Caroline dragged her heavy feet up the wide granite steps of the Manhattan Marriage Bureau.
She pushed through the heavy revolving doors, stepping into the loud, echoing lobby filled with happy couples holding bouquets. The joy in the room made her want to vomit.
She spotted him immediately. Arlington stood out like a shark in a fish tank. He was leaning casually against a marble pillar, looking down at the face of his Patek Philippe watch.
He felt her stare. He looked up, his lips curving into a sharp, victorious smirk, and gestured for her to come over.
Caroline's jaw tightened. She marched over to him, unzipped her bag, and practically shoved her birth certificate and Social Security card into his chest.
Three men in sharp suits-his lawyers-materialized out of nowhere. They snatched the documents from Arlington and began filling out the complex application forms with terrifying speed.
Within minutes, Caroline and Arlington were ushered to a small, cramped clerk's window.
The clerk behind the glass looked bored. She stamped a paper and looked up. "Are you both entering into this marriage of your own free will?"
Caroline's throat went bone dry. She hesitated. The silence stretched for one agonizing second.
The clerk's gaze lingered on Caroline's pale face and rigid posture. The boredom vanished from the woman's eyes, replaced by a sharp, professional frown. She slowed her movements, leaning closer to the glass partition. "Miss, I need you to verbally confirm this. Is this entirely your own choice? Do you need me to call someone?"
Arlington's hand shot out. He grabbed her left hand, his long fingers wrapping around hers in a vice-like grip. He squeezed hard enough to grind her bones together, the brutal motion hidden perfectly below the counter, out of the clerk's line of sight.
He looked down at her. His eyes were a dark, violent warning, silently promising absolute destruction for her family if she dared to accept the clerk's lifeline.
Pain shot up Caroline's arm. She gritted her teeth, forcing a sickeningly sweet smile for the clerk.
"Yes," she choked out, her heart sinking like a stone.
The clerk stamped the final seal. "Congratulations. You're married."
The clerk slid the marriage certificate across the counter. Caroline stared at the piece of paper. It felt like a death sentence. Her life was officially over.
The second they walked out the heavy brass doors of City Hall, Caroline violently ripped her hand out of his grip.
"It's done," she snapped, her voice trembling with anger. "I'm going home."
Arlington stopped walking. He slowly, deliberately adjusted his left cufflink.
"Our next stop," he announced smoothly, "is Long Island. We are going to visit your parents."
Caroline felt like she had been struck by lightning. She spun around, her eyes wide with horror.
"No! Absolutely not! That was not part of the deal!" she yelled, ignoring the stares of people walking by.
Arlington's expression turned to ice. "We are legally married. Visiting my new in-laws is standard procedure."
He took a step closer, his height casting a dark shadow over her. "If you refuse, I will call the press right now and leak this marriage certificate. Your parents will find out on the evening news."
Caroline's entire body shook. She hated him. She hated him with a burning, visceral passion. But she was utterly powerless against him.
She swallowed the bile rising in her throat and nodded once, a jerky, defeated motion.
They walked to the curb. The Maybach was already waiting, the driver holding the rear door open.
Caroline slid into the massive, luxurious cabin and immediately pressed her back against the far door, putting as much physical distance between them as possible.
The car pulled smoothly into traffic.
Caroline forced her panicked brain to work. She turned to him, her eyes fierce.
"Listen to me," she ordered, her voice tight. "They cannot know we met yesterday. It would kill my father."
Arlington raised a dark eyebrow. He leaned back against the plush leather seat, looking highly amused. "Go on."
Caroline started spinning a frantic web of lies. "We met at an art gallery opening six months ago. It was love at first sight. You are a polite, normal financial executive. You are deeply in love with me. And you will absolutely not mention your psychotic allergy."
Arlington let out a low, dark chuckle that vibrated through the quiet car.
Caroline's face burned with humiliation and anger. "Memorize it! If you mess this up, my dad will grab his hunting rifle!"
Arlington suddenly shifted. He closed the distance between them in a second.
He leaned in, his warm breath ghosting over the sensitive skin of her ear. "Don't worry, darling," he whispered. "I'm a professional at playing the devoted lover."
Before she could process his words, his arm snaked around her waist. He hauled her across the leather seat, pulling her flush against his hard side.
"We need to practice our physical proximity," he murmured, his hand resting heavily on her hip.
Caroline went completely rigid. Her muscles locked up. She sat trapped against his side, staring blankly out the tinted window as the familiar suburban landscape rolled by, a deep, suffocating dread settling in her stomach.
