But once Harley’s mom left, her dad turned into a machine. All he did was work and that much hasn’t changed. He’s grown colder, more closed off over the years. The more Harley tries to get him to notice her, the more he pulls away. It’s as if he sees Harley as an extension of her mother.
“We need to talk about Voss,” Jonathan says, his eyes fixed on me. He balances the glass of scotch on his knee and taps his fingers. “He’s expecting a real wedding.”
I roll my eyes. “Don’t worry. We plan to give him one.”
“No funny business,” Jonathan says. “You two better make this convincing. Our company’s future is riding on the success of this marriage.”
“Until death do you part,” my dad says with a sharpness to his tone. “You made your bed. Now, you have to lie in it.”
“Things have changed,” Jonathan says. “With Voss.”
Stefan leans closer, his elbow rested on the console. “What are you talking about?”
My dad’s gaze falls between us, eventually landing on Stefan. “Voss changed the terms of the agreement. Your marriage to Harley will have to last longer than expected. He’s only buying half of the shares we agreed upon now, and the other half after the release of Ashborn. But he wants another five percent on top of what we promised.”
Our original deal with Titan Tech was for a set number of preferred shares owned by our families, but apparently, Voss got greedy and decided to capitalize on my misfortune. I feel like someone set me up, orchestrated the new terms and my public scandal. The pictures of Alexa and me never should have seen the light of day, and I still don’t understand how the press got them.
“And you knew this before I asked Harley to marry me?” I grip the glass in my hand so hard it could shatter into a thousand pieces. “Didn’t you?”
Dad sips his brandy. “What do you want me to say? I didn’t have much choice. We’re at Voss’ mercy. We need his money. The board would have removed me as CEO if I didn’t go along with the deal. So, unless you’ve got a better idea, you have to find a way to make this work with Harley.”
“Were you ever going to tell me?” I shout through gritted teeth. “Or were you going to make both of us go through this and pretend to be married for the rest of our lives?”
Harley rustles at the sound of my voice and rolls over to look up at me.
I brush the hair away from her eyes and smile. “It’s okay. Go back to sleep. I’ll wake you when we land.”
She’s so tired she nods and then rolls back over, rubbing her backside on my thigh. Dead to the world again, she purrs as she sleeps. I run my fingers down her back, knowing how much she likes when I do this. When she was younger and had trouble falling asleep, I would repeat the same motions. With her head on my chest, she would curl her body into mine and sleep like a baby.
“I don’t think you have to fake it,” Stefan says.
“Me neither,” Jonathan chimes.
My dad nods in agreement.
Chapter Twenty-One
Harley
After we landed in Nassau, I checked into my hotel room alone. Nate kissed me goodbye in the lobby and then went straight to our wedding suite, where I’ll join him on our wedding night. We have two days until we say our vows and promise ourselves to each other.
Two days until I become Mrs. Nathan King.
I think I overheard Nate and his father talking about me on the plane. It sounded like Nate said he wants to stay married to me until death do us part. I was in and out of consciousness for most of the flight. Maybe I imagined it. But what if I didn’t? Is he starting to want more? Could this possibly be a real marriage in every sense? Most women want to marry their best friend. Technically, I’m doing the same thing. But is it really the same?
Willow arrived last to the resort, but she made up for the lost time in the first hour. I stand on my tippy-toes, tugging on her leg to get her to come down from the bar. She climbed up there after her seventh shot of whiskey. Back in LA, Willow was always the life of the party. Her phone was constantly dinging with new notifications. She had a never-ending string of men hitting on her daily, and it’s no different in Nassau.
A group of guys surround us, whistling and cheering her on as she dances to “Pour Some Sugar on Me.” It’s so cliché, the perfect stripper song. Callie and Lola are up there with her, grinding on each other. Willow fits right in with the girls as if she’s known them for her entire life.