King's Treasure (Oil Kings Book 3) by Marie Johnston (great novels .TXT) 📗

No, I’d only married one of the few people in the world that the Chief would approve of.

Way to go, Savvy.

Chief’s collar around my neck would stay secure until he landed the King Oil account. And then he’d yank it even tighter. Last night, Xander’s world travels had sounded exotic, worldly, and full of all the adventure that’d bring me closer to the planet I was trying to save. But under the harsh casino lights today, our future looked bleak and uncertain.

I didn’t have a home. He didn’t have a home either, and the way he’d evaded his father’s questions, it didn’t sound like he planned to make one anywhere close to Montana. That left my side of the country. With my parents. With Chief parading me and Xander around so he could show all his friends how his daughter had married into an oil empire.

We could make our own start somewhere. Which was what? Flying across the ocean and backpacking the world? While I would love the opportunity, I wanted to make a difference in the world. To carve out my own little niche. I’d thought Vegas was the start of that. I thought I’d land King Oil and become a leading consultant in future energy technologies. Now I’d torched that. I was tired of needing my hand held while I navigated life. If I was going to recover my dignity and build a professional reputation, I had to be responsible. That might mean sucking it up and working for Chief and saving money. My own money. Money I could use to build my future. A future that I’d earned and hadn’t been handed to me because of who I slept with. My family’s wealth was held against me. I risked that working for Chief too, but at least I’d know I’d earned every cent. He was a demanding boss.

“Savvy. Talk to me.”

I dragged my gaze up to Xander and his dark eyes, just one reason why looking at him was a bad idea. He was too good-looking for my sanity. And then there was last night.

My body certainly wasn’t on board with researching how to annul a marriage. I couldn’t even consider whether a divorce would be better or worse while he was in my line of sight. I just wanted to be with him again and pretend our life was wide open and easy to navigate.

I had to be smart about this, to think through the repercussions. “We can’t stay married.”

His concerned expression fell. “Because of who my dad is?”

As callous as it sounded, yes. “Xander, I got married thinking it’d be the big coup I needed to keep my parents from taking over my life. Chief’s going to double down on making me his prize pony. Even if he does get the King Oil deal, he’ll want to lock it down long-term, and having me work for him will do that.”

“Then job hunt.”

“Where? Here? All the money I have, I got from Chief.” My mother’s family was loaded, but Chief made a healthy income of his own and he was the one that helped me out. It had been Mother’s idea to call my Georgetown bluff and withhold any help for college. I’d be living in a dive with four roommates like Brady, one missed rent payment away from homeless, if it were up to my mother.

He lifted a shoulder and while I loved the casual look on him, his hoodie hid his muscles. Ones I’d licked last night. “Chief wants me to meet the family.”

“And you think you want that?” My sisters were going to worm their way down my throat trying to get the answer to why I’d married him. Then they’d say I told you so and it wouldn’t matter that they hadn’t said it in the first place.

“What do you want, Savvy?” he asked quietly and I realized that he’d never agreed with me about the divorce. Was that good or bad?

If he announced that he’d do whatever it took to dissolve our marriage, how would I feel?

I’d been broken up with before, but being casually divorced by my husband of less than twenty-four hours would seriously dent my ego. I couldn’t even blame it on him being a gold digger.

“I don’t know,” I finally admitted. “I went to college and got a degree in something my parents thought was a waste of time. The first job I got out of college didn’t pay enough for me to move out. Now I’m married and unemployed. I wanted to stand on my own, make a difference, Xander. Instead, I’m more dependent on my father than ever.” My globe-wandering, struggling photographer of a husband was from a wealthier family than I was. I couldn’t even rebel right.

He studied me for a moment. My body heated more with each heartbeat. Sex was the last thing on my mind, but my hormones weren’t getting the message.

“I’ve been meaning to go to Kosovo,” he said. “There’s an interpreter I met once in Macedonia when he was there for the military, Hector Morales. He lives in Kosovo now and said I could come stay with him and his wife anytime. We could both go, get to know each other before we decide what to do with our lives.”

What had he said to Chief? More remote regions, less popular if you will. He wasn’t kidding. “What would we do there?”

“I always start by finding work. Usually some simple labor to pay for food and a place to stay.”

“You’re not going because your pictures are the work?”

His jaw clenched and his gaze dropped. Last night, his experiences had been catnip to my sheltered self. A starving artist making his way in the world. But he wasn’t starving—he was a King. So where was the artist part? “I wasn’t lying when I told you that I wanted to be independent from my family and that I’d