Page 43 of The Marriage Auction 2: Part 1

What she wasn’t saying was that she believed there was more going on than them leaving her out of the will. And after knowing her parents for the thirty-one years I’d been alive, I’d have to agree with her. “Besides the fact that it is incredibly strange that Lewis and Rachel didn’t split the percentage they owned between you and your brother, what makes you think there’s more to it?”

“Because they changed their will only a week before they went on the trip that ended their lives. Coincidence?” She tilted her head. “I think not.”

My heart pounded a million beats a minute. “Wait, you think somethingnefariouswent on with our parents’ deaths?” I scoffed.

She shrugged. “Honestly, I don’t know. All I do know is that my parents knew how much the company meant to me. It would have made more sense to leave the company shares to me instead of Brenden. I’m the one who loves it.”

I nodded, then rubbed my fingers over the scruff at my jaw. It wasn’t quite a beard or full mustache, more a fine shading of hair over both those areas. It was a look I’d perfected over the years. One Bianca had asked me to do away with. So when I left her, Brenden, and the business in the rearview mirror, I brought it back. Almost as if it was my own way of saying “fuck you” to her. Not that she’d care.

“So why the auction? What was the goal?” I asked, bringing it back to the matter at hand.

“Well, my plan was to get a boatload of money tonight. After, I would start a competing company. Then because I was fired without cause, I’d file a wrongful termination lawsuit as well as the legal proceedings to contest the will. Next, I planned to steal every last client I brought in and watch the entire company fall. Brenden would have to crawl on his hands and knees to get me back.” She grinned wickedly.

“Because you would want to go back?” I clarified, trying to figure out why she would do so.

“I mean...” she let her words trail off before she spoke again. “You know, that’s a good question. If I created my own successful business, why would I want to go back to working with my asshole brother and his gold-digging, nasty wife?” She made a sour expression that was rather adorable.

“Wouldn’t it be more satisfying to not need him at all?” I added.

“Yeah, I guess. It’s just...our parents built the company together. Four best friends. It’s part of their legacy.”

“So are you,” I said. “Anything you do in life is also a reflection of the good they created. Never forget that, Jules.”

She frowned. “What about you? Don’t you want to get revenge on my brother and your ex?”

I clamped my mouth shut so tight my teeth clanked together while I fisted my hands. “It’s uncouth and not the type of behavior my parents would have championed,” I reasoned.

“Fuck that! Bianca cheated on you with your best friend the night before you were supposed to get married. Your best man, business partner, and lifelong friend fucked you over. Now they are both screwing me over. And to add insult to injury, they rushed a quickie wedding. All of it stinks to high heaven, and I’m not going to go away quietly. Bianca ruined everything.”

“Brenden is no saint in this either,” I growled, remembering the very moment I walked into that room and found him plowing into my fiancée from behind, her body bent over as she moaned like the hussy she was.

“Then help me stick it to them!” She pleaded with determination.

“By funding your new company?” I asked.

“Absolutely. And by marrying me. Tonight.”

Marrying her.

My eyebrows rose up toward my hairline as shock rolled through me like a brutal heat wave. “You can’t be serious, Jules. I came here this evening to save you from yourself. Not dig a deeper hole between our families.”

She grinned wickedly. “Imagine how angry Brenden and Bianca will be when they find out that not only am I starting up a new company, but that you and I got married.”

I couldn’t help the small smile that appeared at the visual. “He would be enraged. Ever since we were kids, he made me swear you were not to be touched or he’d never so much as talk to me again.”

“And what did he go and do behind your back? Fuck your fiancée and ruin your friendship. Now they’re ruining my life. I think they both need a dose of their own medicine.”

“Hmm...” I imagined the look on his face when he learned I’d married his baby sister. He’d lose his mind. The same way I had when he betrayed me.

Julianne abruptly stood and put her hand out for me to take. “What do you say, Gio? Will you marry me and fund my startup company and lawsuits while we seek the ultimate revenge on my brother and your ex?”

“Marriage?” I whispered, my response filled with uncertainty. “How would that even work?”

Julianne tilted her head and looked at me as though I’d grown horns. “When a man and a woman want to share their lives, they stand in front of an officiant and—”

I waved my hand for her to stop. “Don’t be a brat.”

“I make no promises,” she taunted with a smile.

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