8. Penelope
Chapter 8
Penelope
I blink and then stare and then blink some more. I’m tempted to tell them that I have to go to the hospital because clearly I hit my head when I fell and now I’m hearing things.
Because there’s no way I just heard what I think I heard. Right?
There’s no way Dominic Harrington just asked me to… what? Marry him? Marry all three of them?
Nothing makes it make any sense, but staring at them like I’m waiting for the whole thing to resolve itself into something that feels more logical is probably just making me look stupid.
“I… what?” I ask, and now I sound like an idiot, I’m sure, but it’s like my brain won’t process what he just said.
“Marry us,” Dominic says again. “You want to avoid the presentation process, and marrying us would save you from having to go through that or dealing with the ORD office. You won’t need to deal with Alphas trying to court you if you are already tied to three of them.”
“Well, yes, but—what?”
“It will also give us something we need,” Dominic continues. “So it works in everyone’s favor.”
Xavier starts nodding, looking like he’s getting on board with the idea. “It’s a solid plan,” he says. “It makes sense.”
I stare at him, wanting to ask how in the world it makes sense. What in the world they could need that would make marrying me, some assistant they don’t know at all, the right answer.
“Are you dating anyone?” Xavier asks.
I just blink at him, still a bit in shock. “What?” I really need to learn another word, but nothing else seems to get across the absolute confusion I am feeling right now.
“Are you dating? It’s not a trick question, but we wouldn’t want to step on anyone’s toes if you have a partner already. Unless they would be into some kind of arrangement…”
I shake my head. “No. No, I’m single. There hasn’t been anyone since I broke up with Wesley, my ex.”
Xavier smiles that sunny smile and comes even closer to the couch. He kneels down so he’s right beside it, staring right into my eyes.
This close, the force of his bright gaze and his clean scent is enough to have me reeling, and I’m sure the surprise of this whole thing isn’t helping me feel any more stable. It’s like I’ve been spinning out of control since I woke up on this couch, and there’s no end to it in sight.
I’m still not convinced this isn’t some exhaustion fueled hallucination.
“So here’s the deal,” Xavier says. “It wouldn’t be a permanent arrangement. You don’t have to agree to marry us forever or anything like that. It can be for… say, one year? That would be enough time for us to stabilize this company and appease our board and investors. We won’t be so new, and they won’t be looking over our shoulders at every second. After a year, people will be convinced that Dom, Tristan, and I are a cohesive unit, and we can end the marriage then.”
He turns his head to look back at the other two. “That would be good enough, right?”
“It should be,” Dominic agrees. “If they need more than that, then I don’t know what we could give them.”
So that’s what they want the marriage for. I’ve heard the whispers around the office that the three Alphas in charge have issues getting along and that it doesn’t look good for the company for them to be fighting constantly.
Considering the fight between Dominic and Tristan that Xavier and I walked in on after my interview, I guess that makes sense.
But still, solving their issue with a marriage feels like an escalation that I can’t wrap my head around. And even if it wasn’t, shouldn’t they choose someone more acceptable? Someone more on their level? I’m not a powerful tech CEO or someone who could make the business look good. What do they have to gain from marrying me ?
It’s insane that they’re asking this of me. Insane that they think I could ever agree. How could I say yes to something like this? Something that will change my life so drastically?
But at the same time, Dominic was right when he said that it would get the ORD off my back. I wouldn’t have to go down there and deal with any of it if I was already tied to three Alphas. Three Alphas with power and money and a good reputation. No one would challenge them because it would be a losing battle from the start.
I desperately want to avoid having to deal with the ORD, and… I guess at least I know these men. Sort of. It’s not like they’re strangers that I’ll have to be wary of the intentions of. Xavier has laid it all out for me why they want this. There’s no ulterior motives here. Just an arrangement that could help all of us get what we want.
“If I agree to this…” I begin, and Xavier perks up, smiling warmly at me. “If I agree to this, I have some conditions.” I can’t even believe I’m saying this, but here it is.
“That seems fair,” Xavier says. “You should get a say in how this goes if you’re going to be our wife.”
“What are they?” Dominic asks, and I’m grateful that he cuts in before I can start reeling over Xavier Sterling referring to me as their wife .
Tristan just watches me, face as unreadable as ever.
“We have to stick to the one year agreement,” I say, trying to sound firm. “You can’t decide to extend the terms if this doesn’t work out. If it’s not enough for your board or investors, you’re going to have to come up with a different plan that doesn’t involve me.”
Xavier nods. “That’s fair. It wouldn’t be right for us to ask you to keep your life on hold like that. And hopefully after a year, we’ll all be more used to each other and there won’t be as many issues.” He shoots Dominic a look as he says it, and Dominic just gives him a hard look back.
“We’ll hopefully have made some progress in being able to see more eye to eye,” he replies.
I can understand why they butt heads so much. All three of them are headstrong and stubborn in their own ways, and there’s a tension that goes along with three powerful Alphas each trying to be the one who’s right.
I try not to drown in their scents and clear my throat to focus their attentions back on me. “The second thing is I want to keep my job here.”
Dominic frowns. “Why? You don’t have to keep working. We would take care of anything you needed as part of the deal.”
“I don’t want it to go like that though. I don’t want to just sit at home being your kept woman or something. I need to have some stability in my life, and once we end the marriage, it’ll be helpful for me to already be established with finances and a work history.”
“Smart,” Tristan agrees.
I’m surprised he thinks so, but it makes me feel better. Part of it is also me wanting to keep my independence. I don’t want to become dependent on these men. I don’t want to rely on them or need them too much. The less power they have over me, the better off I’ll be when the marriage is over and I need to be able to stand on my own. And it will also make me feel more secure in all this. Like I’m still my own person.
“Fine. You keep your job, and we’ll bump your salary up since you’re doing us such a big favor,” Dominic says. “What else?”
“I um…” My cheeks flush. I was so confident talking about the other parts of this, but this is different. It was never going to be easy to bring up physical stuff with men who are this attractive.
“Whatever it is, you can tell us,” Xavier says, going for encouraging. “I know we’re asking a lot of you, and we want you to be comfortable.”
Neither of the other two back him up on that, but they don’t contradict him either. So that’s… something.
“Well, it’s about what married people do. You know… sex and stuff. If we’re supposed to be married, are you going to expect…”
Xavier shakes his head. “Nope. That’s not part of the deal. We’re not expecting you to do anything you’re not comfortable with.”
“It’s a business arrangement,” Dominic adds, folding his arms. “We’re not in the habit of fucking our business partners.”
A slightly hysterical laugh slips out of me at the thought of the three of them in some kind of orgy with the heads of other tech companies.
I shut down that line of thinking before I can spend too much time dwelling on sex and the three of them in the same context. It’s dangerous when their scents are already flooding the room so much and Xavier at least is this close. I can’t start imagining what they would look like with no clothes on, hot and sweaty and?—
No. Get it to together, Penelope.
“There will need to be some touching in public at events,” Dominic continues, and I force myself to listen. “To sell the idea that we’re really a married unit. Nothing more than hand holding, or a kiss or two. Chaste. Maybe one of us will put a hand at the small of your back for the cameras to ‘conveniently’ get a picture of. But it won’t go further.”
My heart skips a beat at the thought of Dominic’s hand on my back. I already know what it feels like touching my face, warm and solid, and I know it would feel the same at the small of my back. Heat seeping through my clothes, his fingers brushing against a place where I’m secretly very sensitive.
“There will be no kissing, even in public for show, from me,” Tristan says, and that snaps me out of my thoughts. His voice is as unaffected as ever, but there’s a firmness to the way he says it. “On our wedding day, we’ll kiss, but nothing more than that.”
“When it’s just us, there won’t be any pressure of expectations,” Xavier tells me. “So you don’t have to worry.”
I nod, forcing a smile. It’s what I wanted, the guarantee that they aren’t going to use this arrangement to try to force me into anything, but there’s a small part of me that feels a bit stung that they agreed to it so easily.
It’s stupid that it feels like a rejection, when I’m the one who brought it up in the first place. But looking at the three of them, I get it. They’re gorgeous and powerful and rich. Each one of them has a presence about them that could turn the head of everyone in the room, Omegas, Betas, and other Alphas alike. I am probably not the type of woman they go for. They’re picking me because I’m the safe option. I’ll probably be easy to let go of in a year’s time. They probably don’t find me attractive at all.
And that’s fine. I push the feeling aside forcefully, not letting myself dwell on it. It’s fine. It’s for the best. The last thing I need is for sex and feelings and other messy entanglements to get wrapped up in this arrangement.
It’s only for a year, and then I can get back to my life and trying to build it up the way I want to. Trying to regain some of the things I’ve lost.
Agreeing to be their wife for a year will only help with that.
I take a deep breath, still a little in disbelief that I’m going to agree to this. “I’ll do it. But I have one more condition.”
“You’re good at negotiating,” Xavier teases. “Let us hear it.”
“No bonding and no bites,” I say. “Nothing that would make this more complicated. We get married for a year, and then we all walk away. Okay?”
There’s a moment where the three of them look to each other again, and it’s funny that their issue is that they can’t get along. Because when they want to present a united front, they’re very good at it.
None of them say a word to each other, but I can almost feel the ripple of agreement that passes through them, like it’s a physical thing.
Clearly, they’re all on the same page.
Xavier sticks out his hand to me, a bright grin on his handsome face. “Penelope Dalton, you have a deal.”
I reach out and take his hand, ignoring the thrill of heat that flashes through me when his fingers touch mine.
We shake on it, and just like that, the agreement between the four of us is sealed.