8. Phoenix #2
“Why one year?” Her eyebrows knit together. “You said the board wants to appoint a new CEO within six months.”
“We’ll raise eyebrows if we get divorced right after I’m appointed.
We’ll wait it out for an extra six months to appease any suspicions.
At the one-year mark of our blissful marriage, I’m willing to forget all about the bailout money you owe me.
We get a quiet divorce and you get to walk away with a hotel reshaped and debt free. ”
She lets out a long sigh. “I understand more than anyone on this planet your desire to want to keep control over your family business, but why not hire an actress or a model? Those women are groomed and trained to play a role. I’m not.”
She’s astute.
“Because it’s too obvious, and well, too fake.”
The more the board made it their mission to prevent me from claiming the position that’s rightfully mine, the more my mind concocted crazy scenarios.
I ran down the list of possibilities of women I could approach, but none of them were suited to play the role.
Most would end up becoming a headache to get rid of, and none of them had a nice piece of real estate I could hold over their heads.
Desperate, I even went as far as contacting a few agents to scout an up-and-coming actress looking for the role of a lifetime. Nothing was going to stand in my way.
Niels’s demand was my golden ticket. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect. Could this plan backfire and explode in my face? Possibly, but I have something Michaela desperately wants. Pride runs through her veins, and I’m certain we can make this work. It’s all about leverage.
“But we’re strangers. We have nothing in common,” she says.
“I disagree. We have a lot in common.”
She lifts her chin up in defiance. “Name one thing. And us being humans doesn’t count.”
“Off the top of my head, we have five things in common.”
“This, I have to hear.” She sits back against her seat and crosses her arms over her chest, giving me an eyeful of the tempting swell of her breasts. It’s an effort to pull my gaze up to hers. “One, our fathers survived massive heart attacks.”
The edge in her expression vanishes. “Thank God for that.”
“Yes. Dad isn’t a hundred percent, but he’s alive and in many ways, he’s still the same stubborn man he always was.” I can’t help my smile.
“I can relate. Daddy is the same way.”
“Two, we have the same middle name.”
“You’re lying.”
I shake my head. “You’re Michaela Kennedy Knight Villiers and I’m Phoenix Kennedy Konig.”
Her eyes widen. “Seriously?”
“Your search fell short.”
“I was pressed for time. You decided at the last minute to turn dinner into a late lunch.”
“Fair enough,” I say. I keep going. “Three, our last names not only sound regal, but we can trace our roots back to royalty––yours British, on your mother’s side, and mine, German.”
She cocks an eyebrow. She’s impressed. “I’m guessing you did a background check on me.”
“I have a large box filled with all your dirty secrets, Michaela Knight.”
She shoots me a doubtful side gaze. “If that’s the case, you need to demand a refund from whoever conducted that shoddy investigation. You got robbed. And duped. My life isn’t that exciting. Some might call me a goody two shoes. Until my trip to Nepal, I was.”
Michaela’s background is impeccable. She’s as squeaky clean as they come.
No bad publicity with her name on it. No drug arrests.
No lewd behavior. No drunken foolishness caught on camera.
No string of questionable and unsavory photos on social media with her private parts exposed.
She’s not a bad business decision waiting to happen.
Dean and Thana’s actions will cast a dark cloud over her name, but we can handle the punches when they come because she’s not in the wrong, therefore she won’t drag our family name to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.
She’s perfect for the role of my fake-wife.
“I wanted to get a reaction out of you,” I say.
“Congratulations, Konig, you did. So, let’s hear the rest of the things we have in common.” She gestures with her hands, coaxing me to continue. The defiance in her tone… as present as her feistiness.
I lift a hand, flashing her four fingers. “Although my king will always trump your knight , our last names are also chess pieces.”
“Good one.” She laughs. “Do you play?”
“Not well. And you?”
“I do. Mom taught me. Some people meditate. Others exercise. Mom played chess to cope with stress. She was such a good player. I could never beat her.”
“And that brings me to the fifth thing we share in common.” I take in a deep breath. “We both lost our moms to cancer.”
Her head jerks back, a shock-filled stare fixed on me.
“I didn’t read about that…” Her voice comes out faint.
“With enough money, anything is possible. Dad worked hard to keep it out of the press for privacy reasons. Any donation to cancer research is also kept quiet. And, there’s so much information about our company, Dad, and the four of us floating on the internet, any old articles about Mom are most likely buried deep in the search results. ”
“How long ago did your mom die?”
“It’s been four years. My older brother died a year before she did, of a drug overdose.”
“Oh my God. I am so sorry, Phoenix.”
“I appreciate the sentiment, but it’s not your fault.”
She offers a shy smile.
“Mom died within six months of being diagnosed for pancreatic cancer,” I say.
“Had it not been for the diagnosis, we would have believed she died of sadness. Barron’s death of a massive drug overdose broke her, casting a permanent shadow of sadness and despair over a woman who was happiness personified. ”
Michaela places both hands against her heart. “Oh, Phoenix, it was so sudden.”
“It was. Barron was seven years older. From the day he was born, he knew he’d step into our father’s shoes.”
While he was shadowing Dad and taking the company to new heights, my three younger brothers and I were following our dreams. After we laid our brother to rest, we gave up the limelight and joined the family business. Losing a family member shifts your priorities. Losing two, even more so.
She closes her eyes for a beat. “Seven years after losing Mom to breast cancer, it’s still so hard. The pain never seems to go away.”
I shake my head, a lump rising in my throat. “No, it doesn’t.”
For a few long seconds, we’re both silent.
“So, you see, Michaela, we have a lot more in common than you think.”
She considers me. “Phoenix, maybe I’m being na?ve here, but is that enough to fool everyone?”
“My father and my brothers are one hundred percent behind me. The board bought my story… for now. My staff doesn’t know much more than what’s printed in the media.
For the first time since my grandfather started this multinational company, a Konig might not be at the helm.
That’s a risk I’m not willing to take. If we allow an outsider to wedge himself—or herself—in that position, we’ll have relinquished our power.
As much as I hate it, the board has a strong say in the succession. They hold me by the balls.”
The transition from pop star to hotel magnate was brutal.
But here I am, the default first born, vying for a position I never in my life expected to want with this much ardor.
The board is dead set on appointing a new CEO to replace Dad.
They’ve made it clear they don’t think I have the chops—or the model-citizen lifestyle—for the job.
They’re determined to keep me in my current position of COO and hire someone above me.
Fuck that.
I’m not going down without a fight. No way am I going to let an outsider reign over what’s rightfully ours.
“I see,” she says.
“Do you have a boyfriend in New York?”
Her eyebrows hit her forehead. “I didn’t say yes.”
If she wasn’t interested, she would’ve decamped out of here, flipping me the bird like she did earlier. But I’m not going to point out the obvious.
I soldier on. “If you’re seeing someone, you’re going to have to put an end to it. The sooner, the better. It’s best to avoid any drama.”
“I’m not seeing anyone.”
I already knew that. I wanted to hear it from her. “Good.”
“It seems you’re quite the player,” she says. “How is your current flavor of the week going to take the news?”
“If you’re referring to a woman I might be involved with, rest your mind at ease. I’m a free agent.”
“What about your weekly escort bookings? Won’t they miss you if they don’t hear from you for a while?” She flashes me a triumphant grin, like she one-upped me.
“I don’t have to pay for sex, Michaela.”
Her cheeks flush. “No little Konig babies running around or baby mamas looking for alimony or child support?”
“The media would’ve been all over that scandal,” I say. “To answer your question, I always wrap it up and I always buy my own condoms to avoid surprises.”
She grimaces. “Too much info.”
“You asked.” I shrug. “All right, we’ve established we’re both single and neither of us have kids we know of.”
She giggles.
“Two potential roadblocks we can scratch off the list. I know your father never divulged his plans to Thana or your uncle Ian––”
“My father told you that?”
“Yes. He was pretty forthcoming.”
“Wow.”
“He has a vested interest in seeing this through. So do I. Are there any liabilities on your end I need to know about?”
“What do you mean?”
“Is there anyone who might become a whistleblower and tip off the media about our fake marriage?”
“Well, my friend Keira knows the truth.”
I groan.
“I’m staying with her and she read the news before I did.”
Shit.
“That could come back and bite us in the ass.”
“She wouldn’t say a thing.”
“You’re sure?”
“I’m certain.”
“People can turn on a dime when money is involved or the prospect of their fifteen minutes of fame.”
“Trust me, Keira has a hate-hate relationship with the media.”
“You trust her that much?”