Emerald St. Clair's POV

"Your husband is waiting downstairs, Ru." I grinned devilishly, watching my twin sister pack her things. I couldn't help but tease her about it. I leaned on the doorway watching her with amusement. I knew this thing would happen the day I learned that he was Ruby's husband. He would want his wife to stay with him under his roof.

"Stop jesting, will you?" Ruby scowled at me squarely. "I can't do anything about it. If I refuse to live with him chances are—he will tell Granddad that he's my husband and stop posing in that freaking doorway like you are in a photoshoot."

I laughed merrily, making sure that my amusement would hit some nerve in her. "Gosh, such a hot-headed woman that you are."

"You don't understand what I feel right now, Em," Ruby answered passionately, placing her clothes inside the luggage with such fervor. "I will be trapped in my marriage with him if Daniel learns anything about this. He will make sure of that and that's the end of me."

I smirked at her. "Such dilemma you have there, Red," I said without even a hint of sympathy in my voice. "Marrying a stranger within days of meeting him and then running away from him, surely you expect him to follow you, correct?"

"Not really." She mumbled under her breath.

"Such juicy little tale for Granddad, Ruby," I told her evilly. "You know our family creed, sis. 'A St. Clair never backs out on a promise'. So you are honor-bound to keep your promise to that Spanish man whether you like it or not."

Ruby shut her suitcase and glared at me vehemently. "Emerald St. Clair." She warned hotly. "If you breathe a word to granddad or to any other living person that I'm married to Roman Vasquez, I will kill you. Do we understand one another?"

"Go ahead and try, Señora Vasquez." I raised an eyebrow in her direction. "Let's see who will have the last laugh. At least, before my demise, I already blurted to Granddad your delicious little secret."

"Emerald!"

I detached myself from the door frame and laughed while walking away from Ruby's room. "Get moving, sis. We don't want your husband waiting far too long for you. Make it fast, okay?" I repeated as I moved away from her room. "While saying goodbye to your room, I will entertain your husband downstairs."

I slowly descended from the modern staircase of my penthouse. I regarded the man who patiently waiting for my twin sister in the receiving room.

My twin sister knew how to pick a handsome man for a husband, I mused silently, as I silently studied the man patiently waiting in my living room.

"Hello," I greeted with a ready smile on my face as my brother-in-law stood from the white sofa when he caught a glimpse of me. "We haven't been properly introduced." I extended my hand towards the gorgeous Spaniard's direction. "Since my twin sister is still in her state of shock at the turn of events in her life I will introduce myself to you, brother-in-law. Ruby finally told me about your relationship. Emerald St. Clair, you are?"

He took the offered hand and shook it briefly. "Roman Vasquez. Nice to meet you, Emerald. Sorry, I didn't introduce myself formally to you last time."

"Oh, believed me..." I replied with enthusiasm in my voice while eyeing Ruby's secret husband. "...I'm very interested to meet you since you barge here in my penthouse looking for my twin sister."

Color slightly crept into his handsome face. He looked away at the knowing gaze of Emerald. "Er, sorry for that day I'm very rude."

"That is fine, brother," I answered cheerfully. Maybe it's not bad for my twin sister to have his man as her husband. It seems that he was the one Ruby was waiting for in her life. Since our parents' tragic death, she's never been the same. "I used to be called 'Ruby' at least ten times a day during high school. So I'm pretty much used to it."

He smiled a little. "I couldn't disagree. But there's something about the two of you that is unlikely so I knew you weren't my wife when we first met."

I nodded with great amusement on my face. "I'm quite impressed only a few people can distinguish who is who between me and Ruby. Rest assured, as long as you promise that you will take good care of my sister I will be fine with you as her husband."

"I will take good care of your twin sister, I assure you." He told me straight in the eyes. From what I saw in his eyes I know he would keep his promise in taking good care of my rebellious twin sister.

I smiled ruefully at him staring straight into his eyes. "She's somewhat slippery and handful. She's known for being a rebel and out of control sometimes. But once you find the doorway to her heart you'll see her soft side."

"I know that." He returned the smile.

"What's with the whispered conversation all about?" I looked at the glass staircase of my penthouse and smiled at Ruby's disapproving gaze.

"Good thing that you're finally here, sis," I told her with a pleasant smile. "Your husband had enough of my chilling warning that if hurt you, he would die in my hands, isn't that right?" I glanced at my brother-in-law with a wink. "I hope you heed my warning, Mister."

"Of course," He replied with a twinkle in his grey eyes. "Rest assured that your warning is duly noted, Señorita."

"Very well."

My twin sister rolled her eyes as she stood at the foot of the staircase with her luggage. "I can take good care of myself, thank you very much for keeping that in mind. I am not some sort of fragile thing that needs to be protected by anyone."

See what I told you about? I informed her husband silently. Roman Vasquez hid his smile silently looking at me.

"Go now," I informed the two with a devilish grin on my face. "Be sure to give me a niece or nephew to fret as soon as possible, all right? I know you can fulfill my wish in no time."

As I hugged Ruby I couldn't help the smile slipping in my face the way her eyes glared acidly in my direction. She might not be aware of it yet but she's good as defeated in our battle with Granddad. Only the three of us can continue our war with Daniel's sly scheme of matchmaking. My twin sister had already surrendered the field before she even came back to New York.

I only hope that Granddad learns about this delicious secret of Ruby. He would stop his meddling with the rest of us and be satisfied with having one married granddaughter. He would let his remaining three granddaughters live their lives the way they want it.

"Remember what we talked about, Em," Ruby warned me softly while hugging me before they left. "Breath a word to any other living soul about this and I will kill you."

I smiled a little. "Have some faith, sis."

I drew back with a completely innocent face. I noticed that her husband had already taken Ruby's luggage in his hand waiting for us. As my twin sister reluctantly walked away from my living room towards the door with her husband I waited for them to disappear from the elevator before dialing my sisters' number. "It's confirmed," I said when the two of them answered my phone call in a three-way phone conversation. "The man who visited Granddad is Roman Vasquez and he is our dear sister's secret husband."

Ruby St. Clair's POV

"What's with the silence, mi amor?" Roman asked casually while we were trapped inside his car. "Do I need to feel scared about it?"

I gazed sightlessly in my window, watching the New Yorker walk in the chilly weather. "Do you have reason to be scared?"

"Not that I am aware of." He answered glibly. From the reflection of the tinted window, I could see the private smile slipping on his face. My eyes narrowed slightly. I was not sure but it felt like I was dancing to someone else tune these past few days. My instinct told me that I was correct but my thoughts looked absurd. I am the type of woman who couldn't be outwitted by another human being I intend to know if my instincts had been correct. "Your twin sister is such a nice person." He commented, dragging me out of my reverie.

I couldn't help but look in his direction. "What makes you say that? Did she tell you anything?"

"Relax," He said with a rakish smile, glancing at me briefly before he settled back his eyes on the road. "She didn't say anything that she shouldn't say to your husband, Red. But I had a good chat with her while waiting for you."

"I sincerely hope that she heed my warning," I muttered under my breath. I didn't know that in the past six years of my in New York City my sensible twin sister had become devious. The only reason I told everything to Emerald was that I thought she would keep my secret. My little secret was on the brink of splashing in the entire state of New York at any moment.

I didn't know who I wanted to kill first—Roman, who followed me here in New York—myself for spilling the truth to Emerald or my beloved twin who can't stop teasing me about my marriage?

I have no idea how to fix this mess I first created back in Spain when momentary insanity took over my brain. I just hope that everything will be all right and that my grandfather will not hear anything from this crazy situation until the three months are up.

"What's wrong?" Roman asked when silence filled his car again. "You keep making scary faces. I am thankful that my car's windows are tinted or children outside would be scared of you, wife."

I glared at him vehemently. "You think you're so witty with your sarcastic remark, aren't you? Well, sad to say you are just annoying, Roman."

I heard him sigh deeply. "Then why are you so prickly, Red? Is it already the time of the month? Can we go back to the platonic relationship we had before?"

"That's no way of happening again, Mister," I told him bluntly. "Not after everything happened here. I don't trust you, Roman. I hate you for blackmailing me to live you with."

He sighed again and briefly closed his eyes. "I'm not blackmailing you, Red. I'm only collecting what we bargain in this marriage. Have you already forgotten about our agreement? Do you want me to remind you?"

"No, thank you," I replied acidly. "You don't have to remind me now and then. Our contract is engraved in my brain despite my protest."

He surprised me when he broke into a dazzling smile. "Then we understand one another. Until our three months bargain is up you are supposed to live with me in my house. And when those months are up you are free to seek for divorce..." He looked at me with a strange light in his eyes. "...but then again there's a chance that you might choose to live with me for the rest of our days, Red. And have this marriage to be real."

"You are hallucinating yourself." I scoffed at him when he parked his car on the pavement. We finally arrive in his penthouse building. I slid out of his car swiftly while he got my luggage in the compartment. "I couldn't wait for the remaining two months to be over so I can seek for divorce."

He smirked in my path which made me shiver. I told myself that's just because of the weather but I knew it was a lie. "The keyword is 'two months', Red. Don't you think that so many things can happen in two months, my darling wife?"

"No." I contradicted firmly, as we walked inside the lobby. I punched the elevator that would deliver us to his house. "For me, two months will fly fast like a blink of an eye."

"We shall see, wife." He taunted as the elevator opened to accommodate us to his magnificent living room. "Welcome home, Red."