New York Billionaires Series

“You would meet her?”

“If you want me to, yes.”

“If I want you to,” I murmur. “Well, how about we have dinner together on Saturday night? That gives me Friday to… explain things to her.”

“Sure. I’ll clear my schedule.”

“Oh. Are you busy that night?”

He shakes his head. “A function I’ve been trying to get out of.”

“Thank you. I know you don’t really do things like this.”

Victor raises an eyebrow. “Meet people’s mothers?”

“Well, yes. It wasn’t part of our contract.”

“We’ve done a lot of things that weren’t a part of the contract.”

My cheeks heat up, but I don’t look away from his gaze. On my left hand, my rings feel warm. “I don’t think either of us could have anticipated this.”

“No,” he says. “I certainly didn’t. I didn’t know I was attracted to you when I suggested marriage.”

“Ouch.”

He chuckles, light dancing in his eyes. “I was blind back then. But trust me, that’s a good thing. I wouldn’t have made the suggestion if I had been.”

“Because it complicates things.”

“Because it might, yes.”

We look at each other for a long moment. Questions rise in my throat, but I swallow them down. Not yet. Not now.

Victor cuts into his salmon. “How do you think she’ll react?”

“Impossible to predict. I know she’ll be mad I didn’t tell her about it sooner. We’ve been married four months now.”Belongs to NôvelDrama.Org - All rights reserved.

“Four months next Tuesday,” he says. “I’ll play along with whatever scenario you want, Cecilia. Just let me know.”

I clear my throat. “I think I’ll go with the truth.”

“Noted,” he says, jaw working. “I can’t imagine your hippie mom will like that very much. Nor me, for having coerced you into this arrangement.”

“You didn’t coerce me. If I remember correctly, I negotiated pretty fiercely for myself.”

A smile ghosts past his lips. “You did. So well, actually, that I had an oh shit moment afterwards.”

“You were hot when you negotiated,” he says. “I stopped being blind.”

“Oh, really? That’s good to know.”

“Are you going to argue with me at every turn now?”

I grin. “I just might, if you enjoy it.”

His lips tug, but only briefly, features returning to seriousness. I’ve seen him focused and intense many times before. Negotiating business deals, dealing with lawyers, facing opponents across a table, on stage at conferences.

But being the subject of it takes my breath away.

“You’ll tell her the truth, then. That means I’ll have some things to answer for on Saturday.”

I shake my head. “I’ll tell her to go easy on you.”

“Don’t. I can take it.”

Yes, I think. But you shouldn’t have to. Meeting family was nowhere in the job description, but we’re in new territory here.

“Thank you. For agreeing.”

He nods, returning to the food. His hair isn’t mussed today. It had been a day free from frustrations.

“You have to let me know if I can return the favor,” I say. “Any distant relatives you need to explain your sudden nuptials to?”

“Only the ones who would have benefitted from us not getting married.”

“Oh. I didn’t think about that. Are they upset?”

He shrugs. “I haven’t spoken to them since the will was read.”

“Real close, huh?”

“Not at all.”

“I’m guessing they didn’t send any wedding gifts.”

He gives a half-grin. “You’d know better than me. You were the one who sent out all the thank-you notes, after all.”

“Right. Did you see that the champagne saber was engraved with our wedding date? Some people really put thought into it.”

“Or their assistants did,” he says. “You sent a lot of gifts on my behalf.”

“Oh, I sure did. I don’t think you realized it, but white lilies with pink peonies was the standard bouquet you sent to the women you dated. Very thoughtful of you.”

He looks down at his food. “Right. Was that based on your preferences?”

“Yes. I never told you, but I sent it to myself once, on my birthday. You paid.”

His eyes widen, and then he laughs. It warms the kitchen and sets his eyes alight. “Fuck, Myers. I can’t say I disapprove. You earned them.”