Wife Unwanted (Corrupt Vows #2)

Chapter 5

Thalia

THE CONVERSATION AT the table was stilted, to say the least. Carey clearly didn't like his dad being there. Nolan Sr seemed to enjoy making his own son uncomfortable while I was having a hard time swallowing down food. My worst nightmare had come true. I had pushed this relationship longer than necessary now it was time to pay the pied piper. Instead of breaking it off after that night, I had continued seeing Carey. It was as though something within me didn't want to stop. I wanted to see him. I wanted to be with him. And every moment I spent with him felt as though time froze and it was only us two.

When he asked me to come here for the weekend, I knew I should have said no, but being with him these days was the only way I could find joy in my life. I should have told Nolan Sr that I was done with his deal after my first failed attempt at seducing Carey. From the side glances Nolan was giving me the entire night, he seemed to think I was still working for him. God. I wanted to throw up.

"You don't like your food?" Carey leaned in and whispered.

I gave him my best smile, but I was sure it looked weary. "The food is great. I am a little full, that's all." He took my hand under the table and squeezed. His eyes said the same thing they said when he came to tell me his father was here. Sorry, you have to deal with him . It made me even more guilty.

"So, how did you two meet? Again, that is?" I whipped my head up. Nolan Sr was sitting opposite us at the table. He spoke nonchalantly as he cut his steak into bite-sized pieces. What game was he playing? If his comment was a hidden threat, it didn't read like it. He wanted to make remember why I ended up here. I had answered none of his calls since that night.

Carey answered on my behalf. "We met at a party." His response was cool and closed. Designed to shut off any further inquiry, but his father was determined to squeeze juice out of a rock.

"Oh. I've never pictured you as one for parties." He stabbed into a piece of steak with his fork and used it to point at Carey while talking to me. "He's always working. It's hard to getting out of the office. I am surprised you were able to manage that."

"It was an office party."

Nolan scoffed. "Ha! So, you're in law as well?"

I glared at him. He was trying to make me squirm, and I would not let him. He knew what my job was. It was the reason he came to me in the first place. His promise initially had been one of money. But when I refused, he came in with the second one that was much harder to turn away from.

Carey's fork and knife cluttered onto the plate. "No, she's not. Dad, cut the bullshit. If you think you're going to humiliate me or her, I am not going to let you."

Nolan turned serious. "Not at all, son. It's just that I knew her father for a long time and I'm sure he wouldn't want my son toying with his daughter's emotions."

"This is why I never introduce anyone to you," Carey muttered.

The room was feeling a little hot, and I had to cool it down someway. "I can assure you he's not toying with my emotions, Mr. Hawthorne. Carey and I found each other recently, and this relationship is still… very new."

"That's all well and good, then." Nolan smiled. "We should toast." Carey rolled his eyes as Nolan raised his glass of red wine, but followed suit nonetheless. I raised mine too, as Nolan said, "To old friends finding each other."

"To old friends," we both replied in unison.

The tension loosened after that as the topic moved onto Carey. His father seemed interested in every minutia of Carey's working life, making me wonder if he was like this with all his children. People speculated he loved his eldest, Nolan Jr, more than the others, but his attention to Carey made me doubt that.

After we finished eating, Carey's phone rang. He excused himself to take the call. However, he came back a few minutes later, his face marred by a scowl. "Did you tell the Leana Marino I am here?"

"She's a nosy neighbor, Carey, I don't need to tell her anything for her to know who's here and how many people are here."

Carey narrowed his eyes as though he didn't trust his father. He bent down to kiss my cheek. "I'll be back real soon."

"What happened?" I asked.

"Our neighbor's son had a DUI. The mother wants me to come to the station and sort it out." Carey sighed. "She's one of the firm's biggest clients. I kinda have to help her out."

"It's fine. You can go." It wasn't fine at all. Being left alone with Carey's father was the last thing I wanted. Carey leaned down again and whispered, "Don't let him unnerve you."

A few minutes later, he was gone, leaving me alone with Nolan Hawthorne. My sixth sense was telling me somehow this man had orchestrated this. He wasn't a god, but he was certainly a malevolent force.

"Now that it's just us two, why don't you have a drink with me in my study?" It wasn't a question, it was a command. I didn't know what else to say other than to agree. I got up and followed him to an oak and sailor themed room with a single bookshelf in one end and a desk on the other end. In the middle was a set of black leather sofas and a table with a decanter and two glasses. Nolan went to the table, poured the drink into the glasses, and offered me one. At this point, with all the wine I had drank all day, I should have refused, but I didn't want to find out how he would handle the rejection, so I accepted it.

Nolan took a sip of his and smiled. "If I had any idea that you were working this hard, I would have forwarded you the money sooner. My son seems quite taken with you." He scoffed. "He's very predictable."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Hawthorne, but I don't think I can continue with our deal."

He frowned. "Why?" Then tilted his head. "If you want more money, it can be arranged, but you have to pace yourself. If you're successful, you'd be marrying a billionaire."

"I am serious. I want nothing to do with your plot. I am not seeing your son because I seduced him or whatever you may think. He came to me. He sought me out and I should have told you this before." I shook my head, trying to think of a way to explain myself. Not finding any, I said. "You can keep your money. I'm leaving Carey. Find someone else for your schemes."

Nolan's mood darkened. "What's the problem? Carey can't perform in bed, is that it?"

I blushed. "No! It's got nothing to do with that at all."

"You've developed feelings? What's the issue?"

"I don't want to lie to him! It feels wrong."

"Well," he took another sip, "Plenty of relationships are built on lies. You'll get over it."

"It doesn't matter. I don't want to be with him."

"Tell that to your mother. I am sure she would be happy to learn she can't get on that new clinical trial because her daughter was morally incorruptible."

"How do you know about that?"

He scoffed. "I make it my business to know about the people I deal with."

As though he planned it, or maybe it was fate, my phone rang. It was my mother. I thought to put it on silent, but with her condition, any call might be the last.

"Answer it," he said. I turned away from him and answered the call. My mother was on the other end, sounding happy. She wanted to thank me for arranging the new hospital and getting her on the trial. I did no such thing, but I had a good guess who might have. When the call ended, I turned to him.

"Why are you doing this?"

He shrugged nonchalantly. "I only want what's best for the wife of the man who once worked for me." There were many words I wanted to throw at him, but I was too angry and scared to say anything. Sensing my emotions, he added, "I want you to marry my son."

I guffawed. "Marry Carey?" The man in question clearly wasn't looking for a serious relationship, let alone marriage. Nolan Hawthorne was known as a pragmatic man, but at that moment he was downright delusional. "Why?"

Nolan sank down on the large sofa and motioned me to do the same. I thought of refusing him, getting out of this room and running away, but I was curious, so I sat down. Swirling his drink, he said, "You fit the bill."

"The bill?"

"Working class family. Working class job. Educated. Pretty, but not too beautiful. Black, but not too, you know. Zero scandals, at least none I could find, which means none that any oppo researcher can find. And the cherry on top, you two have a great story. Two people who grew up together and ended up falling in love."

"Oppo research?" I tried not to think too hard about the part where he mentioned, not just my race being a plus, but my also being biracial, making me the perfect wife for Carey for some reason.

"You'd be the perfect wife for a billionaire son running for office."

I frowned. I had to admit I didn't keep up with Carey Hawthorne and his career, but I saw nothing that suggested he was thinking of politics. "Carey wants to run?"

Nolan made the barest nod that suggested to me it wasn't as clear cut as Nolan was making it out to be. He said, "That's his career path," as if it were immutable. "He's going to run for DA, then it's either mayor or senator after that, maybe governor and hopefully president in the future."

It was my turn to drink. I took a healthy gulp of whiskey and it lit a fire down my throat. "And you want me to tag along throughout all of that?"

“You underestimate yourself Thalia. You would make a fine first lady. While, of course, you are rough around the edges, with a few tweaks, you could be the next Jackie Kennedy.”

I simply glared at him, wondering if he has truly lost his marbles. "It doesn't make sense to you now, but trust me, when I say this, you and my son make a good-looking couple."

"Well, Mr. Hawthorne, I think you're missing a link. Your son. I don't think he wants to get married anytime soon, let alone to me."

"You leave that part to me. Trust me, he will ask you to marry him. When the time comes, you must say yes."

"Carey doesn't like me like that," I said, more to myself than to him.

Nolan scoffed. "That boy has been obsessed with you ever since he started masturbating. So what do you say? Are you in or out?" The crude language startled me, but not enough for me to leave the room. With a snap of the fingers, he had given my mother a possible life extension. He was determined to have me as his daughter-in-law and I had a sinking suspicion he wouldn't take no for an answer. It seemed fate was working against me. Telling me to take the devil's deal. I extended my hand. He shook it as his mouth widened into an unsettling smile.