10. Aiden
AIDEN
LONDON, ENGLAND
“Your mail, Mr. Camden,” Louise said, setting a stack on his desk.
Aiden looked up from his laptop and glanced toward his assistant for the barest second. “Is it that time of day already?” he asked.
Louise always brought the mail at the end of the day, as he’d directed her to do. Nothing worse than getting a letter in the middle of the workday that could derail him from the task at hand.
“Well, probably not for you, but as for the rest of us . . .” Louise shrugged with a smile. “Good night.”
“Good night.” He returned his eyes to the computer as she shut the door. A few minutes later, he sighed and shut the laptop, eyes burning. He hadn’t been sleeping well the last three weeks since he’d come home from Vegas, and he knew exactly why—the next Ipolymer acquisition meeting was looming.
He knew what he needed to do. He just hadn’t done it yet.
Pulling out his mobile, he opened his messages and tapped one out to his brother, Mason.
Aiden: Still here?
His reply buzzed a moment later.
Mason: Getting ready to head out. Need something?
Aiden: A few minutes of your time.
Mason: Be right up.
This was the inevitable. What had to happen.
He’d been mulling it over for weeks since Lola had shown up at his hotel room and announced that her father was handing the acquisition over to her. Maybe Jorge had done it out of spite—or maybe he just trusted Lola that much. But... enough.
Two could play at that game.
A tap on his door followed, then Mason opened it a crack. His younger brother grinned and stepped inside. “I feel as though I’m being summoned to the headmaster’s office.”
Aiden chuckled. “Nothing that serious. Take a seat.” He gestured toward a decanter on a nearby table. “Scotch?”
“No, thanks. I have dinner plans tonight.” Mason unbuttoned his blazer and sat opposite Aiden’s desk in the leather chair. “Something wrong?”
“You might say that.” Aiden frowned, then slid a leather folio across the desk toward Mason.
“I know it’s a lot to put on you, but I need you to take over the Ipolymer acquisition.
Jorge Salas has put Lola in charge of advising the company on the deal, and frankly, there’s too much of a conflict of interest given my history with Lo. I can’t handle this deal effectively.”
Mason went still, an uncertain expression on his face. “Are you serious?”
“There’s no one I trust more, Mason. I know it’s not your job, so I won’t force you to do it, but I think it would be the best way to move forward.
” He leaned back in his seat. “We need this acquisition. When I was in Vegas, I heard from Felix Covington that Covington Biotechnics is considering finding a new partner for future contracts. I’ve bungled the whole thing, and my involvement is now detrimental to the deal. ”
“I...I just don’t know that I’m equipped to handle something like this, Aiden. What if I mess it up?”
“I’m still happy to advise you and even do most of the work behind the scenes. But I need you to be the face of the deal. Having a Camden there is important, but it doesn’t have to be me. And, sadly, it’s down to you and me.”
Lola’s silence over the past few weeks—considering the bomb she could potentially explode in his life if she wanted—had been disconcerting.
He’d tried to simply put it out of his mind, considering he could do little about it.
He was swamped with work anyway, but he needed to do something to be certain the next meeting about Ipolymer wouldn’t blow up in his face again.
He’d questioned this over and over, whether Lola had been simply biding her time to make him sweat or if she wasn’t going to use the ammunition she thought she had after all.
But he knew without a doubt that Lola would hold a grudge, and for Camden Enterprises to get the deal, the only option was for Mason to run it.
“Damn Logan and Quinn for getting out of working here,” Mason said with a self-conscious laugh, returning Aiden’s focus to the conversation. “Maybe we’re just more dimwitted than they are.”
“That’s for damn sure.” Aiden palmed his face, the scruff of his jaw rubbing like sandpaper against his hand. “They got out early. Like rats off a sinking ship.”
He reached for his mail and started thumbing through it. “But I promise you, I’ll make this as easy on you as possible. I’d do it myself, but Lola is determined to make this process as difficult as she can.”
“Can’t we just acquire a different company?”
Aiden kept his smile to himself. It wouldn’t do any good to make Mason feel foolish. “Sadly, Ipolymer holds the patents we need. My bigger concern is that someone else is going to snap them up before the ink dries on the deal we’re proposing.”
Mason nodded slowly. “Well, better you than me—I . . . I mean. ..” He chuckled. “Could I think about this?”
“I suppose.” Aiden leaned forward, tossing a letter into the bin without opening it. “But I do need you to be aware that I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t find the situation necessary. As I said, I’ll do most of the work. But we need to change our tactic if we’re going to get this deal done.”
Mason nodded, then stood. “Speaking of Lola, how are things with her? You’re not back together again, are you?”
Aiden’s lips pursed. “Well, when you put it that way ...”
Mason blanched. He’d always been the shyest and most nervous of the Camden brothers. “I didn’t mean?—”
“That she’s the devil incarnate? No, don’t worry, I already believe that myself.” Aiden released a guttural sigh. “No, we’re not back together. Though, I’ll admit, I considered it for all of five seconds—that’s how desperate I was. Felix suggested I just date her until the deal was done.”
Mason shook his head with disgust. “That bastard would suggest something like that.” He offered an encouraging smile.
“For what it’s worth, I’m glad you’ve got a backbone.
That you aren’t just another slimy, greed-driven, corporate arsehole willing to lie and cheat his way to get what he wants.
You make Mum and Dad—and the rest of us—quite proud. ”
Aiden shifted with discomfort. This sort of ebullient praise wasn’t something his family offered—or accepted—well. Not to mention that I don’t particularly feel like a man of deep integrity.
It wasn’t like he was beyond lying to Lola. Or forcing Isla to pretend to be in a relationship in a very public fashion in order for me to lie.
And every time he ran with Callum, he couldn’t help feeling like an enormous hypocrite. Isla had called him in a panic a few weeks earlier, just as he was leaving for a run, to beg him not to tell Callum about even seeing each other in Vegas.
He’d gone along with it, but one too many people—Lola included—knew that wasn’t true.
The whole situation felt like a bomb waiting to explode.
Turning his attention back to Mason, Aiden gave a stiff nod. “Happy to do my part.” Then he tried to get the conversation back on track. “Do you think you could give me an answer tomorrow morning?”
Mason nodded. “I appreciate the time to sleep on it. I have to admit, the whole idea is a bit intimidating. Especially the part where I’d have to handle business with Lola.”
Aiden smiled. “Glad to know you’re finally free to tell me what you really think of her.”
“What did you expect? You two were back and forth so many times we all got whiplash.”
“Women,” Aiden muttered. “Brilliant at making you feel like you’re in charge while they steer the whole ship into an?—”
His eyes froze on the envelope he’d just tossed in the bin. His fingers twitched. The logo on the envelope?—
The Little Chapel of Instalove . In Las Vegas.
Wait.
Wait.
No.
A cold fear slicked through his spine.
No bloody way.
“What is it?” Mason stepped closer, leaning toward Aiden’s desk. “You look as though you’ve just seen a ghost.”
Fuck.
What the hell is in that envelope?
Mason followed the direction of his gaze and reached over, snatching the envelope from the bin.
Aiden lunged for the envelope, which Mason held to his chest, out of Aiden’s reach. “Just a bit of rubbish.”
Mason frowned at him suspiciously. “What sort of rubbish?”
His heart rate accelerated. “Nothing to worry about.”
Mason cocked his chin, no longer an employee but instead an annoying younger brother. “Then let me see it—if it’s just rubbish. The Little Chapel of Instalove. How intriguing.”
“Mason Camden. Hand over that envelope right now,” Aiden demanded, voice coming out rough and hoarse. Beads of sweat formed on his forehead.
Mason held his eyes, then a slow smile spread on his face as he tore the seal with a sickening rip.
He darted away, just as Aiden dove for him—too late.
Mason twisted away, tearing the envelope free.
Paper ripped. Aiden’s arms caught Mason’s calves, and the two men landed on the floor of the office with a thud.
Bollocks. That hurt. His hip smashed against the floor, pain radiating up his side—but that was the least of his concerns.
Not now. Not fucking now.
He and Mason weren’t kids anymore, wrestling in their parents’ sitting room over the last slice of cake. This was about so much worse than losing dessert.
Aiden was still too far to reach the damned envelope as Mason tugged the contents free.
“Why, it’s a marriage license,” Mason crowed, undeterred as he tried to read with Aiden clawing for the paper. “Between Aiden Preston Camden and Isla Grace Sco?—”
Both men froze.
Aiden saw Mason’s mouth open— saw the exact moment realization dawned.
“What the actual fuck?”
Aiden groaned.