Chapter 2

• Chapter 2
• Valerie's vision blurred with a fresh onslaught of tears as she fled blindly from the courthouse. The imposing granite steps leading to the street beckoned, offering escape from the prying eyes and hushed murmurings surrounding her shame.
• She hitched up the soiled lace of her gown and hastened her steps, anxious to put as much distance between herself and this nightmarish day. So focused on her turmoil, she failed to notice the tall, broad-shouldered figure ascending the steps until it was too late.
• With a muffled cry of surprise, Valerie slammed into an immovable object - or rather, someone's rock-solid chest. The force of the impact sent her stumbling back, arms pinwheeling as she fought for balance in her precarious heels.
• Just as she braced herself for a painful tumble onto the unforgiving steps, twin vise-like grips encircled her slender forearms, steadying her with effortless strength. Valerie froze, scarcely daring to draw breath as her wide, mascara-smudged eyes traveled up...up...up to clash with a piercing jade stare.
• The man was easily over six feet of sheer, intimidating masculinity. Raven hair was cropped close in an austere cut that framed chiseled features rendered in sharp, rugged angles - a harsh slash of ebony brows, high cheekbones that could have been sculpted from granite, and a jaw so squarely cut it could have put industrial machinery to shame.
• Yet for all his starkly carved, almost severe beauty, there was an underlying intensity that threatened to scorch her where she stood. As if he harbored fathomless fathoms of secrets and power lurking behind that penetrating emerald gaze.
• Valerie felt herself flushing beneath his domineering appraisal, heat crawling up the back of her neck as those emerald eyes coolly raked over every inch of her. From her tousled chignon and smudged makeup, to the ripped skirt of her crumpled gown.
• She realized then what a pitiful, disheveled sight she must present to this stranger - a hysterical, tear-stained bride fleeing what should have been her happy wedding.
• Humiliation blazed through her and she swiftly averted her gaze, a violent tremor wracking her slender frame. The man's steely grips on her arms prevented further retreat but didn't tighten painfully. Still, she sensed an undercurrent of sheer, leashed power just waiting to be unleashed.
• "I...I'm so sorry," she managed in a tremulous whisper, unable to meet his intense stare. "Please, excuse me."
• She tried to tug free but his holds stayed unrelentingly firm, rendering her fully in his thrall. When he finally spoke, his deep baritone was as implacable as granite.
• "Running off in that condition would be unwise." It was not a request but a blunt statement of fact.
• The faintest shiver traced her spine at the quiet authority lurking in those words. As if she should obey without question or suffer the consequences.
• When she dared sneak another peek at his expression, his striking features were an inscrutable mask devoid of pity or censure. Only that scorching green gaze remained, boring into her with unsettling perception.
• "I'm f-fine," she lied in a small voice, wishing she could simply dissolve into the concrete at her feet. "I don't need...any help."
• Another blatant falsehood - she'd never felt more lost and alone than she did right then. But confiding in this intimidating stranger was out of the question. She needed to regain her tattered shreds of composure and pride, not unravel further before his unreadable stare.
• When she tugged again, the twin bars of steel around her forearms fell away with no resistance. Valerie quickly backed up a step, startled by the abrupt release yet oddly bereft of his solid, anchoring presence.
• "I should go," she mumbled awkwardly, fighting the urge to flee and never look back. Yet some unnamed compulsion held her paralyzed beneath his watchful regard.
• One of those brooding brows arched infinitesimally. "Indeed."
• His tone remained impassive but carried the barest hint of a challenge, as if daring her to elaborate on the circumstances behind her bridal disarray. Irrational warmth bloomed in Valerie's cheeks and she quickly ducked her chin, shielding herself from that scorching emerald stare.
• Valerie felt her steps slowing as the stranger's gravelly words washed over her. "You know you can always get back at those who hurt you in so many ways."
• She pivoted slowly, blinking at him in bewilderment. Did he truly think vengeance was the solution to her broken heart? Before she could formulate a response, a bitter chuckle bubbled up her throat.
• "Unless you can marry me here and now, maybe I would feel slightly better," she muttered, more to herself than him. A pitiful attempt at gallows humor to mask her utter desolation.
• To her astonishment, the man didn't so much as crack a smile at her sardonic quip. He simply pinned her with that penetrating jade stare, expression utterly inscrutable.
• "I can never deny a beautiful lady like you," he stated in that unruffled baritone. "Let's go in and get married."
• The words hung in the charged air between them as Valerie's jaw went slack. Had she heard him correctly? Surely he wasn't being serious...
• "That was a lousy joke," she stammered at last, heat creeping up her neck. "Sorry for wasting your time."
• "I always take things seriously." His tone remained even, unflinchingly solemn. "It has gotten me very far. So are you coming or not?"
• Valerie could only gape at the severe angles of his chiseled features, rendered even more harsh and unyielding by the stern set of his jaw. There wasn't a glimmer of teasing or humor in those hooded emerald eyes. He was utterly earnest in his outrageous offer.
• Her mind whirled in a tempest of indecision. On one hand, the very idea of marrying a complete stranger surely ranked among the most reckless, farfetched notions. They knew nothing about each other beyond his devastating good looks and her spectacular bad luck.
• Yet...a tendril of intrigue began worming its way beneath her sensibilities. If she did go through with this mad scheme, she could salvage some semblance of dignity. Maintain her claim to her inheritance rather than losing everything to her grasping stepfamily's greed.
• And though it shamed her to admit, even to herself...wouldn't it be deliciously gratifying to appear to David as another man's wife? To see the crushed look on his face when karma finally caught up to his cruelty?
• Valerie worried her plump lower lip, indecision warring with temptation's siren call. Taking a fortifying breath, she met the stranger's watchful stare head on.
• "Are you sure?" The words emerged in a breathless murmur, more plea than question.
• His answer was immediate and unwavering. "Yes."
• A terse nod punctuated the simple affirmation, and just like that...her mindspun towards the unthinkable. With a resolute sigh, Valerie forced her trembling limbs to carry her back towards him, her delicate hand slipping into his much larger one.
• His fingers closed around hers in a firm, scorching clasp, yet she couldn't summon an ounce of hesitation or fear. There was something about this formidable, mysterious stranger that commanded absolute trust and certainty.
• Which is why, as she followed him through the looming courthouse doors to unwittingly alter the course of her destiny, she never once looked back.