Ruby St. Clair's POV

Two days after I came home I cooked breakfast in my twin sister's fabulous kitchen while Emerald slouched on the living room sofa reading a novel. I shook my head in resignation, my twin has a state-of-the-art kitchen yet she never even once opened her kitchen burner.

At sixteen, Emerald had a history of nearly burning our family's home to the ground. She volunteered to cook for our breakfast one morning and for some reason, the fire started in our kitchen. The housekeepers since then had banned her from the kitchen. I was fairly amused that it's been years since she moved in here and her housekeeper had somehow known to forbid her in her kitchen.

"You want some help, sis?" My twin's voice floated from the living room.

"No," I called back, flipping the pancakes with such efficiency. "You know something bad will happen when you enter the kitchen."

"I've told you there's something wrong at the burner that day!" I grinned at the fierce denial of Emerald. Ever since that day she always claimed that something was wrong in our kitchen.

I put the mixture on the pan again, concentrating on cooking pancakes. Living alone in aboard for years had taught me basic things such as doing my laundry and living in a cheap class apartment. I also studied culinary arts in France for four years before wandering for another two years around the world. I like the way my life is now, the way I can go to another country whenever I want and meet different kinds of people.

After the last mixture was placed on the pan, I got the blueberries and raspberries from the fridge with maple syrup. I also arranged the table while Emerald was still in the living room. My twin couldn't even set the table of her own. I bet everything in her penthouse was bought by her interior decorator. She didn't even know where her utensils were located. I would pity the man she'll marry in the future. He picked the only woman in the world who couldn't cook to feed herself.

"Food is ready, Em!" I said from the dining room, putting the finishing touches on the table arrangement.

"Ah, sis..." Emerald said from the living room. "You might want to come here first. There's a slight problem. I think you're the only one who can solve this mystery."

I frowned at her words. What could my twin sister want to show me in the living room? I removed my apron and went to the living room to find out myself. My heart nearly stopped beating from my chest when I noticed that a man was standing in front of Emerald.

No!

It couldn't be...

My brain refused to acknowledge the fact that I knew those smoky grey eyes who had been studying my twin then his attention slid to me. I could see the disdain on his face.

He looked like a very much pissed beast.

I swallowed hard, this was just a dream--no, a nightmare. He couldn't be here. I had made sure to leave no trace of my whereabouts. Hell, I would bet he didn't even know my real name, for heaven's sake! So why he was standing in front of me now? I asked myself silently, as I looked at the man who was so angry.

"Ruby..." Emerald broke the painful silence, looking from the exasperated stranger and then back to me. "He was looking for a woman named 'Red' I believed there was some misunderstanding here."

I let my gaze trailed back to the very pissed Spaniard who was looking at me with such cold eyes. I looked at my twin sister and smiled warily in her direction. "Uh, Em...w-would you give us a moment, please?"

My overprotective twin didn't look convinced about leaving me alone with him. I could see questions in her million-dollar face. "You sure?"

"Yes." I nodded, taking a deep breath. He would not hurt me, I reminded myself. Even though his eyes were like hell frost right this moment. I could manage him. If I would just explain the details and the mistake I made when I agreed to marry him I'm sure this little hitch would be settled in no time.

Giving the man one last lingering glance, Emerald sent me a look before she went to the stairs to her bedroom to give us some privacy.

"H-how did you find me?" I asked him casually, once we were left alone in the state-of-the-art living room of my twin sister.

"Hello, mi amor. Are you surprised to see me?" He said the same words he'd said to me when we first met in the small restaurant where I'd been working as a waitress about two weeks ago. His mouth held a grim smile as he studied me.

"How did you find me?" I repeated my question more firmly this time. I still reeled at the fact that he was here--in New York--in front of me.

"Really, mi corazón." He stepped closer towards me, towering over me from his advanced height of six-foot-two frame. "You believe I will not find you?"

"Uh..." I was lost for words. I arrogantly thought that Roman Vasquez would never find me. My relief when I left Spain only lasted forty-eight hours before the secrets I had kept from my family about my trips abroad would surely be revealed.

"Do you think that I would allow my wife to run away?"

I blanched at his words. Just like that, all the memories of the past two weeks before I decided to go back home riot inside my head.

His wife--he said.

My brain repeated the words over and over. Because whether I wanted to deny it with all I had, I cannot change the fact that I am his legal wife.

Two weeks ago, I married him at a civil ceremony in Seville. Two weeks ago, I lived with him and played as his wife for the sake of his mother. Two weeks ago, my life turned upside down...But most of all, two weeks ago, I became Ruby St. Clair-Vasquez. There's so much that happened to me two weeks ago than the whole six years of my stay abroad.

I was now the wife of the billionaire shipping magnate, Roman Alejandro Vasquez, one of the most powerful and richest men in Spain. And the thought scared the hell out of me. Why did I permit myself to get tangled with the likes of him in the first place? Desperate to find a new work, the voice inside my head supplied for me. Yes, that must be it. Because there's no way I would agree to marry him in the first place.

"Let's have it, Red." I mentally winced, when he emphasized the name I had been using for the past six years. The same name I gave him when we first met. "Why did you leave Seville without notice?"

I looked away from his intense grey eyes, those eyes that could almost see all your secrets from their depth. "Uh..." What should I suppose to say? "...my grandfather held a charity ball so I decided to come and support him." I lied through my teeth.

"Without your husband?" He asked in disbelief, his piercing eyes still fixed on me. I don't think I like the way he stared at me with those eyes. "You think it's not important to bring your husband to meet your family?"

"You are not my husband."

Something dark and callous crossed his handsome face, and I nearly shrank back. "Not your husband, Red?" He gripped my upper arm and stared into my eyes coldly. He's intimidating when he wants to. I sorely regret my moment of insanity when I ask for his freaking help. "As far as anyone is concerned you are my wife, Red."

I scowled back at his glaring face. I would not let him have the satisfaction of threatening me inside of my twin sister's penthouse. "Stop intimidating me."

His eyes were wintry while looking straight into my face. "I'm not intimidating you." He paused for a moment before speaking again. "Does Red is even your real name?"

I looked away. Trying to remove my arm from his strong grip but failed miserably. "No. My real name is Ruby but I've not been using my real name for the past six years. I've been known as Red now."

He snorted, as he shook his head in disbelief. I could still see the disdain in his smoky eyes as he looked at me. As if, it was my fault that he didn't even know my real name. "I can't believe that I didn't even know my wife's real name."

"It's written in our marriage license if you bother to read it before you sign, you must know," I told him matter-of-factly, ignoring the loud pounding of my heart in my chest. "By the way, you promised to set me free after three months, Roman." I reminded him, pulling my arms from his dead grip, this time he released me. "Once those months are up I'm seeking for divorce it's on our prenup."

His hands sneaked around my waist and drew me closer to him. My breath was caught by the unexpected gesture. "But those months are not up yet, my sweet. You are still mine."

"I've never been yours," I said stubbornly, as the pounding in my chest intensified I could swear that he could almost hear it.

He smiled voraciously as his lips grazed to my ear and he whispered the words that bind me to him. I mentally winced when I heard the words that came from his mouth. "You are mine, mi amor. Mine alone."

I glared at him hotly as I pushed him away as far as I could away from me. I'm Ruby St. Clair I would not be easily cowed by this man. I would not let him have the upper hand here. It's time to fight him. "You are hallucinating yourself here, sir. I am not your property."

"You want to try and find it out, my darling?" He asked in a seductive tone that made me shiver. "There's a piece of paper saying that you are mine, Red. Do you want to still deny the fact, mi esposa?"

"Not for long, Roman," I replied to him with a glare in my eyes. How on earth did he find me here in New York so fast? I swore he had a connection with the devil himself. I underestimated him when I left I thought he would never find me.

He grinned evilly in my direction. "We shall see, darling."