Chapter 17
17
BENNETT
I look at my notifications and let out a sigh. I thought I was going to have more time but given the text message that just arrived in the family group chat, that time is up and I’m going to get my ass chewed out by a seventeen year old girl.
Samantha
What the HELL is this?!?!?!?!
There’s no point in clicking on the link that she sent, I know where it leads to. A news article that states that I’m getting married.
I knew that news was going to start circulating from the second that everyone started leaving the board meeting last Friday, I’m just a bit surprised that it took them this long to get it out into the world.
The press probably needed concrete evidence that I was in deed getting married, and since Ella and I went to get out marriage license yesterday after work, they got it.
Even though having news articles talk about my upcoming nuptials, I send the article over to Henry in a separate message thread and tell him to get rid of it.
From what I can tell, Ella is hiding something. What exactly, I haven’t found out yet, even Dante is having a hard time with it, but whatever it is, is enough to make her skittish. So if I can protect her from whatever it is she is hiding from, then I will.
How husbandly of you.
Another message comes through, taking me away from my thoughts. This time the message is from Elliot.
Elliot
it looks like our dear uncle finally decided to give us an aunt
Samantha
Since when???? Who is she and why the hell did I have to find out through a damn tabloid?!??!?!?
I can hear her wrath all the way from here. Out of all the kids, Samantha is the most protective of me. Every time, I brought someone around when they were younger, she would alway do her best to ice that person out to give them a look to let them know what they are not welcomed. Which is why I knew I had to tell her and Grayson about what was going on. I just haven’t gotten to it. Planning a wedding in a week, even a small one is time consuming. Add work on top of that, there was no time left in the day to talk to the kids.
Hopefully once she meets Ella, she warms up to her. I don’t know if I would be able to make it two years with her mad dogging my wife every chance she gets.
Did I just think of Ella as my wife?
Great. I’m not even married and I’m already have my brain thinking that this marriage is real.
Grayson
I have so many questions, but the first one…. Is she hot???
I roll my eyes at the screen and decide to intersect before the messages get out of hand.
Me
I’ll explain tonight. Grayson, Samantha I’m sending over a car, be ready by three.
I look at my screen for about a minute, waiting to see if they start back up again, but all I get is okays from the two teenagers and the chat quiets down. I really should have called them home when Ella and I agreed to this, but I didn’t know how to admit that I essentially hired my assistant to be my wife for two years.
I still don’t but at least I have a better understanding of the situation than I did last week.
Was it stupid for me to ask the woman that has been in my head for over a month now to be my wife so that I could become CEO? Yeah it was.
The fact that she even agree still astonishes me even days later.
From the sounds of it, she needs me just as much as I need her.
She could have asked for anything in the world, and she only asked for a million dollars. I would have given her a hundred million if it would have made her agree.
Why would she only what a million? Maybe she is looking to buy a house. Or she thinks that a million would set her up for life. I want to believe that it’s one of those two things but the way she wouldn’t even look at me when she mentioned the amount tells me that there’s more to it. Something that may scare her, but I doubt that she will ever tell me what it is.
She may have started to become comfortable around me at the office, but this situation is different and she has yet to give me all of her trust. I saw it in the way she didn’t go into all the details of her childhood and I felt it when she asked for the money.
Who knows if I will ever earn it but it wouldn’t hurt to try.
Maybe once she moves in, it will be easier.
Since today is the day before the wedding and move in day for Charlie and Ella, I gave Ella the day off and I decided to work from home to get things done.
Which isn’t really happening because every few minutes I’m getting distracted with thoughts of Ella. All morning, I’ve been trying to finish a proposal for our applied science department, but instead I’m thinking of ways to make Ella’s life a little easier. Both while we are married and after. After another fifteen minutes, I give up on the proposal and start working on things for Ella.
And that how I spend most of the afternoon. Thinking about all things Ella, including setting up an appointment for a jeweler to come to the house tomorrow morning before the wedding so that we can pick out our wedding rings.
I hesitated with that.
Marriage may not have been something that I planned on doing, but if I ever did, I always thought that I would propose with one of my mother’s rings. Her wedding ring would be perfect for Ella. Hell a lot of my mother’s jewelry would be perfect for Ella, but it’s too much. This is only for two years, I can’t risk loosing something that meaningful. For now, all of my mother’s pieces will go to the kids and hopefully they are able to appreciate them when the time comes.
“Mr. Lane,” Henry announces as he walks in to my home office, taking my concentration away from the look book of suits that was emailed to me by the personal shopper that I hired for the wedding.
“Yes?” I ask, looking up at the old man who is holding out a glass of water, which I take.
“Miss Samantha and Mr. Grayson just arrived and I will say that Miss Lane doesn’t not look all that happy.”
I chug down my water, trying to give me more before I have to deal with my teenage niece. In times like these, I think of my mother and wonder if I would be this scared of her if she were still here.
“Maybe Ella will become a good female role model for her and calm down some of the anger rolling through her.” I say, handing the glass back to Henry.
“One could hope, sir.”
A second later, the front door opens and I hear footsteps approaching the home office.
I let out a sigh. “Make sure that Drake is occupied and I’ll handle the teenagers.”
“Of course.”
As Henry leaves the room, Grayson and Samantha appear with Elliot right behind them. I watch as all three of them greet Henry in a way grandkids would greet their favorite grandfather.
Once the kids are in the room and Henry is gone, all the warm and fizzy greetings disappear and in their place are stares and stances that are defensive and full of questions.
“Before any questions come out, close the door.” I order Grayson, my fifteen year old nephew that desperately needs a haircut. His dirty bling hair looks like a damn mop.
I’ll have to call a barber to come in before the wedding tomorrow.
“Why are we closing the door?” Samantha asks, standing her ground as her brothers take a seat on the couch that I have in here.
“Because there are little ears around that can hear this conversation and we know for a fact that he can’t keep a secret.”
The fact that he came to me this morning and told me that Elliot took him to get ice cream at midnight after I’m sure his brother told him to keep a secret is telling enough.
“Drake doesn’t know that you’re getting married?” Sam asks, raising her eyebrows in the process.
“He knows, and he knows that we are going to have new people living here but I’m keeping the why of it all from him.”
“Do we get to know?” Grayson asks and I try to ignore the fact that he looks a lot like his dad right now.
“I’m surprised Elliot didn’t tell you already.”
Elliot shrugs. “I just thought that it would make more sense coming from you.”
I pinch the bridge of my nose. Sometimes I wish I didn’t have to deal with this shit.
I take a second to collect myself and explain to the Sam and Gray as to why that I’m getting married. I don’t go into much detail, like how long tis marriage will last and what she will be gaining from this, but I do tell them that it was a clause and this had to happen for me to meet it. They both ask questions and in the end Grayson looks just as confused and he did when he walked in here earlier and Sam actually looks like she understands.
“What’s her name?” Gray asks, trying to get all the information that he can.
“Ella.”
He nods like he likes the sound of her name. “How old is she?”
This is where I should lie, but I still find myself answering truthfully.
“Twenty-five.”
All three of their mouths fall open in disbelief.
“Dude, she’s only five years older than me?” Elliot lets out, a tinge of disgust in his voice.
Yup. I should have definitely lied.
“Doesn’t that make you a cradle robber?” Gray says, scratching his head, as if the answer to his question is going to magically pop up in his mind.
I should have definitely kept Ella’s age to myself. “No. I’m not a cradle robber.”
“But she’s way younger than you.” Sam throws out, having sat down next to her brothers about twenty minutes ago.
“Only by seven years.” I say through clenched teeth. Why am I even arguing with then about this? “Her age doesn’t matter. What matters is that she and her sister are moving in tonight and we are getting married tomorrow. And this marriage will be real. I don’t give a shit how you feel about this but you will respect her and her sister and treat them as if they are a part of this family. Do you understand?”
All three of them nod.
“Good. Anything else do you want to know?”
They look at each other and for a second it seems like they are having a silent conversation within the three of them.
Eventually it’s Grayson speaks. “How old is the sister?”
Please let it be that is asking that question out of curiosity and not because his hormones are going rampant.
“Sixteen. You might have actually already met her. Her name is Charlie and she started at Saint Christopher a few weeks ago.”
Grayson eyebrows shoot up and Sam looks like she is trying to run through faces at Saint Christopher to find the one that I might be talking about.
“Wait, Charlotte?”
“Yes. I’m guessing you’ve met.”
“We have a few classes together, but haven’t met her met her yet. She’s been keeping to herself since she started.”
I would too. If I got thrown into a new school without knowing a single person, I wouldn’t want to interact with anyone.
“Well as of tomorrow, she’s going to be family, so treat her as such.” Sam gives me a nod and before I turn to her brothers. “And that means not hitting on the girl. Think of her as your cousin, sister, whatever it takes not to flirt with her.”
“Damn. Do you seriously not have any confidence in us? That would be like flirting with Sammie and just the thought of it makes me gag.”
“Then keep thinking it.”
A knock sounds through the room and I turn in time to see Henry poke his head in.
“Sir, sorry to interrupt, but Ms. Vincent’s car has arrived.”
“Thank you, Henry.”
I guess this is it.
My life is changing yet again.
All because I want to hold the title that my father once held. There’s no going back now.
The next two years of my life are about to be begin.