Free Bartered Seduction: The Billionaire's Wife, Part 2 (A BDSM Erotic Romance) by Ava Lore Page A

strode forward with a warm smile to shake my hand, I had to make a concerted effort to smile while my brain screamed at me: It's a trap!
    "Hello, Ms. Dare, how are you this morning?" she said in a chipper voice. She looked like a librarian more than a lawyer. Iron-colored hair streaked with white was pulled back into an elaborate coiffure at the back of her head, and her bright dark eyes shone in her face.
    I paused to think. "Been better," I said truthfully.
    "But have you been worse?" she asked.
    I had to think about that, too. "Yes."
    "Then it's a good day," she said. "Now what can I do for you?"
    Wordlessly I held out the contract. "I need you to look over this for me. It's a contract. Or a prenuptial agreement. I'm not sure."
    If she had worn glasses, I'm sure she would have given me a sharp look over the top of them. "You don't?"
    I shrugged. "That's why you're the lawyer and I'm not," I said.
    "Your fiance didn't tell you which it was?"
    "He's not my fiance yet. He's just this guy that wants to marry me."
    Her eyebrows shot up. "And do you want to marry him?"
    "Not really," I told her. "But if I did it would solve a lot of problems."
    For a long moment she looked at me. I could practically hear what she was thinking, which was unsurprising because I had thought many of those things myself.
    Finally she gestured for me to sit down, and I did, sinking gratefully into one of the rich leather chairs in front of her desk. She sat across from me and began to thumb through the contract. The pages ruffled loudly in the quiet of the room, though through the thick windows of her office I could hear the city going about its business. My father had worked in New York all his life, but commuted from out of state. My mother currently lived in San Francisco. The sounds of the city were usually comforting to me, but as the silence between us stretched out longer and longer I began to wish I'd brought some headphones. I wouldn't even have to plug them into anything. Just stick one end in my pocket and pretend I didn't care about how this ridiculous contract made me look. Pretend I didn't care about anything. I tried to ignore the few times she cleared her throat and looked at me, opting to study the law tomes lining her walls, which were just as dull as I thought they would be.
    At last she set the contract down and folded her hands in front of her. She appeared to be searching for words. My stomach, still on the mend from the abuse I'd put it through last night, clenched, and I tried to shrink into my clothes.
    "Miss Dare," she said at last, "I haven't ever quite seen a contract like this. I can only assume your reasons for considering it are good ones, but it is my professional opinion that this contract is not legally binding."
    I sat up. "So... that's like a loophole, right? I can sign it and get married and then divorce him?"
    Her lips twisted, and I knew her answer wasn't going to be quite that simple. "The problem, you see, is that it is a prenuptial agreement in the strictest sense. If you choose to divorce Mr. Waters for any reason, you will get nothing. That he wishes you to, ah, allow him certain liberties and wishes to codify them into a contract, then he may choose to terminate the marriage if you do not agree." A frown creased her face, traveling along well-worn lines. "Sexual provisions in prenuptial agreements cannot be enforced, as the refusal of one spouse would render said sexual interaction as rape rather than consensual sex, and the law cannot condone nor enforce rape. This clause would be found invalid in a court of law, should Mr. Waters choose to sue you."
    I felt the last shred of hope slipping through my fingers. "But... wouldn't that invalidate the whole contract?" I asked plaintively.
    Ms. Gray sighed. "I'm afraid not. There is a severablity clause included. Should one part of the contract be rendered invalid, it will be removed, but the contract is still valid. Therefore, should you choose to sign this