Chapter 1 #3
He scratched his chin and looked out the window, his disregard for me evident.
“The deal has already been made.” This is my responsibility.
“Santo doesn’t go back on deals, and neither do I.
” My burden. “You will not make a liar out of me. This is over, Brooklyn.” I am getting married.
For my family. To not be a disgrace to them, I have to do this. What I want be damned.
“I already know that,” I said, crestfallen.
Tucking loose strands of hair behind my ear, I tried to busy myself, so my disappointment didn’t shine through.
Only, it wouldn’t because I had been down this road plenty of times.
Enough to know that I had become good at hiding it.
Even if I hadn’t, he wouldn’t have realized it. He was oblivious in that way.
“Good, then it’s settled.” A concerning amount of excitement had his vocals fluctuating.
It was all I could do not to snicker at the absurdity unraveling before me.
So, like an artist who was no longer inspired, I put down the paintbrush and ceased trying, knowing the effort would be wasted.
I left things the way they were by looking out the window.
“This is the best solution for everyone involved.”
“What about me?” I didn’t intend for that to come out, only to allow the fleeting thought to echo in my mind.
“Especially you. I’m taking care of you the best way I know how. Have you ever worried about money before? You haven’t, and that’s because I’m one step ahead.”
I leaned my elbow against the door and forced a swallow past the nauseating feeling of someone gagging me with a spoon.
“You still haven’t told me who he is.” Luckily, none of them were bad guys, only scions, and that was the only qualification they needed.
Some were more like their father than I would have appreciated, but it didn’t seem as though I was getting a say.
“Santo said he would take care of it.” Confidence and misplaced trust laced his words, disturbing satisfaction for the role he played in all of this dancing in his eyes.
I smacked my lips and chuckled evilly. “Oh, so they are going to be ambushed too. Well, at least it isn’t just me.” I only liked to be a party of one when it was for something good. This atrocious experience I would gladly share with someone who was more deserving of the terrible news.
His thick eyebrows drew together, and he flickered a suspicious glance at the driver. “Unlike you, they will probably fall in line, realizing they don’t have another choice, unless they want to lose everything.”
“Who knows, maybe I’ll learn to love him.”
“Ridiculous.” He turned to me and narrowed his eyes, frowning.
“This plan? I agree.”
“Your notion of marriage. It’s not about emotions or feelings. It never has been. The reason why the Delucas are as prominent of a family as they are is because they don’t worry themselves with mundane things like fairytale love.”
“Some people—”
“Enough.” Reality wrapped its hand around my neck, squeezing to remind me of its presence.
“We are on the verge of losing it all. If the equestrian centers close up, I still have loans. They don’t just vanish, baby girl.
” My head was spinning. “The people who loaned the money to me want it back. Or is that another fairytale you’ve conjured up in your head? ”
He paused, but only in timing with the car coming to a startling and unexpected halt. Darting my eyes everywhere, I realized we were parked in front of a fifty-four-story skyscraper.
The building that was home to Deluca Industries.
The company where my fiancé worked.
The truth landed hard, stomping its heavy boot on my chest and cracking my ribs.
“If you wanted me to apply for a job, you could’ve told me earlier,” I said, remaining still in my seat until I knew for sure what the intention was. I had my suspicions, but I needed to hear it. Plus, it didn’t seem like the worst idea to make him work for it.
“Hopefully, your fiancé finds your indignation amusing. I do not, and I have someplace else to be. So do you, quite frankly.” His gaze met the driver’s in the rearview mirror, and he ushered with his fingers toward the door.
My heart was pounding. I was torn between whether it was because I was about to meet my fiancé for the first time, or because I was doing yet another thing for the betterment of a family I doubted knew how many times I’d bailed them out.
“Well, at least you’ll get to walk me down the aisle before you’re decrepit,” I joked, grabbing my purse with annoyance as the driver came around to my side and opened the door.
“I knew you’d see things my way.”
I rolled my eyes. Once I got out, I pushed my shoulders back and lifted my chin in a dignified stance.
“Should I call you and tell you who the lucky man—” I was cut off by the door closing.
They didn’t wait for me to walk into the building to start the engine.
They hardly waited for me to take a breath.
Next thing I knew, I was standing alone on a curb, the exhaust from my father’s town car clinging to my clothes.