Page 9 of Ruthless Heir

But Josh needs me. Which means she needs me too. Agreeing to help may also give me a chance to redeem myself for the part I felt I played in Harper’s accident.

“Alright. She can stay with me.”

Josh sighs with the relief of a man who’s just had a ton of weight lifted off his back. “Thank you. Seriously, I owe you again.”

“Have you spoken to her about this yet?”There’s no way he did.

“No.”

“You know she won’t agree to it, right? She’s going to raise hell and then some.”

“I know, but she doesn’t really have a choice.” Josh downs the rest of his beer. “Her life is a desperate mess.”

The comment pushes my previous concerns back into my mind. “Did she explain why she didn’t go to Europe?”

“She said she couldn’t afford the living expenses. She didn’t want to ask me to pay because I’ve always had to help her.”

Harper said similar things to me but I still have that off-key feeling. “Maybe she can have a fresh start now.”

“Yes. And I know she’ll be safe with you.”

“She will.” That’s the one solid truth I know I can promise him.

I grab my beer and take a gulp, wondering what I’m getting myself into.

“What’s happening with the company? Found the next Mrs. Le Blanche yet?” Josh grins.

“No. Not yet.”

“Come on, Asher.” He smirks. “You have so many women to choose from. Can’t you just pick one?”

“It’s not that easy.”

He wouldn’t understand. Not anymore. In fact I have very few people left in my world who would understand that I’m absolutely not ready for marriage. Neither do I have the desire to get married.

My brother, Hunter, got married last year and he’s head over heels in love with his wife. They have a baby on the way.

My cousin Luc is the same. Married to a woman he’s obsessed with and now they have a baby on the way, too. Josh is the last bachelor in my circle, but he’ll be marrying Lisa.

“Asher, you’re a man of many talents. I’m sure you could make it easy if you wanted to.”

“Sure, except I’ve never wanted to get married. All my life I knew I’d have to if I wanted to become CFO of the company, as per my grandfather’s terms of inheritance. Unlike most people I even knew who my wife would be.”

Annoyingly, my grandfather took care of that, too and signed my life away with a contract binding me to marry his friend’s granddaughter, Priscilla De Rosa.

It may have been a bid to secure wealth between the families but it fucked with my choice.

I managed to escape the marriage a few months back when I discovered that Priscilla was not just having a secret affair but was pregnant with another man’s child.

“At least you don’t have to marry Priscilla.”

“Yes, but Istillhave to get married.”

His brows knit and he looks like he doesn’t know what more to say to me. “Have you spoken to your father?”

“He’s supposed to call me in a little while. I know it’s not going to be a good call. I’ve been dodging him for days.”

The change in the company occurred last year when my father decided to hand over the New York branch to Hunter and me while he’d look after the international division. That activated the need for a new leadership structure.

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