15. Declan
Declan
T he house is a monstrosity, complete with a stone fountain that’s way too phallic. I’m still in my car, reluctant to go inside where I’ll need to watch every word like I’m walking through a minefield.
For the past year, Lily’s always been at my side when my presence has been requested, either here or at my family’s estate. She hadn’t enjoyed coming, bearing through them with a smile because I’d asked her to, and now I had just another regret to pile onto everything else.
I should've told her I despised these things, too.
Movement catches my eye, and I look up just as the double front doors open wide, spilling light down over the concrete steps. Silvia steps through them, sending a beaming smile in my direction and a tired sigh escapes me.
Silvia has always been part of my life. Our families were part of the same social sect, and our fathers were best friends, so we’d been forced into constant contact with each other.
At the moment, she seems to be there every time I turn around, making snide little digs about Lily or just sticking her nose in where it’s not wanted.
The urge to tell her to fuck off is getting harder to resist.
Knowing I’m out of time, I climb out of the car and head towards her. “Silvia,” I greet coolly.
“Hi, Declan,” she says brightly, then makes a show of looking around.
“Oh. No Lily? That’s too bad!” Her mouth drops in sad surprise, and I eye her warily.
She comes forward, trying to link her arm in mine, but I pretend not to see, stepping away from her.
Her expression falls, but she regroups quickly.
“Come on, everyone else is already here.”
She leads me into the formal dining room, where I take a seat between Darcy and my younger brother, Nolan, before Silvia can force me into a seat beside her.
My father is already seated at one end of the table, Darius Huntington at the other, and their wives beside them.
Silvia ends up next to her mother and directly across from me, looking pleased.
My father glares at me coldly, mustache bristling. “Glad you could join us,” he states thinly.
Without hesitation, I say silkily, “Sorry for the delay, I was taking an important call.”
Interest crosses his expression, but Mom leans forward before he can ask. “No business talk at the table.” She smiles at me, her eyes warm. “It’s so nice to see you, darling.” She blinks, her eyes widening. “What happened to your eye?”
Everyone looks at me, and Silvia gasps dramatically, “Oh my god! I didn’t even notice.”
“It’s nothing,” I say. “Just an accident at the gym.”
Darcy narrows her eyes, and I shrug her off. Before anyone else can ask more questions, a hired server appears behind me, asking for my drink order.
When I face my mother again, I smile, “Nice to see you, too, Mom. We’ll have to do lunch next week.” The server sets my bourbon down in front of me and I murmur a quiet thank you.
My mother’s eyes sparkle with delight. “I’d love that. And bring Lily, of course.” Her brows dip, forming a tiny furrow between them. “Where is she, darling? I was looking forward to catching up and asking about your honeymoon, as short as it was.” The last words are chiding.
I sip my drink, choosing my words carefully. “She wasn’t feeling well. I left her lying in bed with a nasty headache and some painkillers.” Out of the corner of my eye, Silvia frowns but I don’t look in her direction .
“That’s too bad,” Mom says sympathetically.
“I’ll join you for lunch,” Darcy pipes in. “We should go to that new Parisian cafe we were talking about yesterday.”
“Oh, lovely!” Mom trills happily, and then peeks at Nolan, who pretends not to notice. After a second, she shrugs delicately, “Two out of three isn’t bad.”
I hide my smile behind my glass, even as Nolan huffs. “I’m busy that day.”
“But Nolan…” Darcy leans around me to shoot wide-eyes at him. “We didn’t say a day.”
“Shut up,” he whisper-hisses back.
“That’s enough,” Mom says. “I know Nolan doesn’t enjoy spending time with his mother.
It’s okay, I understand.” Her voice drops with disappointment, and Nolan groans, throwing his head back, but the conversation shifts away when Darius starts telling everyone about his newest acquisition, a 200-foot yacht that he’s planning on taking out over the weekend.
Nolan leans toward me, whispering out of the side of his mouth, “Where’s Lily really? I’ve heard rumors.” He shoots a pointed look at Silvia and I frown.
“What rumors?”
“Declan, Nolan,” my father suddenly snaps, cutting Darius off mid-sentence. “Stop whispering like children.”
Nolan leans back in his chair, resentment simmering in his eyes as he watches our father, but there’s no point in engaging. Not here. It’s what he wants, a public way of dressing us down, to prove he still controls the leashes he’s wrapped around our necks.
We get through the first course without further incident, but when the staff are setting the second course down, Darius leans forward, keen eyes on me.
“I’m surprised your honeymoon was so brief,” he tells me, an undercurrent to his words. “I could’ve sworn that your mother told me you’d be gone for two weeks, not three days.”
Mom interjects. “Oh, you know how business can be, Darius. I’m sure Lily understood.” She looks at me questioningly, and I just nod .
“Of course, of course,” Darius says smoothly. “I just would hate for there to be trouble in paradise already.”
His wife, Elena, snaps her fingers and a server appears from behind her, a wine bottle already ready to top up her glass. “I know it had tongues wagging, you rushing back so suddenly.” She lifts her eyebrows.
Before I can respond, Silvia lifts her own wine glass, declaring, “Well, I know I wouldn’t be happy with my husband treating me like that. But Lily’s always been a little different.” I stiffen, but it’s Nolan who speaks up.
“Stay in your lane, Silvy.”
Her eyes flash. “My name is Silvia.”
Nolan leans back in his seat, saying drolly, “And I’m aware of that fact.”
“Nolan,” my father growls, and a tense atmosphere blankets the room. Darcy nudges me, tipping her head subtly across the table. Our mother is looking around, her expression troubled.
I shake my irritation off, quietly telling Nolan, “Not here.”
Once the last course has been finished and the plates cleared away, my father stands abruptly, glaring over at me. “We need to talk.”
On either side of me, Darcy and Nolan wince in sympathy, but I don’t give any reaction except a slight lift to my eyebrows.
“Is now really appro—” my mother starts.
“Don’t interfere, Abigail,” my father cuts her off sternly, not even looking at her. Mom frowns, looking over at me before shaking her head and looking away.
Smiling genially, like nothing is amiss, Darius offers, “Use my study, Donald.”
My father stalks out of the room.
“If you’ll excuse me,” I murmur, pushing back my chair and walking out after him. By the time I shut the door of Darius’ study, my father has already made himself comfortable behind the desk and I inwardly roll my eyes.
It’s such an obvious power move, and fills me with amusement that he thinks it’s necessary. I take a chair across from the desk, slumping insolently and sending him a curious look.
“What can I do for you?” I ask, with a bland smile .
The tips of his ears go red, but he keeps control of his temper. “This whole thing has gone too far,” he announces without preamble, mouth trembling slightly.
“What whole thing would that be?” I ask casually.
He opens his mouth, but I cut him off with a sharp grin.
“Do you mean the whole thing where you orchestrated me into a relationship and misled me about the reasons for it? Or is it the one where you undermine my position as CEO at Nexus, threatening the company in the process?”
He jerks back, chair squeaking under him. “You don’t know what you’re talking about, Declan, and it’d do you well to remember your place.”
“My place,” I echo quietly.
“Yes, your place.” He leans forward, planting his hands on the desk. “Carl Ledger has been on the phone to me,” he informs me staunchly, like he’s sharing new information. “You’ve got the entire board wondering about the image you’re presenting to the shareholders.”
“What image is that?” I ask disinterestedly, enjoying the way he bristles.
He smiles nastily. “The one where you marry a woman for her father’s company, and then leave her on the honeymoon.”
“I can see that you kept your involvement in the scheme quiet,” I observe.
“Shall we show the board whose idea it was for me to get into a relationship with Lily? And should we also show them who was behind the recent sabotage attempts of Hi-Tech?” I cross my ankle over my knee, watching him.
“Interesting, isn’t it, that just when I’m about to close the deal, you’d try and sink the company through Hi-Tech’s suppliers. ”
His face goes red, white and then purple—an entire myriad of colors. “You don’t know what you’re talking about,” he hisses. “None of this would be a problem if you hadn’t bloody married her! You were supposed to date the girl, get the company, and then dump her!”
“Why?”
“Because it’s the least that Grant Foster deserves!
” He’s yelling now, standing up and leaning over the desk, spittle flying.
I don’t comment, watching him with disinterest as he tries to pull himself together.
“ Look, we can still fix this. Silvia is prepared to forgive your mistakes, as long as you dissolve the marriage.”
I scoff. “What the hell does Silvia have to do with anything?”
He eyes me coldly. “The plan was always to join our families. You went off script with this wedding, and you know it. You will divorce Lily Foster, and after a decent period of time, you will make your relationship with Silvia public.” His mouth is a thin line of disapproval as he retakes his seat.
“We’ll have to play it just right. We can’t have your poor choices affecting Nexus, but I also won’t condemn you to a loveless marriage.
You’ll need to be above reproach, but I’m sure we can spin the narrative to paint the Fosters in a bad light.
I have a connection with The Daily Times who’ll jump at the chance to help. ”
“My marriage to Lily stands.”
He blinks, not having expected that. I slowly get to my feet, affecting a calm that doesn’t reflect the turmoil inside.
“I don’t know what you and Darius are planning,” I tell him in a soft warning, “but leave me and Lily out of it.”
“Don’t be stupid,” he grits out, molars grinding.
“Silvia is a much more suitable match, and we always knew how this game would end—with the Fosters’ ruin.
” He puts his elbows on the desk, hands clasped together.
“Remember, boy… Nexus Capital is mine. You might be in the CEO position, but it was my power that gave it to you.” A dangerous smile curls his lip.
“And it’s in my power to take it away. I’m the one playing the game, son.
You’re just one of my pawns that I’m moving around the board. ”
I shake my head, leaving without another word. Unable to stomach the idea of mundane conversation, I beeline for the front door. Just before I can make my escape, heels clatter against the floor behind me. I turn to find Silvia there, staring up at me, her bottom lip dropping into a pout.
“You’re not leaving, are you? I was hoping we could spend some time together. I’ve been waiting for your call to tell me it’s over. What’s the hold up, Dec?” Her eyes gleam brightly, like she might shed a tear or two, but I stare down at her impassively.
“No. ”
“No?” she laughs huskily. “No, what?” She reaches out to touch my arm and I jerk away before she can touch me.
“Don’t even think about it,” I tell her curtly.
“Declan—” she whines, but my lip curls in a snarl.
“What the hell have you been telling our fathers?” She falters, falling back a step. “Why the fuck,” I hiss, “do they think anything would ever happen between us? Is this why you’ve been practically stalking me?”
“Declan—”
“You know what? It doesn’t matter.” I shake my head and turn away from her, heading out the door.
“You can’t be serious!” she yells after me. “She’s not meant to be your wife, Declan!”
“Even if she wasn't my wife, you still never would be, Silvia.”
I don’t look back, getting behind the wheel of my car and starting the engine. Just before I can drive away, the passenger door swings open.
I turn, surprised to find Nolan sliding into the car, followed by Darcy darting into the backseat, shouting, “Get us out of here, Jones!”
Nolan frowns. “Who the fuck is Jones?”
“I don’t know,” she shrugs, and then points a finger back at the house where our father has appeared, with my mother and Silvia beside him. “Drive, Dec! Quick, before they suck us back in!”
I don’t argue.