Chapter 41

**Artemis**


After I all but push my lawyer out of my office Blue and I are alone again. There is an awkward tension in the air now that I’m not sure how to break. This, feeling tension between me and someone else, is very new. I may be older in year to Blue but I am as experienced as she is in relationships. It sounds pathetic given my age but this unfamiliar territory and I’ve been fucking things up a lot so far.

“Well, that didn’t go as expected.” Blue says finally.

I quirk my head and look her over. “You mean you expected another outcome by ambushing me with this meeting?”

She drops her head and starts to fidget with her fingers.

Shit. I meant it as a tease, but she looks like a scolded child right now.

“Blue, I’m sorry. I was messing around. I’m not upset about the lawyer thing. Although I truly hate that bastard lawyer of yours and am considering a hitman to deal with that issue.”

“Artemis!”

I laugh at the fear and disbelief in her eyes. When she sees my smile, she shakes her head and drops down in one of the chairs like her bones are made of rubber.

“Who knew getting married is so stressful. I will never do it again.” She says dropping her head back and looking up at the ceiling.

My eyes follow a line down her neck and stop at the small amount of shoulder showing from her sweater being too big. The damn thing is so oversized that it’s drowning her. I can’t make out a single thing because of it and I don’t like it. Maybe I should convince her to order more form fitting stuff.

Wait…what does she mean she’ll never do it again? Why would she be thinking that? Didn’t we talk about divorce? Is she trying to goad me? I can’t tell. I walk up behind her and look down at her.

“What do you mean? Why would you be thinking about getting married again? I won’t let you divorce me, so there is no reason for that thought to be in your mind.”

She smiles. “What if I had an affair?”

I see red. “Who the fuck are you planning on having an affair with Blue? That asshole lawyer? I thought you said there was nothing between you but the way he acted tells another story.”

She sighs and sits up straight. I walked around and lean against my desk so she can’t hide from me.

“There isn’t anything, but Liam is bisexual. He asked me to be in a poly relationship with him and his partner Diego before. At first, I thought it was just a joke, but they brought it up several times. I finally had to tell them I wasn’t interested but they still act like maybe I’ll change my mind.”

She said there was nothing! I want to yell at her and storm off to kick that bastard’s ass, but I hold it back. If I keep blowing up like that things won’t go well between us.

“Clearly, he isn’t over your rejection. Stay away from him Blue, I mean it.”

She looks at me, but I don’t see a hint of any defiance. Instead, she nods in agreement.

“You’re right. He’s clearly gotten the wrong idea. He must have still been hoping I would change my mind.” She drops her head in her hands and lets out a long breath. “How am I going to fac everyone when he tells them what happened today? Diego is going to hate me.”

Why does that matter?

“Who cares what those people think? You didn’t do anything wrong. He was the one who had expectations and it didn’t go his way so he’s having a tantrum. If your friends don’t understand, then good riddance.”

She drops her hands and looks at me. “That’s easy for you to say. I have no other friends in this world, Artemis. They were the only people who were truly kind to me and wanted to help me. I don’t want to lose that.”

I wish I could understand why this would upset her, but I don’t care about those sorts of things. My mind works in a different way. I make links with people who can be useful to me and don’t associate with them outside of that role they play. Even Blue plays a specific role in my life. Her role is as my partner in life outside of everything else. She’s my person now, and everyone else doesn’t matter.

Not that many people did to begin with. Alan calls me a friend but I’m sure he considers friendship to be more than what we share, and yet he never leaves. I have yet to figure out what that’s about. As far as I can tell I’ve never encouraged the friendship between us, but he doesn’t give up. I endure him because he can be useful to me.

Blue isn’t like me though. I have to learn to remember that.

“If you explain maybe they’ll understand.” I throw out there because it sounds like the right thing to say.

“You think?”

I want to be honest and say I don’t know but I keep that to myself.

“I do.”

She smiles at me, and I feel a little sick to my stomach.

“I just want to forget about all that for now. Your lawyer mentioned a prenup. What’s in it that I should know about?”

I don’t want to talk about legal stuff anymore, but I guess she deserves to know.

“I set aside a large amount of money to you in case anything should happen to me. Also the majority of my shares in the company with a small amount being left to Alan. My estate will also pass to you. In short upon my death, you will get everything.”

Her eyes are bugged out and her mouth has dropped open. It’s an amusing look on her but why is she so surprised? I never once said she would not be taken care of if anything happened to me. I am not about to leave anything to my family, and I don’t have any children yet. If we do then they will also receive a large amount of money that will be managed by Blue until they reach the age of twenty-one.

“Artemis…are you crazy? You can’t leave me everything! Are you crazy?” She stands and starts to pace behind the chair she was just sitting in. “Why did you tell me this? Now if anything happens to you people will think I did it! They’ll send me to jail with no trial! The spouse is always the first suspect right? Oh god! I’m a gold digging husband murderer!”

I can’t help but laugh at her babbling. It must be one of the best things to witness. It’s as if she has to say everything she’s thinking, or she’ll burst.

“Don’t laugh Artemis! This is serious!” She says with a whine which only makes me want to laugh more.

I do my best to keep it locked down though and walk over to where she’s finally stopped pacing. She watches me until I’m standing in front of her and has to tilt her head back to look up at me. My fingers itch to touch her but I agreed to no physical touch without consent, so I clench my hands into fists instead.

“First of all, you probably should be yelling about being a husband killer. These walls aren’t completely soundproof.” Something I’ll need to remember for the future. “Secondly, I’m leaving you everything because I know you won’t squander it. You would appreciate it and take care of things like I would. You would do that because you know how hard I’ve worked for it. Also, I wouldn’t leave the mother of my children penniless.”

She growls in frustration. “Don’t you dare die! Or I’ll end up in jail and curse you for the rest of my days. Then I’ll hunt you down in the afterlife and yell at you for eternity. Got it?”

Her finger is pointed at me in accusation so I reach out and wrap my hand around it.

“I can’t promise to live forever, but I’ll do my best. How’s that?”

She lets out a huff. “Fine, but I mean it about torturing you for eternity. Your ass is mine!”

I tug her by the finger until she stumbles into me. “I look forward to it.”

Her free hand is resting on my chest, but she isn’t pushing me away yet.

“Blue?”

Her throat bobs which catches my attention and my eyes follow the lines of her neck and I can see her pulse racing. I release her and let my fingertips brush along the side of her neck.

“What are you doing?” Blue asks in a breathless voice.

“Your heart is racing. Why?”

She shivers when I draw a line from her neck down to her shoulder.

“You’re really close.” she says before clearing her throat.

“Should I stop?” I ask because I promised not to do anything too intimate without asking permission.

“You haven’t said what it is your doing.” She says with a weak laugh.

“I’m planning on kissing you. Do you consent?”