When Griffin gets home later than usual, he’s starving for me in a way I didn’t know was possible. It’s like he can’t physically keep his hands off my body, and it feels so good to let him roam along my skin, tasting me and teasing me.

Fortunately, Lacey is already in bed, because as soon as he comes in through the door he presses me up against the kitchen counter and kisses me deeply. We don’t even say a word to each other. We don’t need to. He just strips my clothes off and turns me around, roughly bending me over the stove, making me grip the edges of the counter.

He fucks me deep and fast, not holding back at all. I’m shocked at how animalistic and intense he can be. He rocks himself into me and I feel like I’m losing my mind with pleasure as I slide my wet pussy down along his cock. He fills me, stretches me out, makes me feel so good. Part of me is afraid that Lacey will wake up, because I can’t be quiet, but that doesn’t matter. It’s not like I can stop him, and I don’t want to.

When we’re finally finished and spent, he cooks himself some dinner and pours me a drink. I watch him over my wine glass, wearing only an oversized t-shirt and a pair of shorts.

“So, what was that for?” I ask him.

He grins at me. “I just wanted to fuck my wife. Is that so wrong?”

“Not at all. I liked it.” I feel an excited chill run down my spine as he grins at me.

“I know you did,” he says. He turns back to the stove and finishes up his meal, a simple pasta dish. I’m surprised he knows how he cook, since he can probably just pay someone to cook for him all the time, but I get the sense that he doesn’t like to hire staff to be a part of his personal life. Apparently, I’m the exception to that.

I watch him eat as we chat about more or less nothing. We usually talk about Lacey, but tonight we just talk about ourselves, movies we like, that sort of thing. The conversations normal people have on their first date, the conversations we should have had by now but haven’t. We’re so far from normal, but neither of us seems to mind.

I love his perspective on things. Griffin isn’t just a handsome face, he’s witty and intelligent. He can hold a conversation about more or less anything, and there’s never a dull moment or an uncomfortable silence. Nothing is uncomfortable with him, actually. I realize that I’ve never felt this way with someone before. I’ve never felt so natural and at home with another person before.

He makes me feel safe. That’s the truth of it at the core, which seems so important to me. I’ve never really felt safe and secure with someone before, not any other boyfriend, and especially not my family. But with Griffin, I feel like I know exactly where I stand and what everything means.

“I should tell you something,” he says as he’s cleaning up the dishes.

“What’s that?” I ask him, finishing my glass of wine.

He brings the bottle over to pour me another. “I went to see your father earlier today.”

I pause, a little surprised. “You went to him yourself?”

He nods. “That’s why I was late.”

I sip my drink as he turns back to the dishes. “How did it go?”

“I don’t know,” he says. “Rick seemed… on edge, which I guess makes sense, since his whole plan is crumbling around him. But he seemed worse than I expected.”

I frown to myself, nodding slightly. I can’t say I’m surprised. My father doesn’t take this sort of thing very lightly. In fact, I don’t think he ever loses at anything, and I can’t imagine that he’ll handle getting out played by Griffin very gracefully.

But this isn’t the end of my father. He has other businesses he can fall back on. I know he really likes the Consortium, but he’s been mismanaging it for years, and it’s time to sell and move on. Apparently he’s unable to do that very well though.

“Worse how?” I ask him.

“Defeated.” He stops what he’s doing and looks at me. “But he wouldn’t accept my offer.”

“Are you surprised?”

“I am,” he says. “I know he likes to play games and all that, but… he’s finished. He lost this one, that’s obvious. I’m offering him a good deal still. I don’t understand why he’s resisting it.”

I get up and walk over to him. I put my arms around him and he hugs me back. “I don’t know either,” I admit. “But my father doesn’t like to lose. I think he’s having a hard time accepting it. Maybe he’s coming up with some new scheme.”

“Maybe,” he says. “But I can’t imagine what he thinks he can do at this point.” He pulls back and looks me in the eyes. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” I say, a little surprised.

“This has to be hard for you.”

I chew my lip while I think for a second. “It’s hard, but I think I’ve given up on my family already. At this point, I just want it to be done. My father is the one that’s making it harder on himself, not us.”

“True,” Griffin says softly. “But still. This is hard. I just want you to know that we can back off if you want. I don’t want to push you into something you don’t like.”

I laugh and kiss him softly. “We got married, remember?” I grin at him as he smiles back. “I don’t think you can push me into anything. I’m your wife now.”

He pulls me against him. “That’s right, you’re my wife now.” He kisses me softly. “Just know that your opinion matters more than anything else. If you’re uncomfortable, we’ll stop whatever we’re doing.”

“Thanks,” I say. Tears spring up into my eyes and I’m surprised by my own emotions.

I’ve never had someone say that to me before. Nobody has ever said that my opinion matters and that they’ll do whatever I want. Nobody has ever cared about my comfort before.

This moment just underscores every decision I’ve made and validates it all.

As I’m about to kiss him, there’s a loud knock at the front door. We both hesitate and I glance at the clock on the stove. It’s after ten, way too late for random visitors.

“Are you expecting someone?” I ask Griffin.

He shakes his head slowly. “No, I’m not.” He releases me and walks over toward the door. “I have no clue who this is.”

I follow him, hanging back. I feel so happy and relaxed. I feel like nothing could possibly change that.

Griffin goes and answers the door. As he pulls it open, someone suddenly kicks the front of the door, shoving Griffin back, making him stumble.

“What the fuck--?” He manages to get upright as my father and two men come storming into the house.

“Rick, what the fuck—“

“Shut up,” one of the big men says to Griffin. They shove their way into the house, closing the door behind them. “Shut your fucking mouth and nobody gets hurt.”

I stare at Griffin, shocked and not sure what to do. I catch him doing something with his phone as he stumbles back into the house. We’re herded back into the living room and the goons push us down onto the couch. My father and his two men stand in front of us.

“What are you doing, Rick?” Griffin asks him.

“I’m doing what I should have done a long time ago. I’m taking what’s mine.” He looks at me. “You’re coming with me.”

Fear spikes through my body. “No,” I say. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“Erin, don’t be a silly bitch. You’re coming home and we’re annulling this marriage right now.”

I shake my head. “I’d rather choke on my own tongue than do that.”

My father laughs, a deep and psychotic laugh. There are bags under his eyes and he looks like he hasn’t showered in a couple days. “We can arrange that. Ivan and Igor here are not nice guys.”

I glance at the goons he has with him. Ivan and Igor don’t smile, they just stand there and watch blankly.

“You can’t take her,” Griffin says. “You seriously want to add kidnapping on top of everything else?”

“Everything else?” My father laughs, shaking his head. “I don’t care about anything but winning. I’m taking my daughter back. Now, get up, Erin.”

“Wait,” Griffin says. “There has to be another way.”

My father pauses, considering. “Do you have the contracts here?”

Griffin cocks his head. “What?”

“The most recent contracts. Are they here?”

“Yes,” Griffin says, watching him.

“Go get them.” Rick crosses his arms. “We’ll finish this.”

“They’re in the other room.” Griffin starts to stand.

“Slowly,” one of the goons says.

“Go with him, Igor.” Rick smiles at me wickedly. “See, honey? This is what you do to win. Absolutely anything that’s necessary.”

I feel sick and horrified. I don’t know what my father is capable of in this state. I don’t know who these two men are but they’re definitely dangerous. They have these sad blank expressions that I can’t read at all, and they only make me that much more uncomfortable.

But the worst part is, my father clearly thinks this is a good plan. He thinks that forcing Griffin to sign those contracts will somehow work. But he must know that signing them without lawyers present won’t mean a damn thing, and Griffin will dispute them as soon as my father leaves with his goons. He has to realize that in some part of his brain, but maybe he’s lost it completely.

Griffin gets up slowly. One of the goons, presumably Igor, follows him back toward his bedroom. I look at my father and he just smiles back.

“You picked the wrong team,” he says to me. “You traitor bitch.”

I don’t say a word. I hate him with every fiber of my being, and I won’t give him anything at all.

“I hoped that Ward could talk sense into you, but obviously not.” My father continues, not caring if I’m even listening. “So now I have to do this. Your husband tried to blackmail me earlier, you know that? Came to our house and threatened me.”

I sigh and look away. I know Griffin went there, he was just telling me, and I also know it wasn’t to blackmail my father. Or at least not exactly. He was trying to offer him a good deal, but of course my father has gone so far off the deep end that he won’t accept it.

Suddenly there’s a noise from the other room. A man shouts and there’s a loud crash. My father’s second goon perks up and walks toward the sound.

“Go check it out,” my father says.

The man disappears down the back hall, and I can see how nervous my father suddenly is.

A few seconds later, Ivan comes walking back down the hall with his hands up and his eyes wide, followed by Igor and Griffin. Igor has a red and puffy eye and Griffin is holding a gun pointed straight at them.

“What the fuck?” My father says. “Are you fucking kidding me?”

“He got the drop on me,” Igor says.

“Shut up, all of you,” Griffin shouts. “You’re going to wake my fucking kid up.” He frowns at the three men. “Erin, go check on Lacey. I’ll handle this.”

I stand up. “Be careful,” I say.

“It’s fine. I’m just showing them out.” He gestures with the gun. “Move, motherfuckers.”

The three men file toward the door as I head back down the hall. I pause and watch as they disappear around the corner before heading into Lacey’s room.

She’s sleeping soundly, which is amazing. The kid normally wakes up for anything, but tonight she decides to be a heavy sleeper.

I hear the front door slam shut and a minute later, Griffin appears. “Are you okay?” he asks.

“I’m okay.”

He throws his arms around me and pulls me tight. “I’m so sorry about that.”

“It wasn’t your fault,” I say. “But why do you own a gun, anyway?”

He grins at me. “I had a stalker a few years ago. I took some martial arts courses and bought a gun. I guess it paid off.”

I shake my head, amazed. “You’re crazy.”

“Turns out, those two guys aren’t actually hired thugs. They’re both accountants who work for your dad.”

“Are you kidding me?”

“No,” Griffin says, laughing. “Igor practically pisssed himself when I hit him. Admitted the whole thing was just for show.”

“Oh my god.” I can’t help but laugh. “They’re insane.”

“They are. But it’s over.”

“How?” I ask.

“The baby monitor. As soon as they came in, I set it to record. I think it caught everything.”

“Are you serious?”

“I think so. But either way, I suspect your father will sign tomorrow.”

“How can you be so sure?”

He grins even bigger at me. “I just have a feeling.”

I kiss him softly on the mouth and lose myself in his hug. He pulls me tight against him and I let myself relax as I hold him. I’m through with my family, through with the stress. I have Griffin and that’s going to be enough.