Chapter 29
HARRISON
Between the baby being born, Dad’s retirement, Mom’s unrelenting questions about the wedding, and Christmas coming up soon, it felt like the world was spinning faster than I’d ever experienced it before. Yet, as I walked into Aurelia’s building, all I could think about was her.
“I’m not ready yet,” she called from upstairs when I let myself into her apartment just like we’d agreed.
“Can I come up, or should I just stay down here and have my breath stolen when you appear at the top of the stairs?”
“Nope, come on up. You’re helping.”
I chuckled, grabbed the banister, and jogged upstairs, pushing her bedroom door the rest of the way open and having my breath stolen anyway.
Aurelia’s golden hair hung in waves around her shoulders and she was barefoot, the skirt of her gown bunched in one of her hands like she was about to just rip it off.
She huffed and shoved the fabric at me. “I need you to hold this. Please. Thank you. And oh, hi. How was your day?”
“Uh, it was fine. What is this?” I blinked down at the mass of emerald-green silk and boning. “What am I supposed to do, iron it with my body heat or something? Because I will.”
Her laugh lit up the whole damn room. “No, just come with me. The straps are impossible.”
Another half of the gown lay sprawled across the bed like some kind of puzzle from hell. Crisscrossing straps, hooks, hidden zippers. My eyes widened as I stared down at it.
Whoever designed this thing hated men. Or at least, the men who’d want to take it off later. Like me.
“All right, turn around,” I said, trying to sound like I knew what the hell I was doing. “That part goes over this part, right?”
She chuckled and obeyed, pulling the bodice snug against her front as she turned her back on me. “Yeah, I think so. I’m just not entirely sure where my arms and my head are supposed to go.”
I picked up the fabric on the bed, spreading it out a little before I found a strap, then realized I had no idea where it was supposed to go either. “Is this supposed to cross behind your shoulders? Because if not, I think I just invented a new neckline.”
She peeked over her shoulder and grinned at me. “You’re hopeless.”
“Hopeless? I closed a billion-dollar deal last month, Aurelia. I can handle a dress.”
I could not handle the dress.
When we finally had it in place, the zipper caught halfway, the straps twisted, and at one point, I had both hands buried in the silk, muttering curses under my breath while she giggled like this was the best entertainment she’d had all year.
“Stop laughing,” I growled while I fought with the zipper like a valiant knight.
“I can’t help it, you’re so serious. It’s adorable.”
Adorable. Great. Exactly how every man wants to feel when he’s elbow-deep in couture.
Finally, after more struggling than I would ever admit to, the zipper slid home. I stepped back, ready to gloat, but instead, I froze.
Aurelia turned to face me, the gown falling into place around her body. It hugged every curve before the skirt flared out from her thighs. She looked like she’d stepped straight out of some winter fairy tale, fierce and impossibly beautiful.
All I’d been able to think about the last few days was how she’d looked in that red dress, but in this, she was still the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. Her eyes twinkled with amusement as she stared back at me, even doing a little twirl.
“I’m going to take the drool running down your chin as a compliment,” she said. “Are you disappointed that I’m not Jessica Rabbit tonight?”
“Nope.” It felt easy, being here with her like this. Too easy, maybe. “You could be wearing a burlap sack and I wouldn’t be disappointed. I am going to be jealous of every other man who sees you tonight, though.”
She smiled and I reached out. My fingers brushed against her skin as I smoothed out a stubborn strap across her shoulder. A tremble ran through her at my touch. I almost shivered too, but I cleared my throat instead.
“Right, so what else do we need to get done?”
“Just jewelry and putting my hair back together.” She pointed me toward her dresser. “Can you put that necklace on for me?”
We worked in tandem like a well-oiled machine, her pulling on jewelry and smoothing her hair while I straightened my tie and checked my cufflinks after fastening the necklace. As we went through the motions, I glanced at her. “What are you expecting tonight?”
“Well, my parents are obviously going to be there. Knowing my mother, they’re going to slip an engagement announcement into the program.”
“Yeah, I suspected as much,” I said.
In their world, a whirlwind romance leading to a quick marriage wasn’t scandalous. It was practically tradition. If anything, the speed of it all would only make the story juicier for the guests.
“What about CC? Has she told her friends yet?”
I scoffed. “Probably, but if I’m being honest, I’m a little put off by the way she’s been behaving. She didn’t say a word to you at dinner. Did she talk to you yesterday at the hospital?”
“Briefly, but I get what you mean. Something has been off about my mom’s behavior since she found out, too. I’m not a fan of either of them right now.”
I hummed my agreement. “CC wasn’t exactly warm to you. Do you think your parents are going to be the same with me?”
Her brush paused mid-stroke as she touched up her makeup. “She wasn’t unkind, but no. She wasn’t warm. She’s skeptical. I understand it, but you don’t have to worry about my parents.”
She gave me a smile. “They’re going to love you. For what it’s worth, my mother would’ve treated me the same way yours did, taking my measure and deciding if I’m a worthy investment. I’ve been watching her doing it to my brothers’ girlfriends since they first started dating.”
I frowned. “You are more than worthy.”
There was a flicker of something in her eyes, a softening that did things to my chest I wasn’t prepared for, but then she shook it off, smoothing her gown as she stepped away from the mirror.
“Either way, it doesn’t matter. They’ll announce our engagement, people will gasp, the orchestra will play louder to cover it, and we’ll be one step closer to everything being settled so we can get down to business.”
Business. Right. That’s what this was supposed to be.
I nodded and slipped my jacket back on. We were ready, both prepared to endure the night and do what we did best—strategizing, playing the game, and finalizing the deal.
Except that wasn’t what I wanted anymore.
Not when she was standing there in that gown, looking at me with a sparkle in her eye that dared me to forget the plan. Not when I remembered what it’d felt like to be inside her. How easily she’d laughed with my family and how well she’d fit in.
She caught me staring, her lips twitching like she knew exactly what was going through my head. “What?”
I stepped closer to her and lowered my voice. “What I want tonight has nothing to do with the ball. Or engagement announcements. Or our mothers.”
Her eyes lit up. “Really? What does it have to do with?”
I let my gaze travel deliberately over the impossible gown. “Getting that dress off you. Although it’s going to be a hell of a struggle. I might stop to buy a pair of scissors on the way home. Fair warning.”
Her responding laughter was soft and wicked, and it made me harder than a rock. I should’ve suggested we skip the damn ball altogether, barricade ourselves in her apartment, and convince her to let me slice through every strap, zipper, and button on that dress.
Instead, I held out my arm. “Shall we?”
She slipped her hand around my elbow, and unfortunately, that meant we were ready to leave. The drive to her parents’ place in Pacific Heights didn’t take long. By the time we pulled through the gates and up the long winding driveway, my jaw was already set.
Clearly, Aurelia’s parents didn’t do anything halfway. Every tree was wrapped in gold ribbon and twinkling with a thousand tiny bulbs. The whole place looked like a Christmas card.
Aurelia slipped her hand through my arm as we stepped out of the car, her ring catching the light spilling through the windows. She tilted her face up at me, her lips curving into a smile that was dangerous to my heart.
“Are you ready for this?” she asked softly.
“No, but don’t worry. I’m pretty good at playing this game.”
I really was. The games played by the elite were a story as old as time. Smiles that didn’t reach eyes. Questions disguised as compliments. I’d been raised in it and I’d survived, but this time, I wasn’t playing for myself.
The house smelled like cinnamon and pine inside. A choir sang carols from somewhere I couldn’t see, guests already mingling with flutes of champagne in their hands. Regina and Richard swept toward us in practiced unison, all warmth and poise.
“Darling,” Regina cooed, kissing Aurelia’s cheek like she hadn’t seen her for years. Richard clasped my hand with the firmness of a man who wanted to project more strength than he had. I expected the interrogation to start then, but it didn’t come.
They didn’t ask questions. They didn’t probe. There were no careful, suspicious looks at the ring on Aurelia’s hand. They simply moved on, as if our engagement was nothing more consequential than being five minutes late.
I felt my eyebrows pinch together, confusion clashing with something uglier in my chest—the knowledge that they didn’t care.
Their daughter, an incredibly smart, beautiful, wonderful woman, was standing here, newly engaged, and her parents had barely blinked. There hadn’t even been a flicker of concern that she might be rushing into something dangerous, or wrong, or unwise.
The least they could’ve done was care enough to question me. To make me prove I deserved her, but nope. Maybe it was still coming, but I found myself tightening my grip on Aurelia’s hand anyway, my jaw aching from how hard I was clamping it shut.
One thing was suddenly painfully clear to me. If her parents refused to protect her, I would.
We found our table and made small talk with the other guests, but when the Van Alens joined us, I was surprised that Regina seemed to be talking about our wedding to the woman who’d come to the table with her.
“…five hundred people at least,” she gushed. “We’re planning it for next summer at our estate in the Hamptons. Think tents on the lawn, sunset, a cathedral veil, and—”
Aurelia tried to cut in. “Mom, I don’t—”
Regina talked right over her, steamrolling her daughter like her opinion about this truly didn’t matter. “We’ll have a live band, of course. No DJ.”
Something inside me snapped. Aurelia clearly didn’t want this, and as my bride, she was going to get exactly what she wanted.
“Actually, we’re getting married on Christmas Eve in New York,” I said, my voice sharp enough that all the chatter around the table immediately ceased. “In the morning. I’ve already booked the venue.”
I hadn’t, of course, but the lie came out smooth, practiced, and unshakable.
Regina scoffed, unimpressed, like I’d just confessed to renting out a diner for the occasion. “Christmas Eve? As in, this Christmas Eve?”
Her mouth curled like the words themselves were vulgar. Disgusting.
I didn’t bother responding to her. My eyes were on Aurelia, who was glowing. She was looking at me like I’d handed her the world on a silver platter, giving me a soft, private smile and squeezing my hand under the table.
That was enough.
“Excuse us,” I said, standing and tugging her up with me before either of her parents could argue. I swept her straight onto the dance floor, letting the crowd swallow us up.
“You lied to my mother,” she said, her eyes sparkling with amusement as her body fit against mine. “Unless you really have booked a venue and forgot to tell me.”
“Yeah, no. I lied,” I admitted. “We don’t have any reason to wait, though. Work starts up again in January. It’ll be better to get it done before that.”
Her lips parted, curving into a slow, devilish smile. She tilted her head to look me straight in the eye. “Bossing you around is going to be so much fun, but if you’re serious about Christmas Eve, I hope you know we’re going to have our work cut out for us.”