Page 19 of Ruthless Heir

“I know, but something is up with Nigel and Nolan.”

“Asher, other than the email with your publicist we got nothing but your hunch.”

“I’m not some crazy person. Something just doesn’t sit well with me when it comes to them.”

“You checked them out. We even got Jericho to check them out and Knight did a full background investigation. Neither of them found anything.”

Jericho and Knight Grayson are friends we went to high school with. Jericho is a tech genius who went to MIT. He has a penchant for finding dirt on anyone. I have a few tech skills like that but am not as adept as him. The fact that the three of us found nothing says a lot. It also makes me look like a troublemaker.

“That doesn’t mean there’s nothing to find. And you can bet it was Nigel who suggested I marry Portia.”

“That totally crossed my mind.”

“Of course it crossed your mind. If she marries me the family gets a portion of Le Blanche Global.” That’s how it works. “We’d have her father and brother on the board, and as my fucking wife she’d have ownership rights of the company with me. When father retires that would extend to the entire empire. Please tell me you see the picture I’m painting, Hunter.”

“I see it.” His voice is quiet and reflective, the sound of deep contemplation.

“The fucked up thing about it is, I feel like my hands are tied behind my back.”

“And if you marry Portia, it’s for life.”

That sounds like a death sentence.

Our grandfather wanted us to have real marriages, so the first thing he set out to do was exclude all avenues where we could fake it until we made it. That means no exit clauses or any of those terms. I can’t even file a prenup and exclude her from my money because our marriage will be until death do us part.

Grandfather saw to that, too. If we got married and our wives died, to keep the position in the company we’d have a year to remarry.One year.

That old man fucked us up big time.

Things played out exactly like how he thought they would. He would have known that Luc would choose to play hockey and not be part of the company leadership. And I’m sure he also knew that Luc would be the first to get married.

Hunter was a given because he’s the leader of our pack. Everyone knew I’d be the one to struggle. Except I thought I’d be struggling for different reasons because I was supposed to be married to Priscilla De Rosa.

“Take your time and think and plan. You have a lot going on.”

“Tell me about it.”

“Also, don’t you have Harper St. John moving in with you on Saturday?”

Something pulls on my insides at the mention of Harper’s name. She hasn’t strayed from my mind. It was two nights ago that I agreed to help my best friend, and his sister has ridden my mind like the devil.

“Don’t remind me. Harper is the epitome of trouble. I’ve never met anyone like her. I don’t have time to babysit her or the capacity for her shenanigans.”

“I don’t think you have tobabysither.”

“Hunter, she ended up in jail for torching a man’s car.”

“Maybe so but she's a woman now.”

“No kidding.”

Hunter gives me a curious stare. “Does she still not remember what happened between you before the accident?”

He was the only person I told the truth. “No. And I haven’t been around her on a one-on-one level in years. I wouldn’t know what I’d do if she remembered. It will certainly make things even more awkward than they already are between us. I still feel guilty about her accident.”

“You know that wasn’t your fault. Come on, Asher, what was the alternative? Turn her down or…” He looks at me like he’s waiting for me to finish the rest of the sentence.

“Fuck her.”

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