Page 64 of Reckless King

Roman pinches the bridge of his nose. “What the hell, Tate? Getting engaged was not part of the agreement. How did this happen?”

I reach for my glass of wine and take a long sip to collect my thoughts. Then I lean back in my chair. “I didn’t plan it. But Aaron was insulting her. I wasn’t going to let him get away with it.”

“And your solution was to propose? You realize an engagement is far harder to extricate yourself from than just a relationship, don’t you?”

I shrug, going for unaffected. “We’ll work it out. Violet backed me up, and I won’t leave her high and dry. I’ll fix this for her.”

Cole chuckles from where he’s sitting across from me. “If it makes you feel any better, Roman, Aaron isn’t pressing charges.”

“Surprise, surprise.” I can’t mask the contempt dripping from my tone.

Roman glares at me. “Don’t be too smug. The tabloids are running rampant with this story. Do you know how many photos of you decking the CFO of Avalon Inc. are floating around out there? And—What the hell are you smiling at?”

I school my expression, even if the memory of the satisfying sound of my fist hitting Aaron’s face is far too enjoyable. I lean forward and rest my elbows on the table. “Look, did I act rashly? Yes. Do I regret it? Not really. And this could work well for us. The tabloids are all over our crazy love story. People are eating it up. No one’s doubting my ability to commit now.”

“And will they eat it up when you break the engagement in a few months? What about Violet? Does she get to be your jilted fiancée when this is all over?”

I clench my jaw. “I haven’t thought through all the details yet,” I admit. “But I won’t let her get hurt. I’ll figure it out.”

Silently, Cole assesses me, his expression speculative.

I raise a brow at him. “What?”

He rubs his hand over his mouth. “At the start of this, I thought it might be hard for you to convince everyone that you were in love. But you seem to have taken to the role of dedicated boyfriend, or should I sayfiancé, with remarkable ease.”

I shoot him a smirk. “Maybe I just copied the prime example of pussy-whipped man I see in front of me.”

“Language, please, Tate,” Mom interjects. She sounds as bored as usual, like she’s just going through the motions.

Cole’s lips twitch in response.

Roman clears his throat. When I focus on him again, he’s frowning at me.

It takes everything in me not to roll my eyes. “Trust me when I say I can handle this. I’ll make sure the King Group is safe from scandal and look after Violet at the same time.”

Roman searches my face and drums his fingers on the damask-covered table, then nods. “I do trust you. Just… try not to be quite asrashwith this arrangement going forward. You signed a contract for a reason—so the terms are clear, and so no one gets hurt.”

He doesn’t give me a chance to respond before moving on to the next topic—unsurprisingly, it’s work.

“The marketing plan you put together seems to be working well. We’re at sixty-five percent already. I?—”

The shrill ring of my phone interrupts him, and he snaps his mouth shut. Since everyone who’s been calling me this morning is sitting in this room, I pull it out of my pocket. When I see Violet’s name on the screen, apprehension tightens the back of my neck. She’s only reached out to me once before. And that’s when she was asking about the espresso machine.

I push back my chair and stand. “I need to take this.” Without waiting for a response, I stride from the room, hitting the answer button as I do. “Violet, is everything okay?”

“There are reporters at the coffee shop,” she says, her voice hushed.

Fuck. I scrub my hand over my face. My actions last night all but guaranteed this, but I didn’t expect them to track her down so quickly. “Are they causing issues?”

She lets out a shaky laugh. “Well, a few of them bought coffee, so at least they’re giving me their money. But at themoment, I’m in the back, and Jarrod and Sarah are handling the front. I don’t like not being out there to help, but they keep asking me about you and how long this has been going on and how I managed to tie you down.”

She’s trying to make light of it, but if she called me, then I have no doubt that she’s shaken.

I check my watch. “Stay where you are. I’m calling our security company. Their offices are closer to your shop. They’ll take care of the reporters. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

“You don’t have to do that. I just thought you should know that they’re here. Jarrod won’t let anyone get to me.”

I grind my teeth and hold back a growl at that last comment. While I’m grateful that he can keep those bloodsuckers from her, that should be my job. Our engagement may be fake, but I won’t let anything happen to her. She’s mine to protect.

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