Page 55 of The Wrong Billionaire
I ignore him, walk into the living room, which is empty, and then go through to the kitchen when I hear voices.
Wren’s there with Mum, and they’re making muffins. My heart lifts when I see Wren laughing. She’s okay, I think, relief sweeping over me. She’s still in one piece.
She looks up at that point, sees me, and drops the spoon with a clatter.
Mum follows her gaze. “Oh, hello! You’re early.”
“That’s because Marcus made Tane drive at two hundred kilometers an hour once we got through the traffic,” Caesar says wryly from behind me. “We must have got, like, thirty speeding tickets on the way.”
I walk around the counter and go up to Wren. “Are you all right?”
She swallows. “I’m fine.”
“Dad said he grabbed your wrist.”
“It’s okay…”
“Which one?”
She lifts her hands, which are covered in flour. “My left, but—”
I take her left hand and hold it up to examine her wrist. It’s starting to bruise.
“Mars…”
I take her face in my hands. Her eyes are red—she’s been crying. My heart is racing. She’s not hurt badly, I tell myself, but it could have been so much worse.
“I’m fine,” she says, trying to push me away.
I can’t bear that she’s hiding how she feels. “Don’t lie to me.”
“Marcus,” Dad says, “she says she’s okay.”
I look up to find them all watching us. Watching me. They think I’m overreacting. Ice-cold fury sweeps through me.
I pick up Wren’s floury hand and stride toward the sliding doors, bringing her with me.
“Marcus…” Mum says, but I keep walking, slide the door open, go outside, and close the door behind me.
The sun is low in the sky, and it’s incredibly warm. I’m conscious that my shirt is stuck to my back with sweat. I usually shower before I see her, but I didn’t have time. Despite this, Wren is shivering.
I walk along the house until we reach a wall, which means nobody can see us. I stop and turn to face her.
“I’m all right,” she says, flustered. “Don’t make a fuss.”
“You have no idea what I’ve been through for the past four hours,” I say hoarsely.
She frowns. Then she blows out a shaky breath. “Your dad said you were in the Beehive when Rory called you. What made you answer the call?”
“He texted me a code first that we’d set up to mean you were involved in an emergency.”
She gives a short laugh in disbelief. “You’re talking as if I’m marrying the King of England.”
I put my hands on my hips, trying to contain my frustration at her lack of understanding. “Do you actually have any concept of how much money my family has? We play it down because we come from a modest background, but we are incredibly wealthy. And money is like heroin. It possesses people, twists them, corrupts them. And they’ll do anything to get it.Anything, Wren.”
She blinks. “I can’t believe you left the PM to sort it out.”
“Nothing is as important to me as you are, Wren Carter. Nothing. Don’t you understand?”
