Chapter 16
Chapter
Sixteen
ENFIELD
This is the first time in the thirteen days that I’ve been here that I’ve actually looked around. I have no intention of becoming comfortable here, but today I have intent.
I shouldn’t be surprised to find Xavi where I first stumbled across him the day I arrived. The opposite side of the room leads to the patio overlooking the pool, and there’s a door that leads to the cat condo outside.
This spot is probably the most well-lived-in space that I’ve come across this morning.
It’s clear that most of the rooms are primarily for show or something formal.
This one has indents in the cushions, magazines on the table, and one of the art pieces on the wall is crooked.
There are cat beds and toys, and a pile of blankets overflowing from a basket.
Curled on one of the chairs is Xavi. The second man is sitting in the corner of the couch facing Xavi. Both look up when I step into the room. The nameless man gets to his feet, fists immediately clenched.
I raise my hands, though I don’t back away. “I’m not here to… be an asshole.”
He doesn’t believe me. He adjusts his stance so he’s blocking Xavi entirely.
“I deserved to be punched. I was being a dick, and Xavi didn’t deserve that treatment. I’m sorry.”
The man narrows his eyes. Though his fists unclench, he crosses his arms over his chest. “Two weeks.”
I feel like that should mean something to me, but it’s as if I walked into the middle of a conversation, and I don’t know what the first half was. “Okay?”
He rolls his eyes. “It took you two weeks to figure that out, asshat. That doesn’t say good things about you.”
“Fair,” I say, inclining my head. “I want to talk to Xavi.”
“Why?”
Xavi sighs. “Thanks for your Pitbull protection, but sit down, Sparrow.”
Sparrow. At least I have a name now. Even if it’s a bird species. Whatever.
It takes Sparrow a minute to be convinced that I’m not there to be an asshole. I try to let him see me without giving him an open window to everything inside. He needs to see I’m serious and I’m done being a jerk.
He retakes his seat. Taking a breath, I grab one of the chairs from the side of a small table and set it beside the chair Xavi is in, though not too close. He watches me warily. Shapiro drops from the side of the chair he was perched on and climbs onto the arm separating me and Xavi.
“Good cat,” Sparrow says, smirking.
I bow my head to hide my amusement. “Okay, I’m sorry to you too, Shapiro, though I’m not sure you deserve the first apology.”
“You’re clearly not a cat parent,” Xavi says, snorting.
“I’m not.”
Xavi pulls Shapiro off the arm so I can see him. Shapiro is not happy about this manhandling and jumps down, giving Xavi a glare as he climbs up beside Sparrow.
“Looks like you just made his shitlist too,” I muse.
“I feed him. He’ll get over it.” Xavi looks at me expectantly.
“So maybe a little background?” He shrugs.
“I’m sure you’ve known about the marriage contracts since you were a child.
” Xavi nods. “So have I. I’ve disliked them from the beginning, though it wasn’t until I was a teenager and understood what they were truly saying that I began voicing my concern.
I made it clear at thirteen that I didn’t want any part of it.
My parents didn’t give a fuck. I spent the following ten years trying to do anything at all to make myself unappealing or whatever.
If no one wanted to marry their daughter off to me, I should be free to take what’s mine and live my life how I wanted. ”
“Mom figured out some of that,” Xavi says, nodding. “Recently. Not beforehand.”
I incline my head. “I’ve done some stupid shit, some irresponsible shit, some fake shit, and everything in between.
All the while, my parents raged and complained that this new family had just pulled out of the contract and now they had to begin all over.
Blah, blah, blah. It never mattered that I didn’t want this.
That I would never want it. They insisted that I’d change my mind. ”
“You did,” Sparrow pointed out.
“I didn’t actually, but I’m not at that point yet.
I really want to emphasize that there’s literally nothing in that goddamn contract that I agree to.
Nothing in it is, I think, fair or something I actually want—all of which I’ve expressed to my parents, though it constantly fell on deaf ears. ‘You will one day.’”
I’m surprised when I find Sparrow nodding along as if he’s agreeing with me.
“Needless to say, I’ve grown to despise and resent my parents. While this is one of the least important apologies you need, I’m sorry you’ve dealt with my mother. Mind you, I’m not apologizing for her behavior. That’s on her. I’m sorry I’ve refused to deal with her and that you’ve had to.”
Xavi raises one shoulder. “I’ve stopped answering the door.”
“Good. I bet that pisses her off.”
He grins, though I think he’s trying to contain it. “It sure sounds like it does.”
“Thank fuck. I’d be even more frustrated if she found it funny or some shit.”
Xavi shakes his head, still trying to keep his smile small.
“Anyway. I think I made it clear that I didn’t read the contract that I signed.
Yeah?” He nods. “That makes me look like an idiot, but there’s a reason.
I’d read the first iteration of the contract many times as a teenager.
So many times that I had parts of it memorized—the most offensive parts that I hated the most. Admittedly, I haven’t read one since I was…
seventeen, maybe. My parents made it clear they weren’t going to change anything in it.
Something I believed wholeheartedly because they’re fucking stupid. ”
“So you know what’s in the contract,” Sparrow says.
I nod. “Yeah. Mostly. One of my very close friends is a lawyer. I’d given him the contract shortly after we met, and I was arrested.
I called him with my one call, and that’s when he began trying to find loopholes and shit.
Honestly, I’ve been running out of chaotic ideas, Xavi, and I’m fucking tired.
So when he presented me with a plan to get what I want with considerably minimal headache, I jumped on it. ”
“Which included your signing a contract,” Sparrow guesses.
“Yes. It begins with my signing a contract. So I went to my parents’ house and signed it.
I didn’t read anything, except to make sure a very specific clause was included.
Finding it was, I signed and left. I was there for eight, maybe ten minutes.
In that time, they never once told me they’d changed the gender of my contracted spouse.
In my entire life, I’ve never shown an interest in men.
Not once. No teasing hints, no comments, no checking out guys—nothing.
I’ve never once even considered that they’d randomly change the gender of my fucking spouse. ”
“Can I just point out without you getting mad… There was that incident with the Duke, but I think I’ve also read that it was fake?” Xavi asks.
I laugh under my breath and close my eyes.
“Yes. It’s fake. He’s equally miserable and equally trapped by familial expectations.
We met when I was causing chaos in England, got drunk and confided in each other, bonded over shared, similar misery, got more drunk and devised this plan, using one of those ridiculously awful AI generators to create pictures of us fucking around in an alley.
When we sobered up, I told him to use them if he wanted.
It’s been what, eight months? I honestly didn’t think they’d surface, but here we are. ”
“Wow,” Sparrow says. “You really wanted out, huh?”
“That’s not even the half of it. Not even the fucking tip.” I pull my phone out and pull up the contract. “I spent the last few days talking to Nash—my lawyer—and reading this stupid contract. Word for fucking word. I hate it all, by the way.”
Xavi sighs. I’m a little surprised to see that he isn’t upset about that statement.
“I need to call your attention to two specific parts before I tell you why I signed it at all and what it means.”
“Okay,” he says cautiously.
I lean a little closer and turn my phone toward him.
“This is the clause that says we are to be left alone by all members of our family unless we invite them over. Otherwise, it’s considered interference.
If you read this section, they are not to offer any advice on our relationship, speak to the unrelated party about the wedding, our life together, or their soon-to-be partner without express permission.
They’re not to do any planning of this wedding without our explicit instruction.
And under no circumstances are they to show up here uninvited. ”
“Both of our parents have broken that clause,” Xavi says. “Specifically, the showing-up part.”
“I’d bet you my left testicle that my mother already has this wedding planned, too. Nash has confirmed several bookings.”
He shakes his head.
I pull my phone back and scroll back up to a different clause. One that specifies disclosure of any serious life events that have taken place prior to this contract. The only thing listed is my arrest on false accusations of domestic violence. I turn my phone back to Xavi.
He looks at it and frowns. “I saw that one. Is it not fake?”
“It’s fake. I paid her to lie.”
His eyes shoot wide. “What?”
“I told you—desperate times.”
Xavi blows out a breath.
“However, there’s something far bigger and more serious that’s been left off. I have three children.”
His eyes go comically wide. This time, when he asks what, it’s high and cracking.
“All three were planned. All with the intent that someone would have to see that they exist, and no one was going to want that kind of baggage—three kids by three different women.”
Xavi’s jaw hangs open.
“Why the fuck didn’t your parents disclose that?” Sparrow asks.
“Because my parents refuse to acknowledge their existence, never mind that they’re mine.
In old school terms that fit in with this archaic contract, they’re bastard children.
Illegitimate. Conceived out of wedlock. The only way I could make this more harrowing is if I’d had an affair that resulted in these kids. ”
“They did what?” Sparrow asks in disgust.
“Yep. In hindsight, I’m thankful. I don’t want my kids to have any part of this bullshit. They will not be forced into a contract marriage. While I was absolutely furious that my parents refused to acknowledge my first child as mine—which is when I think I truly began hating them—I’m relieved.”
I can’t determine why Xavi is looking at the phone the way he is. As if he’s seeing something mortifying. As if he might pass out. Like he’s seen a ghost.
He visibly shakes himself out of it and looks at me, eyebrows knit together on his forehead. “Okay.”
“I know it sounds like I’ve skipped around while telling you this, but your understanding that I have children makes everything else fall into place and make sense.
I love my kids. I spend all my time with my kids.
Even though I’m here, I’ve spent at least several hours each day on video calls with my kids.
They’re my entire life, Xavi. They’re my reason for everything I do. ”
Xavi nods, though the slightly haunted look on his face doesn’t fade.
“Nash called me and told me he had a plan for me if I was willing to go through with it. The last clause about parental interference was the primary leg we had to stand on. He also noted that there’d be a good chance that my parents would leave my children out of the contract because they don’t acknowledge that they’re part of my bloodline and therefore, our family. ”
Xavi presses his lips together in displeasure.
“The plan was that I would sign a contract and go through with the marriage, unlocking my first trust and the company shares. It’d release all the properties and whatever that were set to transfer as soon as we were married.
Then he’d nullify the contract with all the breaches that my parents committed up to that point.
Since they’re breaking the contract and not us, everything else is released to us as if the contract were fully executed.
Our marriage would be annulled, and we’d carry on with our lives. ”
“You intended this to be a failure,” Xavi says quietly.
“I intended to get the trusts for my kids,” I emphasize.
“If I’d made different life choices and didn’t have kids, I’d fucking walk away.
My trust that was released when I was eighteen was enough to live a comfortable life as a single person.
But three kids? It’s not enough. Yes, people live off far less than what’s in my bank account as a single parent of multiple kids, but that’s not me.
That’s not how I was raised. That’s not how I plan to raise my kids.
My sole goal in life was to secure the rest of my money and set my kids up with the lives they deserve.
So when Nash concocted this plan, I decided to go through with it. ”
“That’s why you don’t want to be friends,” Xavi says quietly.
“I didn’t mean to hurt you. Despite what you’ve witnessed over the last three weeks, I’m not an asshole.
I’m not a bad guy. I’m a guy who has fought for over a decade to live freely, however I choose, and still have what should be mine as an heir to the Undergrove name.
I went to college with the intent to further our company’s success.
I’ve been fully in since I was a kid. I’m proud of my family’s success, and I wanted to contribute to the legacy. ”
“Do you still?” Sparrow asks.
I shake my head. “No. In fact, I’d love to create a competing empire and somehow force them to live on the fucking streets. It’s a far-fetched dream, but it’s a dream, nonetheless.”
Sparrow snorts.
“I’m sorry, Xavi,” I say when he hasn’t spoken in a few minutes. “Nash advised me to keep the plan to myself in case you told your parents and the whole thing got fucked up because of it.”
“You changed your mind,” he says quietly.
“Yeah. My cousin reminded me that I might have been dealt a shitty hand, but you’re the actual victim in this situation. So I called Nash and told him we needed to adjust this because I can’t keep being a dick to you. I’m tired. I’m so fucking tired.”
Xavi studies me. After a minute, he nods.
“Okay,” he repeats. I’m not sure what that means, and we have a lot to discuss as I bring him up to date with where we’re at in Nash gathering what he needs to tear the contract to shreds, but for the first time, we’re on the same page, and I feel better about that.