Callan’s phone. There were no names, but this guy mentioned that he would make Aren pay for what he did to his family,” | explained.

“Does it ring a bell for you?” Jack asked, smirking at Aren. “Maybe you fucked someone else’s wife and the guy found out?” Aren smirked cockily. “How the fuck should | know? When they cto me, they don’t put their rings on.” | cleared my throat and looked away. Of course, | was aware that Aren used to have a lot of Idea w women, and yet | couldn't help but feel the stir Unfortunately, my reaction was far too obvious for Jackor Aren to ignore. “Dude, you are digging your own grave.” Jack slapped Aren’s arm, glancing atwith an amused grin.

Aren leaned over my ear and whispered. “Don’t worry, beautiful. None of them tasted as good as you.” | looked at him, my eyes betraying the regret | felt. “Too bad you couldn't appreciate me,” | muttered under my breath. Aren might have heard it since he shota brief, confused stare, but his reaction ended there, and we got back to our discussion.

“Whoever this person is, our only way to find out is to track Packton,” Aren stated.

Jack huffed while running his fingers through his hair. “And who do you think could do that? This guy gets more authority every day, and | don’t know who to trust anymore.” “I can give you trained men who could tail Packton if you wantto. We can also plant a bug in his office,” Aren suggested. “A bug in the FBI's field office? | don’t see how anyone gets near enough Packton without raising suspicions.” Jack gave Aren anda crooked smile.

“I can do it,” | said as | hesitantly raised my hand. Aren’s eyes widened at me. “You?” “Well, he wouldn't suspect a blonde of putting a bug on him, would he?” | chuckled nervously. Jack narrowed his eyes at me. “You would need a serious reason to get near him.” I shrugged. “I could give him the real Callan’s phone back, telling him that they got the clone by accident last time. | could play dumb and claim that we've only noticed it recently. We've finished retrieving deleted messages, which led us nowhere, and we've deleted all the sensitive data from his phone long ago, so it's safe to give it back.” Aren frowned. “Absolutely not! | forbid you from getting anywhere near that guy, not to mention going alone to his office and” Jack raised his hand as if he wanted to block Aren’s mouth. “Wait! That could actually work!” he grinned wickedly, scanningfrom head to toe. “Cora is a hell of a sexy lady, and there is no way that Lester Packton would've resisted her charm. | bet that she could have him wrapped around her little finger in a minute.” Aren glared at him. “Do you think that | would ever allow my wife to go to that guy and seduce him?!” Jack burst into laughter. “Hey, don’t be so possessive! | will find a way to interrupt if he tries to make a move on your wife.” “You're assuming that he would make a move on my wife, and you expectto be OK with it?! “Aren roared.

| couldn’t say that I didn’t enjoy Aren getting all worked up. Nonetheless, it was my choice to make. | grabbed Aren’s hand, silencing him in an instant and making him shift his eyes to me.

Idea Once | got his full attention, | said, “If Jack says that my idea could work, then | am going. | will do it whether you like it or not.” “That guy is a trained field agent, and you don’t even know how to defend yourself,” he hissed.

“And whose fault is that?” | raised my eyebrows at him. Aren sighed, “You were recovering and ...” “Well, I'm all healed now,” | smirked. “Would you feel better if you taughtsmoves before | go?” | blinked my eyes innocently. “I'm not allowing you to go there, period,” he said harshly. | leaned over him, my lips an inch away from his. “It’s not your choice to make, handsome. You can either keep frowning and glaring ator, using your words... you can suck it up and learn to cope with that.”