Chapter 34

**Blue**


Artemis looks at me confused and I smile because he doesn’t know what’s coming. He isn’t ready for this but this is the coolest place ever and I’m too excited to contain myself. I run from the balcony and jump at him for a huge hug. He catches me with a grunt but catches me.

“What’s going on? You had me worried!” He sounds like he’s ready to scold me but I lean back and kiss him on the cheek.

“This is the coolest place I’ve ever been! I love it!”

He sighs and shakes his head at me like he can’t put up with anymore but he doesn’t let me go.

“Can we live here after we get married?” I all but beg.

His forehead scrunched up. “You want to live…here.”

He looks a little disgusted by the idea but this place is adorable and the view is amazing. Some of the houses even have Christmas lights up already which only makes the neighborhood even more beautiful. The way the lights sparkle on the water…I love it.

“Why not? It’s so homey and you said no one knows about it.”

He sets me back down on my feet and turns to look at the room we’re standing in.

“Unless it brings back some bad memories.” I say after he’s silent for over a minute.

“We only lived her until I was five, so I don’t have many memories of this place.” He says with a shrug.

“Well, you did say that no one knows about this place. Wouldn’t it bet better to stay here?” I offer hoping the safety of it is enough to convince him.
That seems to be the thing he cares the most about.

“Right.” Another minute of silence passes as he walks over to the balcony.

My excitement starts to die out the longer he takes to think about it. Truthfully, I want to live in a home, not a cold high-rise apartment. If his office is anything to go by, I’m sure it will look as welcoming as a hospital. I’ve also never been in a real house like this. The houses I stayed in were barely livable. Once the social worker dropped me off the cleanliness of the home was gone in a day or two. This house is like a dream to me, and I want to wake up in it every day. I can sit on the deck and drink coffee while ducks swim by.

Okay that sounds sort of cheesy but also kind of nice. It sounds peaceful.

“Okay, we can move here. We don’t have to wait until we’re married though, we can stay here now and come back once it’s over. If we can keep where we’re staying form everyone including my sisters, then we should be comfortable here.”

“Really?” He nods and once again I run toward him, but this time he’s ready.

I wrap my arms around his neck and bury my face in his shoulder. “Thank you.”

He tightens his hold around my waist and sighs. “You’re welcome. Why don’t we unpack.”

I release him so he can set me down and then take a step back from him. The excitement was too much and I might have crossed a line by hugging him but it’s nothing compared to what we did in front of all those cameras. He seems okay with us being fiancé’s with benefits, but I’m not sure if I want that. What if I start to get feelings and things become awkward between us? I don’t think I could live in the same house as him and there be tension between us.

“I’ll be right back.” He says but I grab his hand before he can leave.

“Can this be my bedroom?” I ask.

“Sure this can be our bedroom. I’m not particular.”

“No Artemis can this be MY bedroom. We aren’t in the hotel anymore and there are plenty of rooms here. There’s no reason for us to share one. Right?”

“I still planned on us sharing a bed Blue.”

“Why? There is plenty of room.” I wave a hand toward the door, and I can feel myself getting annoyed.

“We sleep in the same bed Blue. End of discussion.” He storms out before I can make anymore objections.

I growl and stomp my foot on the ground like a child. I’m not proud of it, but I can’t exactly scream in frustration. The neighbors might think Artemis is killing me or something. I smirk at the idea of Artemis getting the cops called on him, but I push that thought away. Having us sleep in the same bed isn’t a capitol crime, so there would be no point.

It seems like the minute we have a nice moment between us or even a civil one we end up ruining it with our bickering. What is that about?

Artemis comes striding in a few minutes later with his overnight bag in hand and the box of my clothes in the other like the weight and size of it isn’t awkward at all. He sets his bag down on the floor by the closet and walks over to the bed to dump my box on the bed. When he walks back into the closet and throws me an odd look I scowl back at him.

The pushy bastard.

“Don’t make this into a big deal Blue. I’m tired.” He says as he pulls out his clothes and starts to put them away.

“I’m not making a big deal Artemis. I just don’t see why we have to share a bed. We are going to be faked married, and we haven’t drawn up a contract yet, but I want to add no sleeping in the same bed as one of our rules.”

He whirls around to face me. “Who said you would get to add anything to the contract?”

I gape at him. “What? I don’t get a say on what I want to do or not have done in this marriage? That’s not fair Artemis.”

He shrugs. “You made it clear that you didn’t want my money and I offered you a place to stay in return for helping me instead. When you agreed you didn’t give any conditions.”

Is he for real? Every time I think I’m starting to like the guy he goes and does something like this!

“You can’t force me to sign anything. None of that was witnessed by anyone. It’s your word against mine.” I cross my arms and give him a satisfied smile.

Yeah try to get around that!

He chuckles. “You’re a smart woman Blue, but the only way you can change the contract is to hire a lawyer to fight to have it changed. Except you have no money to hire one.”

This…this…ASSHOLE!

“Wait, is the contract already written?” Please say no.

He doesn’t answer and instead walks over to his bag again and pulls out a large envelope.

“Ready to be signed by you. I already signed my part.” He hands me the envelope.

I look down at it and my heart starts to race. Can he really force me to sign this without being able to change a thing? This doesn’t seem legal. I open the envelope and carefully pull out the small pile of papers. Artemis doesn’t wait to watch me read it. I walk over to the bed and sit down to look it over. The first thing I notice is that it’s written in a way that I can barely understand it. I’m guessing that ‘party B’ is me but that’s because there are a lot of rules written out for them.

“Party B is expected to keep Party A informed of their location and activities three times a day…Party B is to available at any time for meetings or events in which Party A needs them to attend…Party B is not to be romantically involved outside the confines of their marriage to Party A…”

It goes on and on. How can he expect me to sign this? It makes me sound like I’m his property and have no real free will. How could anyone live like this? I can’t sign this! What am I going to do though? I would need a lawyer to look this over and I don’t have one.

But…I know one.

“When do I need to sign this?” I ask.

“By Saturday.” He says without looking at me.

That doesn’t give me much time, but I know for a fact if I ask Liam for help he won’t refuse. He and Diego are team Blue all the way, and right now I need the help. Why hadn’t I thought of him before? I think over how I’m going to get to Monica’s without anyone knowing. I can’t have Bryant or Dane reporting back to Artemis what I’m doing, but there is no way he will let me go anywhere without them. So I need to come up with a plan to ditch them. Thankfully I’ve had enough time in Seattle to have learned a few backroads and alleys I can sneak through to get where I need to go.

It's time for a prison break and this prisoner is going to be coming back with some serious backup! Game on Artemis Rhodes. Game on…