I wired Ruben the money at midnight. Two million, for a girl who did not say one word all day.
The will called it a marriage settlement. I called it what it was.
He came to collect in person the next morning. Men like him always want to watch your face while you pay.
Ruben: Hard man to get a meeting with. I figured you'd want to say thank you.
Dorian: You got your money. Check your account and get out.
Ruben: Two million. That's a bargain and you know it. She's quiet, she's clean, and she don't eat much.
Dorian: Say one more word about her like that and I'll have you carried out.
Ruben: Relax. She's yours now. I'm just saying, if you ever want another one, I know a guy.
Dorian: Get the fuck out of my building.
He laughed on the way out. I stood there and let the doors close on it.
My father wrote that will two months before he died. One year to marry and put an heir in her, or Vale Holdings went to my aunt and her lawyers.
He was still running my life from a box in the ground.
So I bought a wife off a man in a cheap jacket, and now I was supposed to be grateful for the deal.
Two million dollars and a ring, and the whole thing still felt like I was the one getting fucked.
Nora: Sir. She's been standing at the window since six. She won't sit down, and she won't eat unless I leave the room.
Dorian: Then let her stand.
She was in the hall with her notebook against her chest and her shoes too big for her feet.
She had a thin pale neck, and I noticed it, and I hated that I noticed it.
I walked past her to get my coat. I move fast. I always have.
She flinched.
Not a little one either. Both arms up, face turned away, the way a person moves when they know what comes next.
I stopped with my coat in my hand and something cold went down my back.
Dorian: I'm not going to hit you.
Her arms came down an inch at a time, like she was letting go of something heavy.
She nodded. Fast, like agreeing was the only thing she was good at.
She believed me that easy. That told me plenty about the house she came from.
Dorian: Sit down. Nobody in this house is going to put a hand on you.
She nodded again and stayed on her feet.
Two million dollars, and the woman I bought was afraid of a coat.
It was none of my business why. I told myself that the whole way down.
The will wanted a wife and an heir inside twelve months. My father never once asked what the woman would want.
I read the clause again and I kept seeing her arms come up.