Chapter 45
WILL
If I was lucky, I could be touching down in London nine hours from now. That was the thought that kept me going as I parked at the private airstrip, my jet fueled up and ready to take me to her.
My family had always kept our jets here, but I’d never been more grateful for the place’s professional service. A driver was waiting to take my car, the plane’s engines already running.
“Good morning, Mr. Westwood,” a ground crew member said, approaching after I climbed out of the car. “Any luggage today, sir?”
Already moving to the stairs, I shook my head and motioned at the bag I’d slung over my shoulder. “Only this bag. Thanks, Robert.”
He tipped his cap at me and strode toward the hangar instead. I tossed my keys to the driver, greeting him absently but not really focusing on anything other than the flight ahead.
Nine hours until I get there.
It felt simultaneously way too long and like not nearly enough time at all. I had no plan. No idea what I was actually going to say when I got there, but I needed to get there. I should’ve been there yesterday. Two days ago, even.
I took the steps two at a time and stepped inside, the familiar, polished interior not doing a thing to calm me down today. Usually, it did. Just the knowledge that I was on the plane, on my way to wherever I was going normally made me feel like I was in control.
That was not true today. I dropped my bag on the nearest seat, running a hand through my hair, and I settled on the chair beside it. Let’s go. Let’s go.
The door behind me opened and I turned, expecting the pilot, but instead, Jesse appeared, striding toward me like he was always going to be here.
I sighed. “Really?”
That was all I said as the door closed behind him. It felt like the appropriate level of disbelief, but it was also the only thing I had energy for. Naturally, my twin didn’t let my lack of enthusiasm get to him. “Are you serious about quitting?”
“Yes,” I said. “Why?”
His jaw tightened slightly, like he didn’t love my answer but would accept it. “Okay, then.”
Tension wound through the air between us, thickening until it was nearly palpable. I blew out a harsh breath, looking up into my brother’s eyes and wondering why he was sitting down across from me. “Okay, what?”
He settled into the chair, expertly buckling his seatbelt without ever breaking eye contact. “I’m not going to marry Eliza, Will.”
A humorless bark of laughter escaped me. “Damn it, Jess. You promised you’d take care of her.”
“That’s what I’m trying to do.”
“Bullshit.” I gave my head a firm shake. “Actually, you know what? No. I’m not just letting you opt out. You can’t do that to her. She’s not a website cookie you can just decline.”
He sighed. “Somehow, I don’t think she’s going to be too upset about this.”
“She’s already dealing with enough. The last thing she needs is you backing out at the last minute and leaving her to deal with the fallout.”
“I’m not leaving her to deal with anything,” he said.
“That’s exactly what you’d be doing.”
He shook his head, so calm that he was annoying the shit out of me. “No. All I’d be doing is stepping aside.”
I scoffed. “That’s the same thing. There’s a contract involved, Jesse. This isn’t just about feelings and timing. There are actual consequences.”
“Yeah, I know,” he said, reaching into his jacket and pulling out a few folded sheets of paper. “About that, though. You should take another look at that contract you’re so worried about.”
I groaned, my head dropping back against the seat. “I don’t need to see that thing again. I’m the one who signed it, remember?”
“Exactly. That’s why you need to see it again.”
Exhaling harshly through my nose, I finally took it from him, unfolding it more aggressively than I’d meant to. “Will you please just tell me what the hell this is about?”
“I don’t know where your head was at when you signed it, but you signed it, Will. As you.”
My grip tightened on the paper, my head shaking as I turned to the last page. “I signed on your behalf.”
“Maybe that’s what you meant to do, but you didn’t sign my name. You signed yours.”
My eyes dropped back to the paper, scanning it until my gaze landed on the signature line. On it, scribbled neatly in exactly the right place, was not my careless attempt at signing Jesse’s name. Instead, there it was, clear as day, my own name.
William Westwood.
“Fuck,” I muttered under my breath, my mind racing. I remembered the night we signed this and I definitely hadn’t meant to sign my own name. “What the hell?”
We’d been in James’s study. Eliza had been in that dress, the one that had clung to every curve and brought out her eyes so much that she’d looked like a real princess. Shit, that must’ve been what happened. I was so distracted by her that I signed the wrong fucking name.
“Legally, this is very much a problem.” I groaned again, swiping a palm across my face. “Shit. What do we do now?”
He shrugged. “Unless you marry Eliza, the contract is void anyway, so yeah. Like I said, I’m not marrying her and I don’t think she’ll mind, but this is a sign, Will.”
I snorted. “A sign of what? That we need better legal representation?”
“That you’re the one who’s supposed to be there,” he countered. “That’s where you were going anyway, right?”
I didn’t answer. For the past few days, I hadn’t been right in the head.
I really hadn’t had a plan so much as an overwhelming need to get to her.
To apologize. Explain. Fight for her like I should’ve since the beginning, but now, I was holding a contract with my name on it, being told that the entire foundation of this arrangement had shifted the second I’d signed it.
There were a thousand things I could say. A thousand arguments I could make, questions I could ask, and accusations aimed at the legal team who’d reviewed this contract at least a dozen times, but none of that was what came out.
“She hates her engagement ring.”
Jesse didn’t skip a beat. A slow grin spread on his lips as he reached for his safety belt. “Then tell the pilot to give us a couple hours and let’s go pick out a new one.”
“That’s your solution?”
“It’s as good a place as any to start.”
“Why? Because nothing says I deeply regret deceiving you like upgraded jewelry?”
“You got a better idea?”
I opened my mouth but almost immediately closed it again. Annoyingly, I didn’t have a better suggestion. “No. I guess I don’t.”
He smirked. “Picking out a new ring it is, then.”
I folded the contract carefully and slid it into the seat pocket beside me. “Yeah, okay, but let’s do it in London.”
Jesse grinned and settled back in his chair, clearly intending on seeing this through. “Aw, the twins are going to England!”
I rolled my eyes, but as the pilot started taxiing, a plan was finally coming together in my mind, and we were already executing step one—get to the same continent she was on.
Twenty-four hours later, I walked through the castle while rain tapped steadily against the stone. The sky was a dull, overcast gray that matched the knot sitting firmly in my stomach. It was already Friday.
The wedding was this coming Sunday. It was meant to be a small ceremony in the morning, followed by lunch, and then a formal reception later in the evening.
Evidence of the upcoming festivities was all around me, staff carrying flower arrangements, adjusting linens, and setting up an elaborate seating chart near the front doors.
It was all happening with an energy that had become familiar to me during the few days I’d spent here.
The organization and level of efficiency of her people never failed to impress me.
I moved through it like a ghost, with my hands in my pockets and my shoulders tight, taking it all in without really seeing any of it at all.
Eliza had to be around here somewhere, but so far, I hadn’t caught so much as a glimpse of her.
“Will?” a voice rang out behind me. “Is that you, or is it Jesse?” I turned to see Miriam hurrying toward me, her expression a confusing mix between relief, joy, and disbelief. “Well?”
“It’s me,” I said. “Will, I mean. Nice to see you too, Miriam.”
When she reached me, she took my hands, her eyes intent on mine. “What are you doing here?”
“I came to see Eliza.”
Her eyelids fluttered shut, a relieved breath leaving her with an audible whoosh. “Thank goodness, and not a minute too soon.”
My stomach flipped. “What does that mean?”
Her grip on my hands tightened just a fraction. “You don’t know?”
I frowned. “Don’t know what?”
“Eliza called off the wedding.”
For a second, the room went so quiet, it was like the sound had been pulled clean out of the air. “She did what?”
“She told her father quite definitively that she would not be getting married,” Miriam explained. “She’s about to have everything taken down and sent back to London. Then we’ll need to alert the guests, and—”
“Don’t.” The word came out sharp, but Miriam didn’t look surprised or offended by it.
In fact, a small smile spread on her lips as her eyes flicked from one of mine to the other. “I don’t take instructions from you, Mr. Westwood.”
“I know,” I said, squeezing her hands a little tighter in turn. “Just hold off for now. Please.”
She paused for a long minute before finally nodding. “Alright, I suppose I’m due for a break anyway. A cup of tea would be nice.”
“Thank you, Miriam.” A renewed sense of urgency raced through me. “Where is she?”
When Miriam hesitated again, I considered just dropping her hands and running, but I knew it would take me hours to find Eliza if she didn’t tell me where to go. These grounds were massive and I still wasn’t even familiar with half of the castle, let alone the property as a whole.
As she stared up at me, I swiped my tongue across my lips and leveled with her. “Please, Miriam? I know I hurt her, but I’m here to try and make it right. I just can’t do that if I’m on the clock and I don’t have the faintest idea where to even start looking for her.”