Page 18 of One Wealthy Wedding

I lean in, and he keeps gesturing until we’re inches away.

“You’ve got some whiskey. Right”—his thumb brushes over my bottom lip, and sparks catch—“here.” He sucks his thumb into his mouth, his green gaze holding mine.

Dangerous.

Because even if I resent Theo, I never stopped wanting him.

7

Theo

Cole is appropriately shocked when I call him that night.

“I didn’t think you’d go through with it,” he says. “I need to sit down.”

“It was your idea,” I point out, reasonably, I think.

“You really think this will work?”

“I do, actually.” Strangely, I think this is a perfect plan. “Her mom’s family is old money. The Peterson name carries real weight. So much so that her dad took her mom’s last name when they got married. There’s an earl in there somewhere. Our European investors will be foaming at the mouth.”

“Yeah, but Cat? You told me she hated you.”

“She needs a husband.” I open the fridge and look for one of the chocolate mousses I eat every night. The glass pot clinks gently against the beers in the fridge door.

“Theo, that better be a protein bar,” Cole says.

“Lighten up, old man. You’re going to die before me anyway. Let me live.”

Cole sighs heavily, like I’m the reason his stubble is tinged with gray. “She needs a husband?”

“Yup. For her inheritance.”

“For forever?” Cole sounds like he’s going to stroke out. Good thing he has me around to keep him on his toes.

I peel the top off the mousse. “For a year.” What promises to be the hardest year of my life. “A real marriage for a year. I mean, in public at least. And I’ll have to tell Jonah and Miles. But what about—”

“Mom,” Cole finishes.

“I’m not lying to her about this.”

“You want to tell her that you fake married Cat for her inheritance, and oh, by the way, you’re going to pretend to be in love with her, but don’t worry, it will only be for a year? She’s going to murder you.”

Shit. Cole is right. My mom will be devastated if I tell her I’m lying about my marriage. I can’t bear to disappoint her like that, not when she dreams of me settling down and giving her grandkids.

“So you think I should pretend I love Cat, and then what? Leave her later and break her heart?”

“Just make it mutual. Say it didn’t work out. You’re not right for each other. But do not tell Mom the truth and do not break Cat’s heart.” Cole pauses meaningfully. “Because Mom loves her as much as she loves you and me.”

She does. My mother, my kind, generous, loyal-to-a-fault mother, has always loved Cat Peterson. The thought of it is black poison in my veins, carving angry tracks through me. Cat never deserved my mother’s love, not when there was barely enough of her to go around and Cat’s family was responsible for our misery. When Cat herself was.

I toss my spoon onto the counter, the mousse turning to lead in my stomach. “I can’t wait to see the look on Cat’s asshole father’s face.”

The thought of Gregory Peterson seeing me out with his daughter is immensely satisfying, especially after the last conversation I had with him before I left Rockwood forever.

“When’s the wedding?” Cole asks.

“She has to be married by the end of the week.”

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