Chapter 27
27
M aeve
“Oh, dear, what have you done to your hair?”
This is the first thing my mother says to me after five years of not seeing her daughter and a week of thinking I was dead.
“This color looks so cheap,” she continues, taking a lock of my hair into her hand instead of enveloping me into a motherly hug. “It makes you look like you’ve never listened to all those lessons I gave you. Your appearance is your everything, honey.”
“I’ve missed you too,” I reply sarcastically, making her squint her botoxed eyes. They almost don’t shut anymore. Has she had surgery? To think of it, I don’t recognize her much. I’ve probably been gone too long, and a lot more things have changed. Have I changed so much too?
“Don’t get that tone with me.” She tries furrowing her eyebrows with no success. “You made us all worry. ”
“Apologies about that.” My voice is dripping with sarcasm. “I shouldn’t have gotten stuck on that island.”
“You really shouldn’t have,” my father chimes in, walking toward us with two glasses of amber liquid in his hands. They both look like they are going to a golf course. “We wanted the whole family for the announcement.”
“Which announcement?” I ask.
“Bea’s engagement, of course,” Mom explains with a smile, accepting the glass from my father and lifting it in the air toward Ezra who is standing with his brother by the table. “Your father’s associate is going to become a new member of our family.”
A sudden arrow to the chest would have been less painful. If I nursed some stupid hope about Bea forgiving me and moving on before, now I know it’s just a dream. If the whole world knows now, there’s no way this wedding can be stopped. My parents would kill the groom and drag his dead corpse to the altar before calling off the whole thing.
“About that,” Ezra starts, his voice menacing. “I thought we were going to discuss the deal when I arrived. Not just announce it to the whole world before we’ve even spoken.”
“What is there to discuss?” Father says. “You want your company back. I want my daughter married. I told you that was the only clause I was interested in. You agreed to come here. We both know what that means.”
“I prefer making decisions for myself,” Ezra hisses.
“Tough luck, boy,” my father continues, clearly not reading the room. “It doesn’t always work like that in the business world.” He takes a sip of his drink, looking smug with himself. “There’s nothing you can do now. Welcome to the family,” he laughs smugly.
Ezra glances at me before staring at my father. “The wedding is off.”
Father chokes on his drink and starts coughing .
“You can’t do that!” Mom cries out, pulling on her pearls around her neck. I watch the poor thing nearly giving in to the power of her anger.
“I can, and I’m doing it.” He walks to Bea who still hasn’t uttered a word. “I am sorry, Beatrice. You’re probably a wonderful woman, but this marriage won’t be happening.” He sends me a quick glance before returning to Bea who watches him from under her brows. “It was a mistake to ever make this deal with your father.”
Bea doesn’t say a word, to my surprise, but watches Ezra like a predator watches its prey.
“The whole world knows about this!” my father bellows. “Do you think you’ll have your company after that? They’ll take it away from you because you can’t keep your promise. I will destroy you!”
I can tell he’s telling the truth. His pride got hurt. The whole world will know about this rejection. My father won’t let it slide.
“Noah.” Ezra suddenly turns to his brother. “What was said in the announcement?”
“That the Wrongs and Kings are going to unite in a sacred ceremony,” Noah explains quickly like he rehearsed it.
“Were the names given?”
“No.”
Ezra, still standing next to Bea, turns toward me. “Then the Wrongs and Kings will unite.”
A moment of silence is a welcome gift. I can almost hear the mechanism moving inside my parents’ heads trying to figure out how it’s still possible. I must admit I’m confused as well.
“How?” Mom asks.
“I will marry a Wrong,” he says while looking at me. “Just a different one.”
Everyone gasps. I do it louder than them .
“What?” Father looks between me and Ezra. “You will marry her?” He points at me. “Maeve?”
“Yes,” Ezra confirms with a nod.
“Are you sure? I mean, you’re a public figure, and she doesn’t look like a wife you want to show off.” Father chuckles with a smug smile on his face. “No one in our world would take you seriously if you married her,” he finishes, after giving me a quick onceover.
The next movement is a blur. Ezra grabs the front of my father’s shirt and gives him a good shake. “I will forgive you this time. And only this time, because you are her father. But you’ve just run out of your free passes. From now on, talk with respect when you mention my fiancé or don’t talk at all.”
My father opens his mouth to say something, but Ezra brings him closer to his face. “Nothing at all.”
I can almost feel my father’s turmoil about the situation. This humiliation he’s experiencing in front of everyone. Threats to his authority. I wish I could say I felt bad, but I don’t. He humiliated Bea and me a lot of times throughout our childhood for tiny things, so I don’t give a shit. Plus, their size difference makes it a little comical, and I nearly want to chuckle. Seeing how small my father looks next to Ezra, I don’t understand how I could ever fear him before. All those times I thought he was larger than our fucked-up life, but now, I see how small he really is. How miserable with his false ideals.
When Ezra lets him go, he walks to me. “Our families made a deal.” His jaw is tight, his eyes cold. “You will marry me.”
“I don’t recall you asking.”
He leans closer and whispers so only I can hear. “You owe me. For that fire.” He pulls away and announces to everyone louder. “The wedding will take place. The bride will be different.”
I step away to look at his face because for a moment there, I forgot who I’m dealing with. The asshole from the airport. The man who’s always thinking about the next deal. I’ve become his next deal.
“No,” I hiss into his face.
“Yes,” he hisses back, grabbing my arm and dragging me toward one of the closed doors. His grip is strong but doesn’t hurt. And this is the only reason why I’m not clawing at his arm. “I need a minute alone with my bride,” he announces to the room in a tone that suggests not to argue.
“Mae?” Bea’s only word for the day.
“I’m fine.” I nod to her, following Ezra to a separate room which looks to be a small restaurant area.
Shutting the door behind us, he turns to me and leans in. “You fucking owe me. You nearly cost me my company because of that fire. And now you’ll help to get it back.”
I move my jaw from side to side, imagining his jugular between my teeth.
“You will marry me,” he repeats, using the same commanding voice he saves for bed. “Or I’ll turn you over to the authorities back in New York and you will go to jail for arson.”
Jail sounds much better right about now than the prospect of marrying him.
“My father told you that you will regret it,” I say to him, truly believing my own words. “I am the way I am because I wanted to run away from this life. And now you want me to return to the life I hate?”
His nostrils flare. The muscles on his jaw move under his skin as he leans to my face. “Why are you here?” His voice is an angry whisper.
“What? ”
He inches closer. “Why the fuck did you come back to this island? Back to your family and this lifestyle if you despise it so much?”
I clamp my jaw tight, trying not to bite his vile tongue off.
“Why did you come back, Maeve?”
He doesn’t need my answer because he already knows it. I’ve said it before, and he’s using it against me.
“You know why,” I hiss through gritted teeth.
His eyes dart between mine before he pulls away. “Exactly.” With that, he opens the door and walks out, right to the bar where he pours himself a hefty drink, almost to the brim. And then he downs it in one go.
When I’m done shooting daggers into the back of my probably-groom, I walk back into the room too, where my mother rushes toward me. “You will marry him,” she announces loudly with a raised head, like she’s announcing the queen of England entering the room.
“What is it with you people and your obsession with this archaic tradition?” I say more to myself, knowing well enough I’m losing this battle.
“This is how our world works, Maeve, and whether you like it or not, you’re part of it,” she says, picking invisible lint from her shirt. “The faster you accept it, the easier it will become.”
My blood starts boiling. I’ve been here for all of two hours, and my parents have already put the weight of their decision-making on my shoulders. They’ve always done that. Always making life-altering decisions for us, only to inform us when it’s a done deal.
I shift my attention to Ezra who’s watching me from behind the rim of yet another full glass. His stare is intense. He’s not the same person I spent the last week with. He’s just another dictator.
If I marry him, I get financial freedom. I think. He’s wealthy, and he’ll become even more so after this deal is done—he clearly needs something valuable from my father if he’s willing to marry me of all people. Plus, I get to be away from them, my own family, who obviously didn’t miss me much.
Half of all marriages end up in divorce, and we for sure will be among them. I’ll just have to figure out how to survive until then.
I find my sister who still hasn’t uttered a word throughout the whole scene. She’s silently watching everyone in the room with arms crossed over her chest. Her stare is heavy. Offended.
She was the one who wanted to marry him. Will she forgive me if I take this unfortunate opportunity as my own way out? Maybe I can help her when I have my freedom.
“Okay,” I sigh, making everyone let out the breath the whole room had been holding. All for different reasons.
The only one that surprises me the most is Ezra’s. It’s not victory I see in his eyes.
It’s relief.