If Byron called to interrogate Sasha, that meant my mother was trying to contest the will by debunking the marriage. I needed to act quickly. I had to make the announcement today. She was a step ahead of me.
“Nothing about this makes sense. Why did you get married? And why is your father’s attorney involved? What have you done?”
“I did what I had to do.”
“I knew you were keeping secrets. I knew yesterday at the Lennox meeting you were doing something behind my back.”
“I’m not going behind your back. It was the only option I had.”
“I guess it won’t matter then if I call Mr. Lancaster back and tell him I didn’t know you were married until his call.”
“No,” I growled. “Don’t you fucking dare do that.”
“Then you need to start talking, Jeremy. Now.”
The only way my mother could get her hands on the full inheritance was to prove I entered into a false marriage. That I used Evie to collect the money. It was hard to believe this wasn’t my father’s plan from the beginning. He had pitted the two of us against each other.
I sighed. “I had to get married in order to receive my inheritance. My father’s will was clear. But if you tell Lancaster that you’ve never heard of Evie or my relationship with her, it will discredit the marriage. I’ll end up with nothing. I won’t have the money to complete the investment.”
“Her name is Evie?”
“Yes, she’s an old friend from high school,” I admitted. “Can you go along with this, Sasha? I need to know we’re still partners.”
“You were forced to get married and the first person you thought of was an old high school girlfriend?” Her voice sounded distant.
“She was never my girlfriend back then.” Those details seemed pointless right now. I had to make sure Sasha wasn’t a risk to our plan.
“You felt like you had no other options?”
“That’s right. I needed someone who didn’t care about the money. Some
one I could trust to do this.”
“And there was no one else you trusted. I see.”
Oh holy fuck.
“Sasha, I didn’t mean….”
She hung up before I could explain my elopement was part of a drunken sexfest. Although, that wouldn’t have gone over any better.
I sat in the kitchen while I waited for the gourmet coffee to brew. Sasha and I hadn’t been involved in six years. I didn’t think about her as an ex anymore. It was a quick three months of dating and fucking, that ended when we realized we could dominate the sports business world together. She was practical and brilliant. I stopped paying attention to how beautiful she was.
Everything between us was about the company. We didn’t discuss our personal lives. But lately, she had been pushy. She had been digging into my life in ways she hadn’t before.
I shook my head. I never thought about asking her to marry me for the will.
Evie was there when the idea formed. It wasn’t thought out. Not as drunk as we were.
I looked up when she walked down the hall, wearing my shirt. She was stunning.
She smiled softly. “Do I smell coffee?”
Sasha couldn’t make me second-guess my decision. I had no regrets. Evie was exactly what I wanted.
Twenty-Two
Evie