Page 107 of One Wealthy Wedding

The words drop like a bomb between us, until I laugh.

Lorenzo looks surprised for a moment, his mouth hanging open, with a piece of bread in it, before he laughs too.

He still looks confused as I shake my head and sip the wine I don’t want. “Lorenzo. If you knew what I had to go through to woo that woman, you would not say that.” I’m grinning like we’re old friends and he’s about to hear a really good story. A completely false one.

“She made it difficult for you, eh?” He sips his own wine now.

“Difficult.” I shake my head. “That’s not even the right word. Impossible. I pursued her for years. I fell in love with her at nineteen, but I chalked it up to being a teenager. You know how it is.” I give him a wry smile, and he nods, smiling himself.

“Well, her parents never approved, and I pined for her for years. All those actresses and models you saw in the tabloids? It was all to forget her.”

Lorenzo chuckles. “If my wife were here, she would love this story.”

“Maybe I’ll get a chance to tell her about it,” I say smoothly.

“Maybe you will.” Lorenzo smiles, but it doesn’t reach his eyes.

The waiter deftly serves our fish, and Lorenzo cuts into his. He wields his knife with precision, and I wince. One wrong move, and this deal is off.

“You should come to Monaco,” he says after he sips his wine. “Since you are so in love with your wife, bring her too. There’s a Formula One race next weekend. I know that’s big in America now. All the streets will be closed. The casino will be booming. You can show her a good time. Show her those models and actresses meant nothing to you.” He smiles sharply. “Maybe you’ll be noticed by the tabloids this time around.”

I’m smart enough to read between the lines. Lorenzo doesn’t believe me. I don’t know what Arnold Worth said, but I should wring his skinny little neck. And now Lorenzo’s message is all too clear—show off your marriage to the world, or I’ll know you’re a liar.

“That would be great,” I say slowly. I’m not flying to Monaco for a pleasure trip. Not when I have an expansion to complete. “I’ll bring my business partners.”

“We have a big event at the casino that weekend. Be prepared to gamble.” He says it like it’s a dare.

“We will be.” Jonah is going to be so pissed about this. He is not a gambler.

“Excellent. I’m so glad to hear the rumors were just that. We really value integrity. A fake marriage—” He shakes his head and peruses the dessert menu. “That would be very bad for business.”

I can read this message too. Convince me, or the deal is off.

“We need to go to Monaco,” I announce when I enter the back room at Kings Cove.

“Hello, Theo, how are you?” Jonah says. He’s turning a whiskey glass in his hands.

“This should be good,” Miles adds.

I sink heavily into a free seat. “Lorenzo thinks I’m lying about the marriage, and he wants us to come to Monaco. I told him you’d be there too. I’m not going there just for pleasure. If he wants to see me, he can put his money where his mouth is. He’s delaying on the deal. And I’m sick of being toyed with.”

“Fuck.” This is from Jonah, who looks homicidal. “Good thinking, making it a business trip. Don’t let him jerk you around. Though I have zero interest in going to Monaco right now.”

“There’s a big race and an event at the casino. Could be fun,” I say.

“Fun.” Jonah sounds like he’d rather walk over hot coals than go to a casino.

“Could be a vacation for you,” Miles says.

“Blasphemy,” I say, and Miles and I laugh.

Jonah is unperturbed by our teasing. “I told you this marriage was going to be hard to sell.”

“He’s in it now, though,” Miles points out.

“How are you going to make this relationship believable?” Jonah raises a brow.

“Fuck if I know.” I pull the whiskey bottle toward me. “Lorenzo implied that if we were really serious, we’d flaunt it for the world.”

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