Free Bartered Passion: The Billionaire's Wife, Part 6 (A BDSM Erotic Romance) by Ava Lore Page A

nilly!"
    What was she tallking about? I glanced at Anton, but he was no help, and my father was staring at his hands folded in front of him.
    "What do you mean?" I asked.
    She shook a finger at me, just as if she were a school marm and I were a disobedient student. "You didn't even think, did you? Just decided to elope. That's no basis for marriage!"
    My mouth dropped and I had to force it closed. "Um," I said. I turned back to the cabinets and redoubled my efforts to find the kettle. Relief flooded me as I opened a door and brushed steel gleamed out at me. Grabbing it, I filled it at the sink and set it on the range before cranking up the heat and heading to the pantry.
    "Did you even think about your family?" my mom was saying. "Even think that we might want to come to your wedding?"
    The pantry was spare, but luckily I spotted a tin of Earl Grey hidden in a dark corner. "I don't know," I said, grabbing it. "It was a spur of the moment thing."
    "Of course it was," my mom said. "And I haven't even met him. You didn't want to bring him home to me?"
    No, not really. Because I knew she would act this way. Never marry rich, she'd told me. Marry a good man, if you get married at all. Don't be like me. Money makes things worse, not better. Not that that had ever stopped her from spending all my dad’s money...
    "I'm sorry," I said. "Mom, uh, meet Anton Waters. My husband."
    "Oh!" She threw her hands in the air, overcome with the drama of it all. "Oh, fine." She turned to Anton and somehow managed to look down her nose at him from her position at the kitchen table. It was impressive. "I am Felicia's mother, Selene Dare. It's good to make your acquaintance." She shot another glare at me. "And I'm sure Felicia thinks so, too."
    "Mom!"
    "What?" she said. "I checked your blog. You didn't mention him anywhere in it, and when I talked to Sadie she just hemmed and hawwed at me."
    "You talked to Sadie?" I said. "When?"
    "On our way over," she said. "From the airport."
    In the past thirty minutes, then. I was sure to have several frantic messages and at least five texts on my phone from Sadie warning me about the coming storm. But stupid me, I was getting ready to get fucked like a dog. I needed to get my priorities in order.
    "Well," I said, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but it really was a spur of the moment. We were going to have a wedding and everything—" I glanced at Anton, but he was busy trying to kill my mother with his mind. "—but we sort of... got swept up in the moment."
    My mother waved her hand. "I don't want to hear it," she said. "You have to think about other people once in a while, Felicia. You can't be so selfish!"
    I almost lost it, then. Almost told her that I'd married this guy for his money because she was sick and Dad was broke, but at the last second I caught myself. She wanted to keep her illness a secret, that was just fine with me. I'd do it for her. I'd save her life and she wouldn't even know it. I'd be like one of those dumb girls in fairytales.
    "I'm sorry," I said again. "But it's done."
    "It is not done," she said. "You are going to have a wedding. A proper one, for all our friends and family."
    I blinked. "Um," I said. "I guess. But... you know, you'd have to pay for it."
    She waved her hand. "Of course. I know we aren't as rich as your husband—" She spat the word like it was poison. "—but I'm sure we'll do very well for ourselves."
    I glanced at my father. His eyes were on me, huge and pleading.
    She didn't know. She didn't know he was broke.
    Well. Didn't that just take the cake? What kind of ridiculous drama was he trying to drag me into?
    I narrowed my eyes at him, promising him we'd Talk Later, then turned back to my mom. "All right, we'll have a wedding. But did you have to show up unnanounced?"
    She threw her hands in the air. "Would you have answered your phone if you'd seen me calling?" she asked.
    She probably had a point.
    "Well, Anton and I were going to go out to dinner," I began.
    "Oh?