Page 5 of His Weekend Wife

“Yeah, me too.” He balanced the envelope on his thigh. “When you were a kid, did you ever go trick or treating?”

Todd’s gaze widened, then narrowed and he smoothed his thin mustache. “Yes, I did.”

“This letter is like getting your favorite candy dropped into your bucket. My favorite as a kid were the chocolatey peanut butter cups that melt in your mouth. I’d stare at the package longingly, salivating just imagining myself eating the treat, wanting nothing more than to tear open the paper as if it were a present on Christmas morning and eat the entire thing in one sinful bite, yet, knowing once I did, the enjoyment would only last temporarily. The candy would be gone and all I would have left would be an empty, crumpled package, and an aching stomach. Like this letter.” Declan lifted the envelope and held it up. “Once I open it, I’ll have nothing left. Anyway, what could she say on paper that she couldn’t say in person? And why did she keep her illness a secret from everyone but Victor?” He dropped the envelope onto the glass table. Declan rubbed the area between his brows hoping to prevent the headache from intensifying.

“I can’t answer that, sir, except to say that she loved you and your brothers very much. It’s possible she didn’t tell you because she didn’t want you to worry. The first time she became ill, you didn’t eat or sleep for a week.”

Declan blew out a long breath through his tight lips, pushed up from the couch and stood. “There are no obvious answers in life.” He strolled across to look out the window again. Past ten P.M., the weather was cruddy, but that didn’t keep the city indoors. The headlights of vehicles passing on the busy street looked blurred and contorted through the wet window. The tall buildings were abstract images, much like his emotions. “When Angelina visited, she would stand here for hours watching, mesmerized by the lights.”

“Yes, I remember.”

“Her favorite time was at daybreak though, when the start of the day winked at you. She referred to it as, “the sunrise’s seduction’.” He too loved that time of day most. The brightest of rays went with his sister the day she passed.

Angelina had been diagnosed with breast cancer several years before, the same disease that had taken their mother too early. Doctors had said she was in remission, but then they found that it had come back and had spread. She’d made the decision not to seek treatment to prolong her life. He could still remember the day he’d received the call from Victor telling him that their sister was gone. At the time, Declan had been in the warm, seductive bed of his most recent muse. He had hung up his cell, not saying a word to the blonde French model as he numbly slid out of the wrinkled sheets, dressed, and left. He’d grabbed the first plane to Virginia where his brothers had already gathered to say farewell to Angelina, a true force of nature with a kind heart. During the reading of her will, they were each given a letter that she had written.

Declan had tucked his away, came home and buried himself in his work.

Loosening his tie, he tugged the silk free from his collar. He’d lost his jacket a few hours ago.

Now he had bigger issues to handle.

“Lucy brought wonderful news with her. Apparently, Hannigan is unsure about Knight Corp taking over his company. He thinks I’m a playboy and that makes me lethal.” He watched Todd through the reflection of the window. “He has family values and is considering handing over his empire to a married man.”

“You don’t think Hannigan will allow such an insignificant factor to influence one of the biggest decisions of his life, do you?”

Shrugging, Declan left the window and took his seat on the couch. “Hannigan isn’t a man who is led by money and he isn’t in any hurry, even though he’s retiring soon. I’ve looked through everything, turned over every rock, and I thought I had this.”

“What did your aunt do to make things worse?”

“She told Hannigan that I’m a newlywed. Congratulate me, Todd. I’m a married man.”

The silver-haired man laughed. “That’s ridiculous. The story would be front page news on every local newspaper, just as it had been when you married before.”

“Oh, apparently not when we kept it private to keep from turning the event into a circus.”

“When he visits at the end of the month, you can tell him the truth. He’ll see that you’re a smart man and this merge will benefit him not only in dollars, but in emotional prosperity. I haven’t seen a business man yet who can outsmart you.”

Declan dropped his hands. “I can’t tell him that Lucy lied. That’ll only take away from the focus here—merging our companies.”

“Then who is the lucky lady? She will be the envy of every single, even married, woman in Atlanta.” Todd chuckled.

“My bed has been pretty empty for a while, my friend.” Hell, he knew his lonely nights had been by choice. He could have easily picked up his phone and made a call that would have a beautiful, luscious woman warming his bed, but the idea didn’t settle well in his gut these days. The only thing he could concentrate on was business and more business. “Let’s just say, I have no one beating down my door any longer.”

“Oh, so the French model finally decided to give up?”

Declan shrugged. “She was a sweet person who deserved to find true love.”

“How did that work between you two anyway? She didn’t speak English, and you could only speak a few words of her language.”

“I guess I knew just the right words.” Declan laughed, but it fizzled. There was nothing humorous about his plight, the merger deal, or his relationship status.

“Unfortunately, sir, you’re no closer to having a real wife than I am in buying myself a yacht and sailing the Atlantic.”

“I don’t need a wife any more than you need a yacht. You get sea sick.”

“It just so happens a few nights ago I couldn’t sleep, so I switched on the TV. There was a reality show playing where couples date for a weekend, then decide if they want to marry come Monday. At the time, I thought the scheme was ludicrous, but that’s exactly what you need. And who knows, maybe you will find true love.”

Declan stretched his legs and relaxed his feet on the table. He’d been in love once and that was enough. “That’s not what I need.”

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