"She is my wife."

The words hit the air like a physical shockwave.

Liam and Janiyah Alford froze instantly, their eyes bulging.

Kassie's head snapped up. She stared at Jarrod's sharp jawline, her heart doing a violent flip in her chest. She opened her mouth to deny it, but Jarrod's fingers dug sharply into the soft flesh of her waist, a silent, painful command to keep her mouth shut.

Liam was the first to recover. He let out a loud, forced bark of laughter.

"Your wife?" Liam pointed a shaking finger at Kassie. "Her? She can't even afford her rent! You expect me to believe a guy wearing a Tom Ford suit married a charity case?"

Janiyah Alford crossed her arms, her eyes narrowing with vicious jealousy. "She obviously hired him, Liam. He's an actor. Or an escort. She probably maxed out her credit cards just to make you jealous."

Jarrod stared at them. The temperature in his eyes dropped to absolute zero.

He turned his head slightly, dipping his face down until his nose brushed against Kassie's hair. His lips hovered mere millimeters from her ear.

"Darling," Jarrod murmured, his voice dripping with dark, sensual amusement. "It seems they don't believe how deeply in love we are."

Kassie shivered violently. The heat of his breath against her sensitive skin sent a jolt of electricity straight down her spine. Her cheeks flushed a deep, furious crimson.

Jarrod lifted his head and looked dead at Liam.

"She ran the Brooklyn Marathon three years ago," Jarrod stated, his voice smooth and deadly, "finishing in exactly four hours and seventeen minutes, despite a hairline fracture in her left ankle."

Kassie gasped out loud. Her whole body went rigid, as if she had been struck by lightning.

That was a heavily buried piece of her medical history, something she had never told anyone, let alone her ex. Only someone with access to the most terrifyingly deep background checks would ever know that.

Liam's face went completely slack. The arrogant sneer melted off his face, replaced by pure, unadulterated shock.

Janiyah Alford's face turned an ugly shade of green. The jealousy burning in her eyes was now mixed with disbelief.

"Her favorite college elective wasn't Art History, like she told you to spare your fragile intellect," Jarrod continued, his tone conversational but utterly ruthless. "It was Ancient Greek History. And she despises the cheap Italian roast coffee you used to buy."

Every single detail was a sledgehammer smashing directly into Liam's fragile ego.

Liam's face turned pale, then red, then pale again. The realization hit him hard-this man knew Kassie on a fundamental, obsessively detailed level that Liam hadn't even bothered to scratch in years of dating.

Kassie was dying of embarrassment. Her face was burning so hot she felt dizzy. She knew she couldn't break the illusion now. She had no choice. She turned her face and buried it directly into the solid wall of Jarrod's chest, hiding her burning cheeks against his silk tie.

To Liam and Janiyah Alford, the gesture looked like pure, submissive devotion.

Janiyah Alford ground her teeth together. She glared at Kassie's cheap clothes, refusing to accept defeat. "So what if you sleep together?" she spat. "He's still just a gigolo. A real rich man wouldn't let his wife dress like a homeless person."

Liam grabbed onto that lifeline. His arrogance flared back up. "Exactly. You're nothing. I'm representing my firm tomorrow to buy the entire building this cafe is in. I'll have the security guards throw both of you out on the street!"

Jarrod didn't get angry. Instead, a look of pure, terrifying pity crossed his face.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a custom, encrypted black smartphone. He pressed a single button on the speed dial and lifted the phone to his ear.

"Buy this building," Jarrod commanded into the phone, his voice flat and devoid of emotion. "You have five minutes."

He hung up the phone and slipped it back into his pocket. He kept his arm wrapped securely around Kassie's waist, watching the two people across from him with the detached interest of a predator watching its prey.

Liam stared at him for a second before bursting into a fit of hysterical laughter.

"You're insane!" Liam yelled, pointing at Jarrod. "You watch too many Hollywood movies, buddy. You can't just buy a Manhattan high-rise in five minutes!"

Janiyah Alford giggled, leaning against Liam. "It's so pathetic. He's trying so hard."

Kassie's heart was hammering against her ribs. She reached up and nervously tugged at the sleeve of Jarrod's suit jacket. She was terrified this was going to escalate into a physical fight.

Jarrod felt her trembling fingers. He reached down, covering her small hand with his large, warm palm, giving it a firm squeeze. Watch, his silence commanded.

The minutes ticked by. The cafe remained dead silent. Liam smirked, pulling out his phone to call the building security.

Right as the fifth minute ended, a deafening roar of heavy engines shattered the quiet street outside.

Four massive, armored black Maybachs aggressively swerved onto the curb, completely blocking the street in front of the cafe.

Liam and Janiyah Alford's smiles vanished instantly. They stared out the window in absolute horror.

Over a dozen massive men in black suits, wearing earpieces, poured out of the vehicles. They moved with military precision, securing the perimeter.

Two bodyguards marched up to the cafe and shoved the heavy glass doors open, holding them wide.

A man in a sharp navy suit-Alex Kent, Jarrod's chief of staff-walked briskly into the room. He carried a leather folder tucked under his arm.

Alex completely ignored Liam and Janiyah Alford. He walked straight up to Jarrod and bowed deeply.

"Mr. Holt," Alex said, his voice echoing in the dead silent room. He held out the folder with both hands. "The deed has been transferred. The building is now legally yours."

Liam's knees literally buckled. He grabbed the edge of the table to stop himself from collapsing onto the floor.

He worked on Wall Street. He knew exactly what the name 'Holt' meant. It was the apex predator of the financial world. The Holt family could bankrupt his entire investment firm with a single phone call.

Janiyah Alford's face turned the color of ash. Her hands shook so violently that her limited-edition Birkin bag slipped from her fingers and crashed onto the floor.

Jarrod didn't even look at the folder. He raised his hand and pointed casually toward the VIP lounge area where Liam and Janiyah Alford had been sitting.

"The decor offends me," Jarrod said to Alex, his tone bored. "Smash it."

Alex didn't hesitate for a fraction of a second. He turned and gave a sharp hand signal to the bodyguards waiting by the door.

The men flooded into the cafe. They pulled heavy steel batons from their belts.

CRASH.

A bodyguard swung his baton, shattering a massive crystal chandelier into a thousand pieces. Another man drove his boot into the Italian leather sofa, ripping the material to shreds. Glass shattered. Wood splintered.

Janiyah Alford screamed in pure terror, covering her ears.

Liam fell to his knees, his mouth opening and closing like a dying fish as he watched the space he had just bragged about buying get violently, systematically destroyed.

Jarrod pulled Kassie firmly against his chest. He raised his large hands and covered her ears, shielding her from the deafening noise and the flying shards of glass.

When the destruction was complete, the cafe looked like a war zone.

Jarrod slowly walked over to where Liam was cowering on the floor. He looked down at the pathetic man.

"Tomorrow morning," Jarrod stated, his voice slicing through the dust-filled air, "your firm will fire you to prevent Holt Enterprises from pulling our accounts. You are finished."

Jarrod turned away. He wrapped his arm around Kassie's completely paralyzed body and guided her through the wreckage, walking out the door and into the waiting Maybach.

The heavy door of the Maybach slammed shut, sealing them inside. The car pulled smoothly away from the curb, merging into the chaotic Manhattan traffic.

Inside the cabin, it was dead silent. The soundproofing was absolute.

Kassie sat pressed against the far door, her knees pulled tightly together. Her mind was reeling, replaying the violent, chaotic destruction of the cafe over and over again. The sheer, unchecked power this man wielded was terrifying.

Jarrod reached forward and pressed a button on the center console. The thick, black privacy partition glided up, completely separating them from the driver and Alex in the front.

The enclosed space suddenly felt incredibly small. The air was thick with the scent of his cedar cologne.

Jarrod picked up the freshly printed prenuptial agreement from the leather armrest and dropped it onto Kassie's lap.

He turned his head to look at her. His dark eyes were completely unreadable.

"Now you see," Jarrod said, his voice low and calm. "Without my protection, people like that will tear you apart like hyenas."

Kassie's jaw tightened. She gripped the edge of the contract. "I don't need to depend on a man to survive."

Jarrod let out a harsh, mocking laugh. It was a cruel sound that stripped away all her defenses.

"You owe three hundred and fifty thousand dollars in medical school loans," Jarrod listed, his voice precise and lethal. "Your credit card bill is sixty days past due. And your uncle, Mitch, is currently negotiating to sell the only heirloom your dead mother left behind just to cover his gambling debts."

Kassie's face went completely white. Her stomach violently cramped.

All her pride, all her stubborn independence, shattered into a million pieces. He knew everything. He had completely dissected her life.

Jarrod reached over and flipped the pages of the contract, stopping at the compensation clause. He tapped his long finger against the bold numbers. "Look at it."

Kassie forced her eyes down.

One million dollars signing bonus upon legal registration of the marriage.

Full clearance of all existing debts.

Unlimited monthly allowance.

A five-million-dollar Manhattan penthouse and one hundred thousand dollars a month in alimony upon divorce after two years.

It was a staggering amount of money. For a girl struggling to buy groceries in Brooklyn, it was a magic wand that could fix her entire broken life.

Kassie swallowed hard, her throat painfully dry. Her rational mind screamed at her to run, but the crushing weight of her reality pinned her to the seat.

She looked up, meeting his intense gaze. "Why are you paying this much? Why me?"

Jarrod leaned back against the leather seat. "The trust fund requirements are archaic and strict. I need a woman with a clean background, no complex corporate ties, and someone my grandfather explicitly approves of. You fit the criteria."

He paused, his eyes narrowing slightly. "This is a business partnership. Nothing more. There will be no emotional entanglements."

Hearing the words "no emotional entanglements" actually made Kassie's chest loosen slightly.

She pointed a shaking finger at the bottom of the page. "I want an addendum. Absolutely no physical consummation of this marriage. No sex."

Jarrod's gaze slowly dropped from her eyes to her lips. He stared at her mouth for one long, agonizing second before his eyes flicked down to her oversized, worn-out sweater.

He let out a dismissive, calculated scoff. "Don't misunderstand, Doctor. This is purely a transactional arrangement. I have absolutely zero interest in tangling my personal life with a temporary business contract."

Kassie's cheeks flared hot with anger. She ground her teeth together, grabbed the cheap plastic pen from her tote bag, and flipped to the signature page.

Her hand shook as she pressed the pen to the paper. She took a deep, shuddering breath, and signed her name.

Jarrod watched the ink dry. The corner of his mouth twitched upward in a dark, victorious smirk.

He picked up the contract, handed her a brand-new encrypted smartphone, and ordered, "Call my grandfather. Now."