Page 11 of The Silence of Monsters

“The only two options are to tell her the truth or lie. If we explain that this is the best way to keep my mother from bringing strange women to the house all the time, Winnie is smart enough to understand the reasoning behind our decision. Once she knows you’ll be in her life on a more permanent basis, I think she’ll focus on that. The details won’t matter.”

“We have to sit down and have a discussion with her before I come to the Cove. We can’t drop this on her with no warning.” Channing heaved out a deep breath and lifted her hands to rub at her irritated eyes. “I won’t tell her I’m doing this against my will. We come at it as a united front so she won’t hate you or see how manipulative you can be.” The light-blue in her eyes glowed like a solar flare. “You’re still her guardian. You need to show her right from wrong.” She waved her hands around wildly, indicating the courthouse and the men I brought with me. “All of this is so very wrong.”

I lifted an eyebrow as we stared each other down. “You know that there is a high likelihood Winnie will take over Halliday Inc., don’t you? I don’t have children. Archie is gone. My mother would rather lose everything she has than let my father’s bastard son take over. That leaves Winnie. She needs to know how things work when you’re a Halliday. This could be a very important lesson for her.” I was only partially serious. Winnie was the next in line to take over the family legacy, but I wanted more for her than to be chained to a familial obligation for the rest of her life. I was achingly aware of what it was like to live at the end of that criminally short leash.

Channing’s hand tightened on my arm where she was holding me. She narrowed her eyes at me and practically growled, “She’ll follow in your footsteps over my dead body. You don’t have permission to ruin her like your family ruins everyone in their orbit. It’s your job to protect her. That is so much more important than whatever else it is you do all day. Is it worth giving up everything that makes you human just so you can force Winnie into the same endless cycle you’ve been caught in since birth?”

“Sir, all the paperwork is in order. Since we’re running late, we need to meet with the clerk and the judge now. If not, we’ll have to reschedule.” My assistant seemed to hesitate when he interrupted our intense conversation. He gave the redhead a thinly veiled look of disgust. Conrad never bothered to hide his annoyance with Channing. He often parroted my mother’s many complaints when he spoke about my longtime nemesis. My feud with Channing was just for show, but the people closest to me had no clue. I had to clench my teeth to keep from letting my real feelings toward the woman show.

Channing cleared her throat and raked her fingers through her hair, removing the sunglasses that held the reddish-blond strands away from her face. “Let’s get this over with.” She squared her shoulders and moved to follow my lawyer, who took the lead through the courthouse. Her show of bravado was kind of cute and fitting for a woman who showed up to get pretend-married in her pajamas.

“Sir, I feel like I have to ask one last time. Are you sure you want to go through with this? I know you insist it’s the best way to deal with your mother, but I can’t help questioning how this benefits you. Ms. Harvey has always liked to make trouble for you.”

My personal assistant was an old college friend. Conrad Beck had a similar family background. His family was new money, well-to-do, and had sky-high expectations of Conrad because he was their only boy. There were a fleet of sisters who were all expected to marry up, but Conrad was tasked with building and maintaining his family’s generational wealth. He was a former swimmer. He’d aspired to be an Olympian when I first met him, but his parents wanted him to devote himself to his studies and find a white-collar career that would support the burgeoning dynasty. Why it was his responsibility to carry the financial burden for all his relatives was a mystery to both of us. However, just like I gave up the violin, he gave up the sport in which he excelled at the decree of his parents. Conrad and Rocco were the only people on my payroll who would dare to question my intent. I paid them both better than if they were CEOs of their own companies. I considered both friends outside of our business relationship.

I nodded as I watched Channing march down the hallway, her back straight and her head held high. “I want to do this. Marriage is the best solution.” Channing was the only woman I could do this with.

“Aren’t you worried about your mother’s reaction? What if things end up like they did when your brother brought someone home she didn’t approve of? Neither you nor Ms. Harvey are going to have a moment of peace once she finds out what you’ve done.”

I gave Conrad a look out of the corner of my eye. I wasn’t used to having anyone aside from my mother question my decisions. I was the shot caller, even if I didn’t want to be. “I’m not Archie. I won’t let her do to Channing what she did to Willow.”

When my brother brought his family home, my mother was far from pleased. She made no secret that she wanted Archie and Winnie to stay, but never wanted to see Willow again. She was unrelenting in her mission to get my brother to divorce his childhood sweetheart. The problem my mother couldn’t work around was that Archie and Willow married very young, so there was no prenuptial agreement. If they divorced, Willow would be entitled to not only an extraordinary sum of money, she would also get half of my brother’s shares in the family company and subsidiaries. There were hundreds of smaller businesses under the Halliday Inc. umbrella. Willow would’ve had a stake in all of them. She was going to walk away a very wealthy woman if she and Archie split. And there was the possibility Willow would take Winnie away from my very fucked-up family if she left, as would be her right. My mother refused to let any Halliday live outside the family manor. I returned very reluctantly after winning a war over my personal autonomy, only after she threatened to harm herself. It was one of her many hypocrisies, since she wouldn’t have anything to do with my much younger half-brother.

Archie was a good kid. He was easy-going and had a free spirit. Since he wasn’t the first-born, he didn’t have to bear the same weight of obligation as I did. I never thought he would run away from home in the name of love or be strong enough to defy our mother. I was honestly envious of his few years of freedom until the responsibility of providing for his family drove him back into the nest of vipers. It was a shame his defiance and stubbornness weren’t strong enough to stand up to my mother’s onslaught of shame and blame. He did his best to be there for his wife, but every day they lived under my mother’s roof, Willow was under attack. Instead of letting her escape the torment, my brother held onto her tighter. He figured they could suffer together and that would be enough. My mother never stopped to consider that if she went too far, Willow might take Archie down with her when she went over the edge.

To this day, Colette Halliday took zero responsibility for her hand in the tragedy that crumbled two families. I didn’t live at home then. I was in the city, being a good little heir. And I wouldn’t have gone back if it weren’t for Winnie’s mental instability and my mother’s suicidal ideation. I wanted to take Winnie out of the house and get her far away from her grandmother, but I was worried my mother would follow through on her threats to end her own life. There was a real concern that my mother might take me to court to seek custody of Winnie, not because she wanted to be a full-time guardian, but to punish me for daring to want more than she allowed.

Marrying Channing made the likelihood of losing to my mother much slimmer.

She really was the best solution to a whole host of problems I couldn’t navigate on my own. It was rare that I couldn’t manage any situation that came my way. When I needed help, it was easier and more efficient to demand assistance than ask for it. Channing should be able to see that she was special. I never tied myself to anyone willingly. And here I was, ready and willing to offer her two-and-a-half years of my life.

Conrad couldn’t continue to protest because it was time to get the wedding license and go before a judge.

With everyone in suits, no family or close friends present, and my business associates standing in as witnesses, it felt more like we were conducting a business meeting than a wedding. The judge looked over at me and then Channing, his gaze lingering on her unkempt appearance. I was positive we weren’t the oddest couple he’d ever seen, but he gave Channing a long time to answer when he asked, “Channing Harvey, do you know of any legal impediment which may prevent you from marrying Winchester Halliday?”

She shook her head, and the judge reminded her that she needed to verbally answer.

It took a second before she responded through gritted teeth. “I, Channing Harvey, do not know of any legal impediment which would prevent me from marrying Winchester Halliday.” She looked like she wanted to bolt, but she stayed put as I repeated the same spiel back to the officiant.

There were no vows or anything extraneous aside from the mandatory legal bits and pieces. The whole thing was as romantic as a root canal and took less than ten minutes. The judge pronounced us husband and wife and was ready to dismiss us. I could tell he was deliberating about adding the kiss-the-bride portion at the end. It didn’t seem fitting considering Channing had barely looked at me while she repeated her required script.

I lifted my eyebrows and watched the older man deliberate before his professionalism finally won out. “You may kiss the bride.”

Channing turned to face me and rolled her eyes. She looked like she was about to tell me not to even think about touching her. She froze when I reached out and pinched her chin between my thumb and forefinger.

She gasped softly when I dropped my head and touched my lips to hers. It was far from a real kiss, but I felt her breath brush across my lips and her body stiffen. She tasted minty. I guess I should count myself lucky she took the time to brush her teeth before she showed up for this farce. I quickly snuck in a small lick across her plump bottom lip, and Channing jerked backward. One of her hands curled into a fist, and I could see she was contemplating taking a swing at me. I always considered her as a woman who was very average, other than the huge way she loved those most important to her. Channing’s heart and unwavering loyalty had always been the most attractive things about her.

However, now that my lips landed briefly on hers, I thought she tasted superb. Like a breath of fresh air.

I was used to kisses feeling cold and clinical.

The women who passed through my life in a romantic way always had a bigger agenda than sex and satisfaction. Normally, kisses were the bait of someone desperate to get a wedding ring on their finger and half my money in their bank account.

With Channing, a kiss was nothing more than a kiss, because she had never desired anything from me. A shiver slithered down my spine as I let my mind wander to the thought of what it would be like to kiss her for real. That tiny brush of lips was a thousand times warmer and sexier than all of my recent sexual encounters. It was like walking in the rain after years in a drought.

I winked at her before straightening and turning to shake the judge’s hand. It was a subtle reminder of where we were and why she couldn’t lose control of her temper.

We walked out of the room, and I dismissed the lawyer and notary. I asked Conrad to go to the Cove and get Winnie after school and bring her to the city. He left with a last disapproving glance at my brand-spanking-new wife. I felt it was best to explain this to my niece away from my mother. That woman could turn the simplest thing into a major drama, so it was better to keep her out of it until I brought home my reluctant bride.

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