MARRIAGE UNDER CONTRACT

SECRETS IN THE SHADOWS

Samantha’s POV

After the knock, I had hardly time to respond. Fearing the worst, my heart racing, I cautiously pushed open the door. However, the sight of the man's expressionless face gazing across the room made me gasp for air. It had been years since I last laid eyes on him.

"Jared," I said, my voice showing the shock and panic twisting within me. His keen green eyes locked with mine, the same ones that had once assured me of everything now icy and far-off. " What are you doing here?"

Without an invitation, Jared entered and his big form threw shadows across the poorly lighted apartment. Memories I had buried long ago, praying never to see him ever more flooded back. But here he was, in front of me, a phantom from a past I believed I had left behind.

His voice low, deliberate, "I told you I'd find you," he said. "You did not believe you could simply vanish?"

My heart accelerated as I turned to look at Ethan, still deeply asleep in the next room, totally oblivious of the threat now prowling at our door. Though my mind flew and I tried to keep calm, the fear shook my hands.

Trying to keep my voice calm, I continued, "I'm not sure what you think you're doing here." Still, Jared, I want no conflict. Just let go.

Jared laughed, stepped in front, his presence too strong. "Oh, Sam, I am not here for problems. I'm here to ensure you keep in mind your debt to me. Did you not assume I would overlook that small debt?

My gut turned over with anxiety. The loan. I had been running, trying to keep one step ahead of him, protecting my son from the life I used to know for years. I , however, let him once more rule me. I would not.

"Leave us alone," I snarled, my voice harsher this time, full of the wrath I had been stifling for years. I have nothing to owe you.

Not bothered by my disobedience, Jared grinned. "You were consistently stubborn. Still, I found you to be appealing. He moved back, hands in his pockets, still fixed on me. "Here's the deal, Sam. You are not positioned to be demanding. Not when I know precisely what you have been up to and who you have been attempting to keep quiet.

His eyes flicked to Ethan's chamber, a nasty sneer twisting on his lips, and I shivered down my spine.

"Ethan doesn't need to know about you," I spat, my fury growing as I battled to keep my voice quiet. You keep your distance from him. To you, he is not anything.

Jared ar eyebrows, laughter dancing in his eyes. Is that indeed? I am still his father.

My breath seized in my throat as the words struck me like a gut-reversing punch. Jared was not entitled to label himself as Ethan's father. He had not been there, had not shown concern when I had been terrified, alone, and pregnant. I had escaped for him, and he was the reason I had been compelled into a life I no longer knew.

This was not the time for argument, though. Ethan needed to be kept distant from the nasty world Jared lived in, hence shielding him. And now the stakes were higher than ever, Adrian Blackwood's contract hovering over me.

Desperate lacing my voice, "whatever you want, just leave him out of it." Though I detested my weak voice, I was unable to let pride control me. Not when Ethan's life hung precariously.

Jared's face softened, but only marginally. "That is dependent on you, Sam. You follow my advice, and I will remain away from your beautiful little life. Cross me, though... His smile grew broad, sinister and terrible. You know just how it goes.

My thoughts whirling with options, with ways out of this, I swallowed the lump in my throat. Still, there was no easy fix. Not with Jared here, not with Adrian waiting for me to perform my side of our twisted contract. Two devils were dragging me in different directions and I was caught between them.

Jared's phone buzzed, slicing across the tension like a dagger before I could reply. He yanked it out, smirking at the screen then turning back to look at me.

Stepping back toward the door, he added, "Looks like our little chat is over for now." But Sam, relax not too much. Real soon I will be seeing you once more.

And he disappeared like that, leaving me stunned and afraid in the middle of the room. I inhaled deeply and worked myself to cool off. Ethan wouldn't be able to watch me like this. He looked at me as powerful.

But my mind kept racing as I settled on the couch, unable to get rid of the terrible sense that my life was sliding out of control. Between Adrian and Jared, I had no idea how I was going to keep us safe, how I would shield my boy from the hazards approaching us from all directions.

I woke up the next morning feeling heavy. The talk with Jared stayed on repeat in my head, tormenting me even in sleep. I knew I had to face Adrian, uphold appearances and fulfill my side of the marriage contract, but Jared's return sent everything into anarchy.

My nerves were shot when I entered Blackwood Tower once more. Jared was supposed to show up, to stalk me like a shadow I could not shake. Rather, though, I was met by the polished woman with an ice grin that is Adrian's assistant.

She said, her voice business-like, "Mr. Blackwood is waiting for you," but her eyes betrayed something. A flutter of interest. or was it mistrust?

I made myself nod as I passed her and entered the lift. My chest got tight when the doors closed. I had no idea for how long I could maintain this front. I couldn't let Adrian know; he had no idea about Jared. Should he, everything may be destroyed.

Adrian was standing at the window in his office, back to me when I entered it. As always, his chilly, austere presence dominated the room. Although I detested his treatment of me as little, unimportant, I couldn't afford to rebel against him. Not just now.

Samantha, he said without turning around. You're late.

"I'm sorry," I said, feeling the weight of his letdown. He had no need to know why I was late. He had no need to know Jared had arrived, endangering what I had worked so hard to guard.

At last he turned to face me, his eyes narrowing as he examined me as though he saw the turbulence I was trying so hard to suppress.

Sharper than usual, he questioned, "Is everything alright?"

Though it did not reach my eyes, I pushed a smile. "Everything's good."

Adrian only gazed at me, his eyes sharp, as though he could see straight through the falsehood. Then he nodded, refocusing on the city skyline seen beyond the window.

Good, he replied. "Because our work is much ahead of us."

I tried to concentrate on what Adrian was saying as the conference progressed, but my mind kept straying back to Jared. I had believed I could shed my history and shield Ethan from the life I knew. But everything was in danger now Jared was back in the picture.

And I realized Adrian would find out sooner or later as well.

What would he do when he did, one wondered?