Ryker sighed in frustration, he looked at her then to the ceiling what was he going to do?

"Turn around." He ordered.

"I'm sleepy, your family drained all my energy." She stated.

"Willow, I didn't say she won't pay for what she did it's just temporary." He reasoned.

"I don't care, Ryker. Do whatever you want." She spoke nonchalantly.

"What do you want me to do, huh? The girl's father is a family friend." 

"And I'm a WIFE." She stressed the word, "Let her send a gang next time, so the work gets done for sure." She looked back glaring at him.

"I will talk to David tomorrow, forget about the issue." He declared trying to please her.

"We'll talk after you talk to him." She stated.

"Willow, I said I will deal with it." He fumed.

"Don't yell at me Ryker, I'm sick and tired and you don't scare me, keep the energy." Willow advised in the coolest tone she could muster.

"My goal is never to scare you, but if that's what you need to start respecting me I can terrify you." He warned before leaving the bed to keep his hands to himself. 

Willow looked at his retreating form as he walked to the terrace. She felt a little guilty, he was under a lot of pressure as his family was pushing him to the edge. But she was under more pressure, at least that's what she thought.

Willow slowly made her way out of their bed and walked toward his well-built frame.

"Ryker!" She called.

"Yes." Came a harsh voice.

Willow didn't expect the harshness of the man that was so considerate all this time, he never laid hand on her and he took good care of her, remembering the past events Ryker himself was a victim of his father's choices and yet again despite him being a pain in the neck, he still made sure to protect her whenever possible.

"Can we talk?" She spoke softly.

"I'm listening." He spoke indifferently.

"It's cold outside, let's talk inside, please." She smiled giving him her hand.

She wasn't going to back down from anything that she has demanded but she needed to make this man feel appreciated, at least once.

Ryker ignored her hand and walked in before closing the huge terrace windows after him.

"Go to bed." He ordered before going to the bathroom to cool down.

Willow decided to give him some space, leaving the room she decided to go make something warm to drink. The house was quiet if it wasn't for the nighttime maids who still walked around the ground floor.

"Ma'am, how can I help you?" Asked one of them.

"Oh, I just want to make something warm to drink, don't bother yourself." She smiled earning herself a nod.

Willow was pouring Ryker's drink when he came down in a hurry. He let go of a sigh when he found her and leaned on the kitchen entrance taking in her image.

"What are you doing here?" He asked in a low voice.

Willow didn't expect his presence to which she jumped when he made himself announced.

"You scared me!" She put a hand on her heart.

"What are you doing I said?"

"I thought about giving you some space, and I made us something to drink." She shrugged before putting his glass on the counter in front of him. Walking towards him, Willow stood between the stool he sat on and the counter, trying to grab his attention.

"What are you doing?" He asked in confusion, whatever she was doing didn't make sense to him because he knew how badly she doesn't want to be touched.

"Can you help me sit up here?" She patted the counter.

"It's cold, you'll get more cramps." He reasoned.

"I know I'm being hard on you, it's just today was a rough day and you promised me to punish Josephine for what she did to me, otherwise, I wouldn't have expected anything from you regarding the issue." She reasoned.

"Willow, it would be enough for me if you respect me." He stated in a stone-cold tone.

"I do respect you, otherwise today's dinner would've been a worse disaster." She defended herself.

"Do you ever do what I tell you to do? You're always defensive and rebellious." He declared, "I never asked you to change yourself or ways, I always defend you even when you do something wrong but I'm not going to be disrespected. From now on any disrespect will lead to consequences." He warned.

"Consequences?" She whispered in disbelief, what got inside this man's head?

"I did nothing wrong!" She added.

Willow saw Tana coming into the kitchen in her short sleeping gown.

"Oh, am I interrupting something?" Asked Tana as she saw Willow stand against the counter between Ryker's legs.

"No, come in." Spoke Ryker before removing Willow from her spot.

"I'm thirsty and there's no water in my room." She informed.

"Help yourself." He responded.

"I'm sorry, Ryker. For being so rude this evening. I didn't intend to be mean. I was just shocked you got married."

"No worries, Tana. Just don't do it again." He answered in a deep voice before sipping on the drink Willow made for him, he was talking to Tana but all his mind was still with Willow who left the kitchen without looking back even once.

"Of course, I promise. How are you?" She asked.

"I'm good, it was a long day though." He sighed.

"Is she giving you a hard time?" She asked before gulping her water.

"Willow? No, it was just a long day as I said. I'm retreating to bed, goodnight." He nodded.

Willow buried her teary face in her pillow when she heard him lock the door of their bedroom, despite her faking not being hurt everything Ryker did downstairs made her heart clench in pain and she blamed it all on her hormones.

Ryker didn't like the fact that he just threatened her, and the sad look she gave him when he removed her from between him and the counter was so fresh in his mind that he just wanted to hug her to his chest and keep her away from all the drama that was happening.

Ryker laid there next to her with his left arm under his head while he looked at the expensive chandelier hanging from the ceiling. He decided to leave her be, he'll make her feel better tomorrow.

His arm naturally sneaked around her waist and pulled her closer to him and even though he knew she was wide awake she didn't move away from him despite them being on bad terms. A soft sob escaped her mouth making all her attempts to be as silent as possible fail. Ryker abruptly supported himself on his elbow to check on her.

"Willow?" He called in a gentle tone.

"Oh my god, Willow." He sighed when he turned her to look at him and tears fell down the sides of her head.

"It's just my hormones don't let yourself think otherwise." She sobbed again before covering her face with her hands.

Ryker smiled at how much she cared about putting him in his place even when she was miserably crying, it was one of the few times he saw her this sad and he knew for a fact that she was sad all along but she mustered hiding her emotions.

"Shush, don't cry. I promise I'll make David deal with Josephine tomorrow." He promised.

"Why did you push me away from you earlier?" She sobbed whilst glaring at him as she laid there wiping her tears.

"I'm mad at you, Willow. What do you want me to do?" He informed.

"Even if you're mad you don't push me away when a girl comes in; especially, Tana. And even if you're mad you deal with me behind the doors of our room, not in front of people. You threatened me then ignored me." She reasoned putting her hand on her eyes in an attempt to stop the tears.

"Why are you so cute?" He smiled putting her hands away from her now irritated eyes.

Willow locked eyes with him and she knew the look he was giving her, one which she saw in movies and wished to have one day. His eyes held empathy and care despite his harsh words minutes ago.

"I'm sorry I did what I did in the kitchen when Tana came in but what I said earlier about disrespect still applies." He apologised before kissing her forehead.

"You disrespected me many times too, remember when you locked me in this room? Or when you beat the hell out of my friend? Or when you dragged me to an empty classroom and lectured me because of Josephine? Or-" She stated spilling facts before him stopping her with a kiss on her lips.

"Let's respect each other more, then. I'm not breaking my word though, Willow." He advised.

"What are you going to do if I disrespected you unconsciously? We're humans we can't control everything we say or do." She reasoned.

"Do it and see for yourself, Willow. Also, human or not I'm not going to get disrespected by anyone." He warned.

"Don't kiss me if you're going to hurt me later on." She glared.

"Why did you decide that I'm going to hurt you?" 

"You know I say whatever I feel and I know you will find a problem in everything I say." She informed.

"I don't think I have the time or the will to hurt my wife, I hope we are on the same page when it comes to this."

"We'll see." She dared him.

"Let's sleep?" He smiled earning himself a nod.

Willow couldn't refrain from liking the well-sculpted man that engulfed her from behind, despite being angry with him she enjoyed the proximity.

"Don't be sad." He whispered before kissing her neck from behind.

"I don't have a button for that, Ryker." She shrugged.

Ryker held her to himself tightening his hold when he remembered what she went through earlier because of her cramps, his hand sneaked to her lower abdomen as he gently caressed it. He imagined her with a baby bump, his baby, their baby, the thought alone gave him butterflies. This girl is his future, he thought to himself, and if he wanted a great future he needed to please her. However, he knew that nothing is going to be easy especially with her having no filters.