Possessive Fake Husband

“Very well,” I say and take a deep breath. “We’re here tonight to vote on the matter of merging with Bushings Telecom. In the case of a tie, the CEO’s vote breaks it. Before we begin, all those abstaining, please raise your hand.”

Elizabeth’s hand goes up. She gives me an apologetic look then drops it back down. I nod once. “Very good. Elizabeth Gulp abstains her vote.” I glance over at Maggie and she nods once. “All those in favor of the merger, please raise your hands.”

I stand there, very still, and watch. Duncan Trucking raises his hand first, though he doesn’t look at me. Rupert Guava is next. My heart hammers in my chest as nobody else moves, and for a moment, I think we’re finished.

But then Ed Rich raises his hand, followed by Janet Tierce. I glance around the room, heart hammering. I need one more hand, just one more hand to make this a tie. If one more person comes my way, I get to vote, and my vote will be the decider.

Nobody moves. Seb’s smile grows even larger. I want to scream at them, scream that they’re making a mistake.

“And all those opposed?” I say, sweat curling down my back.

Seb McKenzie, Paula Nyx, Jeff Thomson, Larry Sloan, Gail Moncrief, and Alfie Khan all raise their hands.

“Four yes, six no. The nos have it.” I sit down in a chair and stare at the table. “That’s all for tonight’s agenda. Thank you very much.”

There’s no noise as everyone stands and filters out. I catch looks of pity from Rupert and Elizabeth, and looks of triumph from Larry and Seb. I just sit there and take it as everyone walks past, leaving me alone with Maggie in the large empty conference room. The smooth, polished wood table suddenly feels absurd and disgusting, and I pull my hands off it.

“How did that just happen?” Maggie asks, her voice quiet. “I don’t understand. If Seb knew he had the votes… why would he try to bribe me?”

“It was all a game,” I whisper, shaking my head. “He played us. He made us think he didn’t have the votes so that I’d push forward. He knew what he was doing the whole time.”

“No,” she says. “That can’t be true. It’s just… there’s no way.”

“He knew.” I look at her. “He fucking played us.” I stand, rage rolling through me. I walk over to the closest phone, rip it from the cord, and slam it against a wall. The plastic shatters and electronic guts seep out all over the carpet. I stare at the broken thing, breathing hard. I want to hurt something, destroy something.

I fucked up. I failed. And now there’s nothing I can do.

I let everyone down. Not only did I bring Maggie into this fake marriage, but I made her believe I could actually pull this off. I fucked up for her father, for myself, for this company.

I fucked up.

I punch the wall. Pain flares through my fist, but it’s delicious pain. I want that pain right now. It distracts me from the anger, the self-loathing, the bile that’s rising up my throat. I put my hand flat against the wall and lean against it, breathing hard.

“You couldn’t have known,” Maggie says. I hear her stand and come closer, but I shake my head.

“Don’t,” I growl. “Just don’t. I pulled you into this, I made you marry me, all on the assumption that I could make it work. And here I am, a fucking failure.”

“Josh—”

“Don’t,” I say again. I look at her, barely able to stand it. She’s beautiful, gorgeous, and all mine. And yet I don’t deserve her.

“This can’t be over.”

“It’s over. They voted.”

“But you didn’t vote.”

I shake my head. “I only vote in the case of a tie.”

“What happens if you do get a vote? Or if I get a vote?”

I frown and cock my head. “What are you talking about?”

“I could join the board,” she says.

I laugh and shake my head. “No,” I say. “That won’t work. The board has to vote on new members.” I hesitate for a moment. “Unless…”

“Unless?”

“If we bought a controlling stake in the company. But that would cost… millions.”

She nods a little and paces away. “If we bought a controlling share, I could join the board. We could do the vote again, and I’d tie it up.”

“Then I’d break the tie.” I pull my hand from the wall. “But this would cost so much money. We can’t…. We just can’t. I don’t know where we’d get that kind of cash.”

She looks at me and grins. “I do.”

I meet her gaze and groan. “Your aunt is against this,” I say.

“But my cousins aren’t.”

“Maggie—”

“They’re not all like her,” she says quickly. “In fact, none of them are. I think they’ll actually listen to us, you know? If we can convince them to invest, we could buy a controlling stake and make this happen.”