Chapter 17
NATE
It turned out that sealing your fate in an arranged marriage felt a lot like quiet warfare, even if the parties involved weren’t even part of the battle. I sat at the head of the table beside Alex while two of our family lawyers flipped through the stack of documents in front of them.
My father occupied a square on the large screen at the far end of the room, his expression stern, attentive, and too calm for a conversation that was effectively outlining the rest of my life piece by piece.
“We’ve incorporated Miss Vanderhaul’s additional provisions,” one of the lawyers said, adjusting his glasses as he scanned the pages. “They’re extensive but very clear.”
I turned my gaze to the skyline beyond the glass wall behind them. Kate’s conditions weren’t about money. It looked like she couldn’t care less about trying to negotiate for more of it, regardless of everything she was sacrificing for this arrangement.
Every clause she’d asked to be added simply protected their firm’s involvement in Hinds’ financial management, every line reinforcing her loyalty to her family’s legacy. She hadn’t written a single provision about protecting herself emotionally.
Not that I’d expected she would.
In the meantime, Emma still hadn’t responded to my last message and her silence sat like lead in my chest. I also hadn’t spoken to Kate since she’d handed me that list and, with it, shattered any illusion that this marriage would ever resemble anything real.
Alex tapped the table lightly with his pen, drawing my attention back to the present. “Once the deal closes, we’ll need to begin the process of transitioning Hinds’ financial operations to Chicago. We can—”
“No,” I said firmly. “Nothing will change in that regard.”
Four sets of eyes snapped toward me. My father’s brows pulled together on-screen. Alex stilled slowly, like a predator sensing a shift in wind direction.
“I’m sorry,” he said carefully. “What do you mean nothing will change?”
“I mean Hinds’ operations will remain exactly where they are.”
“That’s not realistic,” Alex said, frowning. “Kate will be relocating here once you’re married. Her firm—”
“No,” I repeated. “That’s not how it’s going to work.”
He leaned back, looking at me like he was trying to determine whether I was posturing or losing my mind. “Okay. Would you like to tell us how it is going to work then?”
I clasped my hands together on the table. “Kate won’t be moving to Chicago. She’ll manage the account from New York as their firm has always done. She’s expressed very clear wishes about this and I won’t fight her on them.”
Deep in my chest, however, I recoiled just at having to say it out loud. Unlike my brothers, I’d always wanted to get married. It was something I’d actually looked forward to. I’d always wanted to be a husband and a dad.
I’d imagined a home filled with noise. A wife who’d chosen me as fiercely as I’d chosen her. Children who would grow up knowing the same kind of love my parents had given to us. Just because I’d known it would be an arranged marriage didn’t change that.
I’d grown up looking at the examples set by my mom and dad. Harlan and CC. Their relationships had made me think I could someday have that too.
Someone I cherished more than anything to grow old beside. Someone to love until it all ended. A partner for life who I’d be with forever.
Emma’s face should’ve been there in that vision. Even if I had no idea what she looked like, it was usually some blurry image of her that popped into my head when I thought about that future.
Instead, Kate’s face flashed across my mind today. Guilt surged through me so hard, it nearly knocked the wind out of me. I would have had that life with Emma. I knew I would. A real marriage. A family.
But here I am, agreeing to marry Kate.
Basically, if I went through with this, I was ensuring that I would never actually have a wife. Never have children. We’d exist like adjacent companies sharing a corporate umbrella—one name but separate operations, living separate lives in separate states.
I forced the thought away before it swallowed me whole. Alex was still watching me, waiting for something. I just didn’t know what.
“That’s it,” I said curtly. “She’s not moving here. End of story. The point is, don’t worry about having to transfer Hinds’ operations.”
He held my gaze for another second before sighing and turning back to the lawyers. The meeting dragged through clause after clause. I reviewed every line, making adjustments where I could. I expanded the standard financial protections even though they were already generous.
The dollar amounts included always provided for structured payouts at milestone anniversaries, significant assets allocated for any children born during the marriage, and long-term security that would follow her regardless of how or when this ended.
Even as I requested and authorized changes to allow for her to get more than the usual sums, I knew it would all be ceremonial. Kate and I would have no children and we wouldn’t share milestones. We definitely wouldn’t be celebrating anniversaries together.
Our marriage would consist of appearances, pictures taken of us together as we fulfilled our obligations in the public eye.
But if I wasn’t going to be having any kids anyway, I might as well provide for Kate to get more money than usual for every year she managed to tolerate seeing me every few months.
Eventually, the final draft slid toward me across the table and I picked up a pen, paging through the document one last time to make sure they’d included everything I’d just said. One of the lawyers stopped me as soon as I uncapped the pen.
“Are you certain about this, Mr. Westwood? That’s an astonishing amount of—”
I didn’t answer or even wait for him to finish. Instead, I just signed, the ink carving my name onto a future that was absolutely nothing like what I’d hoped my life might look like someday.
As soon as it was done, I slid the document back across the table, feeling like even just having it in front of me was somehow yet another betrayal of the woman who’d spent the last five years listening to my every thought, hope, and dream.
Alex stood just as I did, the scrape of his chair sharp against the hardwood. “Nate, hang back a second.”
I capped the pen and slid it into my inside pocket. “I have a lunch meeting to get to.”
His eyes narrowed slightly, his brow furrowed with concern. I’d known he’d be worried after this, which was why I’d made sure I had someplace to be. Alex might’ve recently decided to sacrifice himself to save Thayer Steelworks, but he was also deeply in love with his wife.
Hell, she even lived in the same fucking city and was always going to. My situation, although born from a similar kind of corporate need, was entirely different. I couldn’t talk to him about that right now.
There he was, literally living the life I imagined even though he’d never wanted it—and I was marrying a woman who only talked to me when she needed wine opened or calculations done.
“This isn’t just paperwork,” he said quietly as he followed me out of the boardroom. “She’s seriously going to be living in New York? Nate, are you even listening to me?”
“Yep, but I really do have a meeting to get to.”
It wasn’t technically a lie. It just wasn’t nearly important enough to justify the urgency I’d used to escape the room. Lunch with Colin Thayer. Casual. But effective since Alex didn’t know that.
He kept stride with me for another beat but nodded when I turned toward the elevator. “We’ll talk later.”
“Sure.”
I didn’t wait for him to respond. I just took off and walked the couple blocks to the restaurant where I was meeting his brother-in-law. It was halfway between our office buildings, a quiet, understated kind of place that wasn’t fancy or trendy enough to draw reporters or curious ears.
Colin was already seated when I arrived, scanning the menu intently until I joined him. He looked up at me and grinned. “You look like someone who was just forced to sell his favorite baseball team.”
I slid into the chair across from him. “That would depend on who bought them. This might be better or worse than that.”
He set the menu down. “Are you okay?”
I shrugged. “I spent the morning with the lawyers. What do you think?”
A server appeared, took our drink order, and vanished again. Colin leaned back, folding his arms loosely across his chest. “I had dinner with Jane and my mom last night. Alex wasn’t there. Apparently, he was buried in the legal hell of trying to finalize your prenup.”
“Oops,” I said, but I wasn’t really sorry at all. “I suppose I shouldn’t have made them change and add so many things this morning, then.”
He chuckled. “I’m sure he’ll survive. Outside of my sister, the thing your brother loves most in the world is that moment when the plan starts coming together. You signing that document brings him one step closer to that.”
“And he got to miss a dinner with his mother-in-law. I’m sure that helped.”
Colin laughed. “They’re actually getting along much better these days. I’m not sure he’ll ever totally forgive her, but he generally doesn’t seem to mind coming over anymore.”
“That’s just because he likes to spend time with you and Wyatt,” I joked, but I was also half-serious. “How are they? Your family, I mean.”
“All good,” he said, then suddenly tilted his head. “Jane mentioned she ran into Kate at the hair salon this week.”
My stomach dropped straight through the floor, but somehow, I managed to keep my voice neutral. “She did?”
Fuck. If she told Jane I’m seeing someone, I’m about to face the Westwood inquisition and not even the Spanish have anything on my family.
Colin didn’t seem to notice my quiet panic, though. “Yeah, she said they had an odd conversation.”
My insides turned to ice. “Odd? What was odd about it?”
“Apparently Kate seemed shaken. Jane said she looked thrown for a loop about the whole marriage thing and that she seemed pretty upset.”
I exhaled slowly, forcing the tension out through my nose. Thank God.
“She’s dealing with a lot right now,” I said. “Shit, it’s hard for me too and I’ve always known this was coming sooner or later. I can’t even begin to imagine what it’s like for her. A couple weeks ago, she was telling me how archaic this whole tradition is, and now, she’s been roped into it.”
“Yeah. Jane is struggling with how to help her.”
“Jane doesn’t need to do anything. She barely even knows Kate.”
Colin raised an eyebrow at me. “That’s not how Jane works and you know it. Besides, if anyone can help someone navigate this circus, it’s her. She literally went through the same thing just a few months ago.”
“Yeah.” I sighed, regretting snapping at him. “I know she just wants to help. I think, uh, our situation is just a bit different to her and Alex’s, is all.”
“Maybe you should consider calling in cavalry for support,” he said carefully. “Trent. Jameson. Maybe Callum? They’ve all survived some version of this madness. It could help to talk to them.”
“Kate doesn’t need a committee,” I said.
“You’re assuming this is about her.”
My gaze snapped up to his. “Isn’t it?”
Colin gave his head a light, quick shake.
“Look, I don’t know Trent or your cousins super well, but if I’m being honest, you and Kate don’t seem as sure about this as Jane and Alex did.
If fact, based on what Jane said about Kate and what I’m seeing from you right now, both of you are pretty fucking conflicted. ”
“Kate and I are strictly business, Colin. Neither of us need more pressure on this, and all those guys are so fucking happy, they give me cavities when I see them with their wives. Trust me, they won’t understand that Kate’s and my dynamic isn’t the same.”
“Maybe it could be.”
“Strictly business,” I repeated firmly. “Unlike my brother, my sister, and my cousins, I’m not just saying that because I’m in denial. I’ve never touched Kate and I never will.”
His eyebrows shot up. “How can you say that? You’re marrying her, for God’s sake. Marriage is forever, Nate. You can’t seriously think that it’s all just going to be quick, casual meetings with her for the next fifty years?”
I opened my mouth to respond, but my phone buzzed against the table and the notification that lit the screen made me forget what we’d even been talking about.
Emma.
Everything in me tightened, torn between that familiar, age-old thrill of hearing from her and the reality that soon I’d stop speaking to her altogether. I picked up the phone, my thumb hovering for half a second before I opened the message.
Emma: I’m free to meet on Friday night. Anytime after seven. We should definitely talk.
Relief hit first, sharp and immediate, but dread followed immediately after, which was completely ludicrous.
I’d been waiting five years to meet this woman.
Yet as I stared at my phone, the only thing left to do to finally make it happen was just sending her a message agreeing, and I couldn’t stop thinking about Kate.
“You good?” Colin asked. “You still haven’t answered my question and you’re staring at your phone like it might help you unlock the secrets to the universe.”
“Yeah, I’m fine.” I quickly tapped out a message in response. “Just confirming a meeting.”
“Ah. It’s always work with you,” he said as guilt, anger, and a righteous sense of how unfair this all was spread through me.
Our drinks arrived and my phone sat quietly beside my glass, my confirmation that I’d meet her on Friday night pulsing in my periphery like a countdown. Emma and Kate. The future I’d always wanted and the future I’d just signed my name to.
Suddenly, all I could think about was how choosing either path meant someone was going to get hurt.
Including me.
At this point, especially fucking me. Because there is no right answer. There’s only ever going to be a disaster.