Forever Tied to you

6

Mason

The door is fucking locked.

I came up here to wake her up for breakfast, knowing she had to be hungry by now. My mom had cooked for us, her own misguided way of making this as comfortable for Sophie as possible.

Instead of knocking and walking into her room to advise her, the damn door was locked which meant I was stuck standing outside her room knocking, until she finally let me in.

I had been standing there for fifteen minutes when the door finally opened and she jumped. Her hair was wet and falling down her back in damp waves. I could smell the fruity scent of her body wash, as her bare arm brushed against me as she attempted to pass by.

She was going to look at me today I was sure of it. I would make her understand the complexity of her situation today. That in order for the loan sharks to take my money, they needed to believe that we were in love and that this wasn't just a ruse. They weren't in the habit of letting other people pay off debts and this was a favor to me specifically, after I preached my love for the Lannings daughter.

"Sophie, wait." I gently grabbed her wrist. The momentum of her walking against my hold causing her to lose her balance and fall against me.

My free hand instinctively settled on her waist so that she didn't fall, causing her face to bury into my shirt. I heard the sharp inhale of her breath as I pressed my fingers more firmly into her waist.

"I didn't ask for this." He voice was barely a whisper against my shirt.

I didn't reply, I couldn't. This wasn't her fault and while I wasn't in the habit of feeling guilty for much, this was necessary for us both. The truth was, she needed to make this believable. She could hate me after.

I moved my hand under her chin and tilted her face up towards me, forcing her to finally look in my eyes.

"Look, I know you're not happy. You are safe here and if you want your parents safe too, you're going to have to get over yourself. There is a lot to discuss today and I need you to pay attention whether you want to or not! Understand?" I said a little more forceful than intended.

I watched as her blue eyes dilated and challenged me defiantly. She was not going to make this easy on me and it sent mixed emotions of anger, annoyance, and desire coursing through me.

I hadn't dated or given a woman the time of day in years, nor had I wanted too. It wasn't that there wasn't women offering, more that none of them were remotely interesting enough to warrant more than a brisk conversation.

Sophie was already different though. She had a fire in her that I wanted to unleash so I could see how big it would burn.

"Fine!" She huffed in annoyance, pulling back away from me and walking downstairs to the kitchen where my mother was waiting.

I followed behind her and sat quietly as my mother tried to talk to her. Sophie was polite and short, offering basic answers that didn't give too much away.

"What did you study in college?" Mom asked and for a brief second I thought I saw a sparkle of excitement in Sophie's eyes.

"Legal studies. I'm going to," she cut herself off, "I was going to be an attorney or a judge." She sighed.

"Was?" My mother questioned as Sophie's shoulders slumped. "You can still do that if you wanted. Mason owns a security firm, I'm sure he could help you with law school applications."

Sophie's eyes remained pinned down in the same way they had been last night when she was ignoring me. She didn't respond to my mother this time, instead taking a bite of her pancakes.

"Anyway," my mother continued as if there wasn't a break in the conversation, "I have to get home to take Roofus out, he gets whiny if he doesn't have his morning run." She smiled.

"Thanks mom." She gave me a hug before placing her hand gently on Sophie's shoulder. "I'll give you time to talk."

Then she walked out. I took a seat opposite Sophie and covered my plate of bacon and eggs with ketchup. I could feel her watching me and was surprised when I stole a glance at her and saw the hint of a smile playing on the corner of her mouth.

Once we were done I took her plate and loaded it into the dishwasher before I turned back to her. "Let's go to the living room. I think I should explain everything to you that way you know what this is."

She nodded and followed me to the living room where she sat on the far end of the couch away from me. I decided to ignore the irritation it caused me and instead did what I said and began to explain.

"Your parents came to me a few years ago, well actually they went to my mother." I said as she fiddled with her pants. "They needed money for your tuition and didn't want to tell you they had used your college fund for their mortgage. My mother asked me to help them and so I did."

"So a few days ago my mother mentioned that your parents were in trouble and that they had gone to some shady loan sharks to fund the remainder of your tuition. My mom said you had just graduated and that since you were no longer in college that you were now included in the collateral for non payment." I continued as she began to pick at the frayed strand of fabric above her knee.

"I had my crew check and they confirmed that a hit was put out for you and your parents. My mom begged me to help them, apparently our mothers were, or still are pretty good friends. Anyway my mom is all I have other than a few cousins, so I met your parents. I agreed to help them, but I wanted them to understand that this wasn't something they could continue."

I took a deep breath and decided to leave out the selfish part of my reasoning. "I saw a picture of you in their house and figured that they needed some kind of motivation to straighten up. I knew the people they had borrowed from wouldn't mess with my family and so I told them I would pay their debts if I got you in return. The deal was that I get to marry you next week, at which time their debts will be paid off."

I noticed a tear fall down her face and tried not to let it affect me. "Once we are married no one will loan them money unless it's through a bank or somewhere reputable, you will all be safe."

"What do you get from this?" She asked shakily.

"You, Sophie. I get you."

She took another deep breath and I knew she needed a final push to accept what was going to happen.

"There's one more thing." I added. "In order for this to work they have to believe that you want this marriage, that we are happy. They will have people watching us. It doesn't have to be forever, but it does have to be believable." I said with a certainty that hit the spot as she sniffled and nodded her head, seemingly accepting that I was her only option.

Finally I was getting through to her.