Chapter 8
Serenity
After a farewell party and crying at my job—mostly by Dr. Evans—Harmony, Summer, and I stand inside the foyer of Victor’s “house.” Our bags sit beside us as I spin around, trying to take in everything.
I’m not sure what I expected when Victor said this place is “family friendly,” but this definitely isn’t it.
The hardwood floors are so slippery that with socks Summer will slide like it’s an ice-skating rink and crash multiple times a day.
The vaulted ceilings are probably twenty feet high, and there has to be ten bedrooms in this gigantic castle.
I turn to Summer. “Do you remember why we’re here?”
Never in my life had I imagined I’d have to try explaining why we’re moving in with someone we barely know. But Summer has liked Victor since she first met him, so when I told her we were getting married, she jumped excitedly around the house for an hour.
Lana hauls in one last bag and drops it with a loud thud. “What do you have in here? Bricks?”
I shrug. “Close enough if you grabbed the bag with my books.”
Pushing into the living room, I drop down on the couch. Pain shoots up my spine, and I let out a yelp. What. The. Fuck? Is this some sort of display room with a rock-hard couch and a coffee table? There’s no television or pictures to make it homey—not even expensive art.
“Mommy, where is my room?” Summer’s voice echoes through the scarcely decorated mansion. “Can I see it now?”
“Sure, let’s go.” I stand and pick up the backpack with Summer’s clothes, slinging it over my shoulder before grabbing my duffel bag. “We can just pick a room, and if Victor has an issue with it, we can move.”
“Speaking of Victor, where is he?” Harmony asks, grabbing the two remaining suitcases and following us up the spiral stairs. “I thought he was going to meet us here. The wedding is in less than five hours.”
“Yes, where is the hottie billionaire?” Lana’s words are swallowed up by the opening and closing of the front door.
All of us jump and turn, but we can’t see the front door from our spot. I place my free hand over my rampaging heart and curse under my breath.
We’re safe at Victor’s house.
“I’m right here,” Victor says, poking his head around the stairs. “I suppose I can change my title to Hottie Billionaire if you think it fits better than CEO of Barlowe Technology.”
I roll my eyes. He’s so full of himself, and Lana is going to blow his ego even more out of proportion. “We’re going to find our bedrooms. Are there any rooms we can’t use?”
He shakes his head. “The master bedroom is mine.” Then he climbs a few steps, leans in, and whispers, “Or ours.”
“You can’t say stuff like that in front of Summer,” I scold softly enough for only Victor to hear.
“That’s why I whispered it.” And then he has the audacity to wink.
Harmony flashes a smile and wiggles her eyebrows at me before she leads Summer away.
This must be payback for when I talked about her wearing lingerie in front of Elias, but she and I will have a very serious chat about this later.
Lana’s jaw is on the floor, but when she realizes Harmony already wandered off, she rushes after her.
Turning back to Victor, I swat at him. “You are seriously the worst. Now Lana and Harmony think—”
He quirks a brow. “Think what?”
My cheeks burn like someone lit a match and set them on fire. “Never mind,” I mutter.
For a moment, his features soften. “I’m sorry. I thought my voice was low enough for them not to hear.”
But I don’t let his facade trick me. He’s had plenty of experience putting on a show. “You never know if anyone can hear, even if you’re whispering.”
I wave him away, but we’re still way too close.
“What will the staff say if a married couple doesn’t share the same bedroom?” His voice is rough, and my stomach swoops.
I narrow my gaze in on his mouth only a few inches above mine. Are his lips as soft as they appear? Or are they firm and harsh, ready to teach me a lesson for always talking back?
He raises an eyebrow. “I want to know where your mind went.”
I blink a few times. His mouth is off-limits. And Lana can’t win this bet already.
“Only in your dreams.” Then I try to escape in the direction where everyone went, darting up the staircase. He follows on my heels, so I turn around and say, “Don’t forget about the no-sex verbal agreement.”
“Oh, I remember.” His words are so soft that I’m not sure if I’m imagining them. “Make sure you don’t forget.”
“I won’t.”
Closing my eyes, I take a single deep breath. Never ever can I let him know he’s been the fuel for my every sex fantasy since he came to Sully’s house that first night.
I try to turn my attention away and start my search for a bedroom, but Victor places an arm in my way. He lowers his head, his mouth hovering over mine. “Have you thought about kissing me?”
I scoff. “Of course not.”
“Then why were you studying my lips like they were part of a museum exhibit?”
Any inappropriate thoughts I had about him vanish. It’s just as I thought—he’s so full of himself. “I wasn’t. Now let me go find my bedroom before I shove you down these stairs.”
Victor tsks, and a small, annoying smirk kicks up the edge of his lips. “At least wait until we’re married for attempted murder so you might get something from my death.”
I roll my eyes and duck under his arm. He doesn’t try to stop me this time, and I make it to the top of the stairs.
I let out a huge sigh.
Reminder to self: don’t let Victor get that close to you again. Ever.
Victor says nothing as he follows on my heels. Hopefully, he got the hint that I’m so not interested in his games.
I take in our surroundings, hoping to remember my way around this place. The walls in the upstairs hallway are painted white and are completely bare without a single picture or piece of art, just like downstairs.
I always pegged him as an art man. So, why are his walls empty?
We pass an open door on our left, but there’s nothing save for a lone sofa pressed up against the far wall. Still strange it’s not fully furnished, but maybe he doesn’t use that room.
It’s too close to the stairs, so I continue down the hallway.
Another door on the right reveals a bathroom.
I keep going until the next doorway. Looking inside, I find Summer is sprawled out on a king-sized princess bed with pink bedding and a canopy.
Harmony is digging through Summer’s backpack while Lana is unpacking a small suitcase.
There are so many stuffed bears that Summer could hand one out to every kid in Granite Falls and still have too many. A crown-shaped mirror sits across the top of two dressers. And the cotton candy-colored walls match the area rug in the center of her gigantic bedroom.
Summer pokes her head out of the sheer material of her canopy. “Mommy! Look! I have a princess bed.”
A princess bed … perfect for my princess.
My heart sinks, and my gut twists as she smiles. In a year, all of this will be taken away from her, and she won’t understand why. Knowing her kind heart, she’ll think she did something wrong.
“Do you like it?” I ask and clear my suddenly clogged throat.
She hops down from the bed and does a little happy dance. “Yes, yes, yes!”
“How about we unpack your clothes while your Mommy finds her own room?” Harmony asks.
“There’s no need,” Victor says. He strides over to the dresser and opens a random drawer. “Anything you might need is already in here.”
Summer squeals so loudly I wait for the mirror to shatter.
Victor goes to the closet next, swinging open the double doors to reveal a walk-in closet bigger than my bedroom at my condo. “And in here, you’ll find princess dresses and all the accessories you need.”
Inhaling deep, steady breaths, I ball my hands into fists as I try to calm my raging heart. But it doesn’t help.
Is the stuff we already have not good enough for his standards?
I charge over to Victor and grab him by the arm.
He flashes my family a grin before I pull him to the hallway and close the door.
Poking him in the chest, I bite my lower lip.
Touching him definitely backfired. His chest is chiseled like he’s a sculpture.
It takes everything in me to not trace down the crevices to find out just how many muscles he’s hiding under that stuffy suit.
I shake my head, forcing those thoughts out of my mind, and say, “Who do you think you are to buy my child all this random junk? She already has her own clothes.”
Victor cocks his head to the side as if studying my face, and I resist the urge to look away. “I’m sorry. I’m not exactly sure what I did wrong.”
Closing my eyes, I say through gritted teeth, “You don’t make decisions for my child. This contract is between you and me.”
He rubs his forehead. “So, you don’t want me to buy her anything?”
“Exactly. This is only temporary, and if she lives like a princess now, she won’t be able to go back to real life in a year. It’s really going to mess with her head.”
He takes a step forward and moves to grab my hand, but he pauses, probably thinking better of it. “You can take everything to your house when you move back.”
I shake my head. “You just don’t get it. I don’t have enough room for the bed, never mind everything else.”
“I’m really sorry. I wanted to make sure she was comfortable since I’m the reason she’s dragged into my drama.”
My body suddenly feels heavy, and it takes all my might not to wrap my arms around myself. “Just don’t anymore. If you want to do something, come to me first.”
I don’t wait for his response. This is probably all a game to him in his boredom.
Back inside Summer’s room, I close the door and lean against it. His footsteps plod down the hallway until I can’t hear him anymore. I heave out a sigh. This is a business arrangement, nothing else, and I need to remember that.
Lana and Harmony watch me with concerned eyes, so I push off the door and head over to Summer’s closet. Summer runs around, touching everything, but then stops abruptly when she spots a huge toy box at the foot of her bed. She starts pulling out what feels like thousands of toys.
Tears fill my eyes as I reach the closet. How could he buy her all of this stuff? Does he get off on making others feel inferior? I peek over my shoulder, and Summer is playing with a brand new Bluey stuffy. The one she has at home was torn, and I had to sew it back together.
Maybe I can pack her favorite toys and clothing when this arrangement is over.
A gentle hand slips into mine. I meet Harmony’s eyes. “I know you’re overthinking all of this right now, but Victor isn’t doing this to make you mad. He wants Summer to be happy.”
I bristle. Why is she jumping to his defense?
“I think she’s right,” Lana says from my other side. “He uprooted her life and might’ve overcompensated, just a little.”
I laugh, my eyes still watery. “Just a little?”
Lana lays her head on my shoulder, like she did when she visited after finding out about everything, and I soak up all her warmth.
“Yeah, a bit.”
The three of us burst into a giggling fit, and I wrap my arms around both of them. I already miss them. I’m not sure how I will get through an entire year without having them nearby.