Page 44 of Something Blue

I take the whisky and sip it, savoring the flavor and leaning back in the sofa.

Eyeing Luke I stare right at him, letting him feel the intensity of my eyes on him. “You know my terms, Luke. They haven’t changed.”

He sighs, his elbows resting on his knees as he swirls the whisky in the glass. It’s not the first drinks he’s had today. His eyes are rimmed with a red tint and the lids are drooping.

“I was hoping there was something else you might be interested in. You know, we’ve gotten rid of the reporters that have been parked outside the house for days at a time. We don’t want more media coverage with another wedding. There has to be something else?—”

“There isn’t.” I say, making my point more than clear.

He nods.

“So, this is the price of your support. There is no other way around it?”

I stand up, getting ready to leave.

“Luke, I didn’t drive out here for you to waste my time. I made myself clear when I met with your father and I’ve made myself clear again. I am not interested in any other deals, there is nothing else I want from you at this point in time. I’ve stated my terms. Take them or leave them.”

He stares at the ground, his fingers tight around the glass in his hands.

I shake my head. He’s fucking with me. “Thank you for the drink. I’ll show myself out.” I snarl, disappointed and angry.

“I’ll do it.” He mutters.

I pause, standing frozen in place.

“Excuse me?”

“I’ll agree to your terms. I’ll do it. But you have to sit down at tell me exactly what you are going to be providing for the campaign. I want a guarantee that this will work - whatever your PR team has planned or whatever—” he stammers, looking up at me with heavy regret painted across his face.

“Alright.” I say, sitting down again. “I can’t tell you how the PR team will recover your campaign - that will be up to them. But what I can tell you is that we have used them in the past when we had media issues and they proved to be beyond capable of solving even the most complicated situations.

He clenches his jaw. “What if it doesn’t work?”

“It will work. But apart from that - it’s your risk to take. Now do we have a deal or not?” I am tired of sitting here treating him like a child, pandering to his worries, reassuring him - I want an answer and I want it now.

“We have a deal.” He nods. “You can marry my sister in exchange for your help in recovering my campaign and getting me back in the runnings.”

“Excellent.” I say, grinning from ear to ear, not even trying to hide how fucking happy I am right now. I am going to marry Neve. I am getting the exact andonlything that I want in this world. Her.

“Excuse mewhat?” She shouts from the doorway. “What the fuck did you say?”

She’s looking at her brother, ignoring me.

“Neve calm down.” He sighs.

“I will not fucking calm down did you sell me to the fucking mafia for money?” she screams.

“Neve!” he shouts, standing up and glaring at her with his fists clenched. I don’t like how he’s talking to her. No one talks to my future wife like that.

“Sit down, Luke.” I growl.

He glances at me and his body shifts from anger to nervousness. “Yeah. Ah. We need to talk calmly, Neve.” He mutters, sitting down again.

I turn towards Neve. “This is the best way to help your family.”

“Shut up.” She snaps. “I’m not speaking to you - I’m speaking to my brother.”

She marches straight towards him and stands glaring down at him. His weakness becomes apparent in this moment, the way he moves inward, away from her anger.

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