Page 30 of Mr. Wicked

I wouldn’t let them.

But . . .

“Fuuuck.” I stood from my seat and began to pace the room, passing our head of finance, who hadn’t uttered a single word, and our in-house counsel, who had remained quiet, and Drake, who had also stayed silent. I stopped near our head of finance and asked her, “I understand memberships have dipped, especially in the marriage arm, but are you seeing an overall change in our revenue?” I hesitated, the question burning the back of my throat. “How ugly can things get?”

“If the marriage sector begins to plummet even further and we continue getting this type of press, affecting the other two arms, it’s hard to predict what things will look like in a week. Or even a month.” She glanced down, away from my line of sight. “Stating the obvious, but I can tell you that at least for the marriage arm and quite possibly the hook-up arm, we’re not going to see the growth we hoped for. Not at this rate.”

My hands clenched, my feet pounding the floor as I walked across the room and halted behind Holden’s chair, looking directly at Laura. “How do we stop this?”

“We can’t stop what’s already been done. The accusations are out there, and the rumor mill is worse than a California wildfire.” She leaned back in her chair, her arms crossed. “There isn’t anything people love more than a scandal that contradicts what’s been promised. So all we can do is try to bandage the bleeding.”

I gripped the back of Holden’s chair. “How?”

A smile moved across Laura’s lips. Something I didn’t know she was capable of. “We have to give them another narrative.”

My patience was already nonexistent, and it was running even thinner. “And that is?”

“Whether you realize it or not, you and your partners are the face of Hooked. How you conduct yourself, how you’re seen in public, will matter even more over the next couple of months.”

“You’ve made your point, Laura. The message of this meeting is loud and beyond clear.” I looked around the room, connecting with each set of eyes that stared back at me. “It sounds like you all need to hear me say that I don’t want to lose this company. Life is good. I want to keep things that way.” I wiped my mouth. “You’re telling me the narrative has to change. I’m asking you, How the fuck do I do it?”

The room turned even more silent. It was as if everyone in here had stopped breathing.

Laura shifted her gaze to Holden, to Easton, and then finally back to me. “You need to get married.”

I laughed.

And it came out so fucking hard and loud, I snorted. “I ... what?”

Laura nodded. “You need to show the world that you not only believe in the app and the service it provides, but you’re the result of what the app is capable of.”

I held the chair even tighter. If Holden weren’t sitting in it, there was a chance I would pick it up and throw it across the goddamn room. “Are you joking? Because you have to be. This all has to be one big fucking joke.”

“You don’t have to get married immediately,” she countered. “Whomever the woman is, you need to court her for several months. Have her move into your condo. Be seen with her in public.” She framed her hands around her tablet. “We need to make sure the media knows that Grayson Tanner is off the market because Hooked and its incredible software was able to match you with your soulmate.”

My fucking ears were on fire from her words.

My heart was pounding at a speed I couldn’t control.

Sweat was beginning to pool from every crevice of my body.

“I would say by the four-month mark, you have a wedding,” Laura said. “We’ll drop the photos with several news outlets. We’ll make sure there are shots of you two on your honeymoon. When you return home, we need to see the two of you walking your dog—if you don’t have one, we’ll get you one. A doodle or a Frenchie, something everyone coos over. We need you dining out together. Attending sporting events.” She paused. “You get the point.”

“A fucking doodle?” Heat was filling my face to the point where I had to wipe my brow. And possibly sit down, my feet suddenly no longer feeling steady. “No. No. No. And fuck no to everything.”

“Like I said, we have to change the narrative,” Laura added. “There’s no better way to do that, Grayson, than to prove them all wrong. The world doesn’t believe you’ll ever get married. Let’s show them you’re not only willing to do so, but you’ve found the woman of your dreams. And because of Hooked, you’re in the throes of love.”

“The throes of love?” I snapped. “What the fuck is that?”

This was impossible.

It couldn’t happen.

It wasn’t even an option.

I didn’t do love.

Commitment.

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