Taken Love by KC Royale Page B

looked as if he was thinking too hard. When his eyes met mine again, they were teary.
    “We would lose it all, Kathleen.” He muttered.
    “All of what?” I asked. I continued to look at him, as confusion washed over me, I had no idea what he was talking about. But now I knew this was serious, because he looked as if he wanted to vomit. The panic, the anxiety, the fear all consumed him now. Johnathan Pierce was freaking out about something, something I didn’t know about. The truth hit me like a Mack truck… he was keeping a secret from me. I then felt his hands tighten around my shoulders, and I felt my nerves getting the best of me. The more time that passed, I was losing it. I was shaking, and tears continued to fall from my eyes, at what my husband had to literally muster up the strength to confess to me. I was waiting anxiously for him to continue, needing to know what was wrong, and how could I help make it all better. What did he need from me? What could I do? I couldn’t fix the problem if I didn’t know what it was, so he had to tell me. He had to tell me right now. I blinked at him and took a deep breathe, not being able to withstand another moment of this deafening silence from him. “All of what, JP, please tell me? What would we lose?” I asked again. He sighed, and swallowed, he took a deep breath, and his mouth parted.
    “The money.” He uttered, and I could see the shame in his features. I flinched my eyes, not fully understanding what he meant. He had a trust, and it’s for him, so how could he lose that?
    “I don’t understand what you mean. How could you lose something that was given to you?” I whimpered.
    “Yes, it was given to me, but it came with specific stipulations to gain access to it… and to keep that access.” He whispered, and I lowered my head, trying to breathe. I knew a little about trust fund stipulations from Blair’s, she complained all the time about her very limited access to hers all the time over the years. Blair’s trust had stipulations that required her to complete a minimal of five years of college at a law school. I never really asked him about his trust, or if there were any stipulations in his obtaining access to it. I mean why would I? When a lawyer hands you a check, and it clears, what more do you really need to know? I always assumed that he needed to graduate high school to gain half of his trust, but now as I think about it, while he gazes nervously at me, that assumption seems a little ridiculous and juvenile. Who gives a high school graduate access to ten million dollars?
    His parents were smart, and very successful in the financial markets, so they wouldn’t have been that crazy. They had died from a car accident years ago, and had already set up his trust, and the stipulations for access beforehand. Which had to be honored whether they were alive or dead, I presumed. I looked up, and found myself glaring at him, as the realization dawned on me that there was a catch to all this. “What were the stipulations, JP?” I asked him through clenched teeth, because I now knew I had something to do with it.
    “I had to get married first.” I gasped, and he shook his head at me, not believing how his own words sounded. “But ba—” I slapped him so hard my hand stung, and I cried out in pain.
    “You... you… ASSHOLE!” I screamed. I hopped off the bed, and he ran after me, grabbing my arms.
    “Baby, I love you. I didn’t marry you for the money.” He pleaded, as I started to hyperventilate. I couldn’t think straight. My world had stopped spinning, I was flabbergasted. As he shivered in panic while staring at me, waiting for me to say something. I felt as if I couldn’t put two sentences together, I was devastated.
    “You didn’t... tell me... this. You kept this... away... from me. You married me... to… inherit… your fortune.” I panted each word, talking to myself more so, than to him. If I thought he looked panicked before, after