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“Did you have a good day?” Mason asked.
Small talk was not one of their specialties.
“Yeah, I spent most of the morning with David. Do you know if he is okay? He had to go to a doctor’s appointment. He told me everything was fine and I didn’t want to pry too much.”
“He told me it was a standard appointment. Blood work, annual checkup, that kind of thing. I’ll ask him if everything is okay when I see him.”
“Thank you,” she said. She told him about her day, and then realizing she had gone into great detail, she immediately apologized. “I’m sorry. You don’t need to know about the intricacies of tomato picking.”
“I don’t mind. It’s rather funny that you grabbed one a little too tightly and it popped out all the seeds.”
“Yeah, David did find that particularly funny too.” She couldn’t help but smile. “What about you? How was your day?”
Tamsin often tried to keep her distance, not ask too many questions, but today felt different. It was so strange that she wanted to talk to him, to connect, to open up. Maybe marriage was starting to get to her.
“My dad paid me a visit today,” he said.
This did make her tense up. Whenever his father paid a visit, it was always an awful experience. She knew it played on Mason a lot. He did what he could to protect her. She had a feeling it was his father’s presence that had caused him to spend a lot more time at home. He spent a lot of time working from his office, but it meant he was always close. Always there in case Paul decided to pay a visit.
“Is everything okay?”
“It’s fine, or it will be. Are you aware of any specific details your father negotiated about our wedding?” Mason asked.
Tamsin shook her head. “No.”
“I know you had the ability to sneak around, listening in on conversations without being caught.”
Tamsin smiled. “Yeah, I know, but I didn’t realize until too late what was going on. They must have negotiated somewhere else. Why?”
Mason pulled up at the restaurant and there was no time for him to respond as the maître d’ was there.
****
The restaurant was full, but there was always a table for Savonas, or at least Denton-Savonas. Tamsin hadn’t kept her Denton name. He knew that had upset her brothers, but Tamsin seemed a lot happier at the time for not keeping her maiden name. Mason picked up the menu and began to glance through it.
“You didn’t answer my question,” Tamsin said.
Mason knew asking Tamsin anything was cause for concern. She didn’t want to be in their marriage. He had all but blackmailed her to keep her safe. Mason didn’t want war with the Dentons. His father’s greed would have seen to it that that was exactly what would have happened.
He tried to keep the peace. Marriage was the only way between their two families.
“My father visited me today. It would appear the original negotiations between my father and yours put a time limit on this marriage.”
“It did?” Tamsin asked.
“Yes, as well as certain terms and conditions. If he’s even telling the truth.”
He watched as Tamsin sat back and then she frowned. “Why are you telling me this?”
Mason licked his lips. “I know our marriage was forced upon you.”
“You did what you had to do.”
“It was still … blackmail. My father is not a good man, and I am dealing with him.”
She shrugged. “You told me this two years ago. Are you going to tell me the terms?”
“Our marriage has three years. If you are not pregnant within those three years, we can terminate our contract, our marriage, and you will be free to pursue your own legacy.” He wanted to kill. The thought of any other man touching his wife filled him with an anger he didn’t want to think about.
