Page 20 of Ruthless Heir

“Exactly.”

“It’s not that simple.” I shake my head.

“But it is. You were trying to do the right thing by not touching her. She was barely legal and you were twenty-six. You can’t blame yourself for an accident that followed because you were doing the honorable thing.”

“Hunter, you’d blame yourself too.”

“Yes, I would but there has to be a line of reasoning. I’m sure you know that.”

“I know.”

“Is that really what you’re worried about?” Hunter gives me a narrowed gaze and his previous curiosity returns full force. “Thepast?”

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Nothing. Just remember she’s not a child anymore and you don’t have to do everything to please your best friend when it comes to his sister.”

“Hunter… please. Now is not the time to be taunting me.”

“I’m just saying.”

“Iknowwhat you’re saying.” He’s always thought I had a thing for Harper and won’t acknowledge it. I’ll never give himthe pleasure of knowing he was right. “She’s Josh’s little sister and he trusts me to take care of her. That’s all I’ll be doing.”

That’s all Ineedto do. Nothing more.

“Okay, okay. I’m sure you’ll figure it out. So what’s the plan for everything else? I kind of need to know.”

I breathe out a ragged sigh. “I’m going to go through the list of potential wives you gave me one more time then start dating.”

I’ve had that list for nearly two months. There are twenty women on there with a full profile and pictures to match. When I got it all I did was flip through then file it away. At the time I thought I’d make my own arrangements. I also thought I had all the time in the world.

“Luna and I compiled a good list of potential women we knew you’d like. Layla helped too.”

“I know.”

Layla is Luna’s sister. She became my assistant at Le Blanche Global a few months ago after my previous assistant retired. At the moment Layla probably the only person there who keeps me sane.

We have a similar personality. I think it also helps that she’s in the same age group as me. My previous assistant was great but she worked for my father first and was so prim and proper it was difficult to get her to see things my way.

She certainly wouldn’t have put a list of potential wives together for me.

Knowing Layla helped with the selection makes me feel more at ease. It means there may be one or two women that I can actually choose from.

“I’ll get Layla to sort out my schedule so I can meet everyone on the list next week.” I nod. “I need a couple of choices by next Sunday then I’ll take the last two days to select one girl.”

“Good plan. I think you should focus on that. You no longer have time on your side.”

“Don’t I know it.”

The problem is time was never on my side. It’s always screwed with me.

The sounds of hearty feminine laughter fills the air, then Luna and Layla walk out onto the terrace. They’ve just come back from yoga.

The two look like twins even though Luna is younger. She also has waist-length black hair while Layla has a trendy bob.

Luna’s belly looks bigger than when I saw her just last week, but she makes pregnancy look good. She’s nearly seven months. It’s strange to think that in a few more months the baby will be here. The first baby in the family. My parents are gonna go wild.

The excitement is even more heightened because Hunter and Luna decided they didn’t want to know the gender until the baby is born. I could never do that. I’d be too anxious and it would make me crazy.

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