Chapter 40
DARCY
I stare at Wren for possibly too long, trying to process the words that just came out of his mouth.
“You … you want …”
“It’s the perfect plan. This way, when people find out the truth and you lose your shares, they’ll revert to me. But, oh, what’s that? We’re married? And I want my husband to run the company, and he’s already the current CEO? How convenient!”
“I know you’re trying to be cute and think the solution is that simple, but?—”
Wren’s hand comes down over my mouth, and the easy expression fades from his face.
“Don’t do that. Don’t turn this thing into some kind of contractual negotiation.
At the end of the day, it has the power to solve our problems, sure, but that’s getting ahead of ourselves.
I’m acting like it’s simple because it is.
” Wren shifts to his knees in front of me.
“Every time you’ve thought about getting married and tying your life to someone, it’s been because of need.
Or obligation. I don’t want that for us.
All I want is you and the chance to make you happy.
Marry me, Darce. Not because you have to but because I’m the only one you want. ”
I tug his hand away from my mouth. “That might be the single most romantic thing I’ve ever heard.”
“Not bad for a filthy construction guy, huh?”
I want to smile, but I can’t. “You have no idea how desperately I want to say yes, but it’s impossible.”
“No, it isn’t. We can make it work.”
“I know you believe that, and I know you think I’m getting ahead of myself, but no one will go for it. They either won’t believe us, or they will and they’ll still be horrified, or they’ll think the scandal is too much to want to do business with our company?—”
“Fuck those people?—”
“I wish it was that easy.” I push my chair backward to put distance between us. “How can I say yes to you if it means crashing the company? And not just for me and our brothers but everyone else who works here too.”
“You’re just assuming .”
“I’ve seen it time and time again the way a scandal makes people run, and this isn’t a white-collar crime like money laundering. We’re talking about something that people find so repulsive that?—”
“That what?”
“Mom knows.”
Wren’s mouth falls open. “What?”
“She didn’t take it well. And if my own mother, the one person who’s supposed to want the best for me, can’t accept it, then what hope do we have that everyone else will?”
“No one else automatically hates me for being me. Take the stepbrother thing out—your mom still wouldn’t be happy because she’s hated me since before I was born, and I don’t think she’ll ever be able to let that go.
” He grabs the arms of the chair and pulls me back in close.
“But I don’t care about her. I don’t give a fuck about anyone else.
I’m talking about you and me. The only choice you need to make right now is whether I’m worth it because I’ve already decided you are.
We will figure the rest out. It might take a day, a year, ten.
I don’t know. We don’t need the answer to all that.
The only thing I’m asking is do you want to marry me? ”
His face is so close, his lips, his eyes, his scent surrounding me.
All I need to do is reach out and touch him and I’ll be gone.
That’s how intense our connection is. I love Wren more than I’ve ever believed could be possible, and if it comes down to the one question, is he worth it , the answer will always be yes.
But would he even be asking the question if it wasn’t for everything else in our lives?
“You’re telling me to base my answer on us and nothing else, but can you really tell me, honestly, if it wasn’t for the shitshow that our lives have become that you’d be asking me this question? It’s only been months. Isn’t it too soon?”
He doesn’t answer right away, just studies my face, eyes softening, and when he finally speaks, his voice is a rasp. “No, Darce, it’s not too soon. If I could go back, I’d ask you the day we first met. Because anything other than being with you is just a waste of time.”
My inhale is shuddery, painful, like the final breath of my life as I know it. If Wren can be that certain about me, I owe him the same. I reach out, sliding my hands over his firm shoulders, heart in my goddamn throat. “I love you,” I choke out. “And you are worth everything.”
He closes the distance between us, mouth melding with mine, tongue pushing forward in a way that’s so possessive and needy I melt.
Melt into his arms and into his visions for the future.
Maybe we lose all of this, maybe we lose everything, but we’ll have each other.
And if anyone can get me through it, it’s Wren.
Because I believe that losing the company would be a blow, but I’d recover. One day.
If this last week is anything to go by, I don’t think I’d survive losing Wren.
He breaks apart from me, hands cupping my cheeks. “It’s different kissing you with all of this hair on your face.”
“I’ve been a wreck. A complete baby. I could barely breathe, let alone shave.”
“I’m never letting you go again, you know that, right?”
I bunch fists into his shirt. “If we’re doing this, it’s forever. I lost you after knowing it would never work. Losing you after finding a way that it can would be unbearable.”
He presses a quick, hard kiss to my lips. “I love you.”
“I love you too. So much. Probably more than I deserve.”
“Yeah, now that you’re my fiancé, you’re gonna have to stop saying things like that. Otherwise, I’ll beat your ass—in fun ways only, obviously.”
That pulls a smile from me. “And if you’re my fiancé, you’re going to need to work on your threats.”
“So we’re doing this. For real?”
“We are.” And like my body has been waiting for me to make that decision, the suffocating anxiety loosens its hold.
“If it doesn’t work, we’ll find something else. I promise I won’t stop trying until I can give you everything.”
The fact that Wren thinks he isn’t already everything doesn’t sit right with me.
And it’s entirely my fault. Will I fall apart when the company is taken away from me?
When the shareholders rush to sell to distance themselves from working with someone like me?
Someone who lied to and manipulated them until he fell in love with his own brother?
Because no matter the facts, that’s how the story will be told.
They’re the only details people will listen to.
And it’ll kill me. Ruin me. Make me wish I could run and hide and never think about MediaCorp again.
But I won’t run this time. I’m going to fight like my father never did. And if I end up losing it all anyway, I’ll still have Wren.
And he is everything.
It’s about time I started showing him.
“There’s something I need to do.”
“What?”
But I don’t answer him. I press a kiss to his head, stand up, pull on my jacket, and walk out of my office. Harvey’s door is open across the hall, so I take it as a sign he’s available and walk right in.
His face splits into a grin that makes me feel guilty, but it’s not enough to derail me.
“I told you I had a decision to make about whether you and I made sense. Whether it was something I could pursue.”
His expression tightens. “I take it you’ve made that decision.”
“I have. And even with being honest with you about where I’m at mentally and emotionally, it wouldn’t be fair of me to begin a relationship with you when I’m in love with someone else.”
Harvey sighs. “I thought it was something like that.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Yeah. I know.” He scrubs his hands over his face. “This is going to be a fun conversation to have with the parents.”
“You’re in Seattle now. If you can’t find a single, queer man interested in a nice millionaire like yourself, you’re not looking hard enough.”
Harvey laughs. “You know that unless they’re millionaires too, there’s no point. Can I be honest with you?”
“It would be hypocritical of me to say no.”
“I’m relieved. I wasn’t looking forward to standing in a church with a man who wanted to be literally anywhere else. You okay?”
“I have no idea. You?”
“Fine. But … can I still use the office? Or are you kicking me out of here too?”
Considering my office is about to be Wren’s, I say with complete certainty, “I promise it’s yours for as long as you need it.”
Then I say goodbye to the biggest mistake I almost made and go back to the man I plan to spend the rest of my life with. Wedding or not. Company or not. If we have to live in a cave in the mountains, I’ll do it, but dear god, let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.
I’m shaking when I finally step back into his arms because this is it. I’ve made my choice, and I refuse to turn back now.
“What did you do?” Wren asks.
“I told Harvey the truth. There’s nothing between us.”
He pulls me tighter. “And if my plan doesn’t work?”
“I … I almost said I don’t care, but that would be a lie. If your plan doesn’t work, we’ll find another one. And another. But as long as you keep trying with me, I don’t need a safety net. Or a backup. Only you.”
“We’re really doing this.”
“Looks like it. So what’s our first step?”
Wren sucks in a long breath. “Our first step is what we should have done a long time ago. We get help. From our brothers.”