Page 38 of The Wrong Husband

That was true. But he was the man heading the right department for me to work in.

"You now have a job as an art restorer at Archer Galleries. You start tomorrow." I couldn't speak. I didn't even try. If I opened my mouth, I'd say garbled shit like who, what, why, what, who, la la la la. It wouldn't be coherent or pretty.

"Emilia?"

I smiled uneasily and that's when the thought entered my mind, was she messing with me because she hated me for marrying her son?

"Is this a joke?"

"What would be funny about it if it were?" Marcela demanded.

"I don't know…that you made a fool out of Invisible Miss Winters because she tricked your son into marrying her?"

Marcela glared at me. "First, I don't joke about work. Second, you're out of your mind if you think you can trick Damian into doing anything. He married you because he wanted to."

"But why would he want to?"

"I have no fucking idea. You're a good artist, that is true. You're not suited to be Damian's wife, that is also true. The sooner both you and he understand that, the better it is for you. Damian will be fine, but you? You're way out of your league with him. You'll get eaten alive." She looked at her watch. "I have to go. Tomorrow, eight AM, show up at Archer Galleries. Ask for me. We'll sort the contract stuff out then."

"I don't know what to say." My voice was faint because I did feel a little lightheaded. She'd both complimented and insulted me at the same time. That took some skill.

Chapter 10

Damian

"Yesterday, you were out for her blood and now you've hired her?" I asked my mother after I saw my wife leaving her office with the biggest smile on her face.

Mom gave me a stack of papers. "I learned two things after meeting her. As an artist, she has skill. She's too naïve, too simple and too fucking plain to be your wife."

It was remarkable how everyone in my family saw being naïve as a flaw and not as a quality that made Emilia optimistic, positive in the face of adversity. Strong. Because the weak couldn't smile through the bullshit she put up with.

"There's nothing wrong with being plain," I retorted.

"Nothing wrong at all," my mother agreed. "Just doesn't work for an Archer."

I didn't want to argue the point. I didn't know how to. I agreed with my mother. Emilia did not have ambition—the driving force that made us successful. Duncan was ruthless when it came to managing his side of the business—even though technically, he reported to me, the CEO, he did his own thing. Even Dean, who wasn't interested in the business end of things was ambitious as fuck when it came to antiquities, going out of his way to hunt and acquire the impossible. Our high-end clients loved him because he would move mountains to get his hands on something for them.

Bianca fit. She and her mother were running a business. Bianca had an MBA from Stanford. Gideon was one of the best CFOs I'd ever met.

Emilia was soft, kind…easily bruised. How would she handle my dominating and aggressive family? Not well. She crumbled so easily. Cried at the drop of a hat. She was too thin-skinned to survive being my wife.

"She signed everything. But deleted all references to money. Looks like you were right, she doesn't give a shit about our money," Mom continued.

"I know," I agreed.

Mom leaned back in her office chair. "I don't get this girl. Her family paints a picture of her that is…very different than what I witnessed. Now, she may have been putting it on while I was there. Her family would know her best, wouldn't they?"

I had wondered the same thing, but the kind of authenticity Emilia exuded couldn't be manufactured. If she was pretending, she needed to go to Hollywood, cause that was some Oscar-worthy shit.

"I'm going to make sure she understands her situation."

"Mom, stay the fuck away from Em," I warned.

Mom waved a hand in dismissal. "Question for you. Why does she think she manipulated you into getting married?"

I shrug. "She thinks I was drunker than her and it was her somehow responsibility to stop us from signing on the dotted line."

"Why did you marry her, Damian?"

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