Page 24 of Always Knew It Was You

“Because you mentioned in that other story that the ambassador said, ‘Marcus, what is the meaning of this,’ and I put two and two together.”

“Ah.” I nod my approval. “Attentive. Good. I like that in a wife.”

She rolls her eyes, but she’s still smiling so I continue, “My dad wants me to take over his company. Even with the tower-toppling incident, he seems to think that I’m CEO material, despite my hard and honest attempt to show him I’m not.”

“So you don’t want to take over?”

“Not even a little bit. He’s the head of a holding company that manages a bunch of different businesses that are a monopoly in various industries. I think monopolies aren’t great for the economic climate to start with, but I don’t want to do it mostly because I think his job is incredibly boring. Most of the time, you sit in a room with about thirty old men and deliberate on how to add another trillion dollars to the bazillion you already have. And then you go to a meeting with another old man and try to convince him how you can makehimanother trillion. And then you go to a meeting with a woman and tell her you can make her a trillion too. And so on and so forth until one of you dies. I can’t imagine a more drab existence.”

Her smile widens. “Well, when you put it like that, it does sound awful.”

“It is,” I assure her. “Especially for someone like me. I like to travel, see the world, do things, make things. I don’t care whether or not my shareholders have the assets to buy another private jet. I want to do something that matters.” I’m shocked as the words leave my mouth. I didn’t intend to reveal that much, but maybe I’ve had too much wine tonight and need to pull back. “Anyway, the point is that my father, seeing as he has no other heirs, doesn’t give a damn what I want and is trying to manipulate things so I have no choice but to play it his way. And the Pink Hotel is part of it. It’s supposed to be my training wheels. I don’t want to run the place, but he’s making it difficult for me to do anything else. And I’m trying my hardest to show him I won’t give into his nefarious schemes.”

“By marrying me?”

“No, hold on we haven’t gotten to that part yet.” I hold my hand up. “Okay, where was I? Oh, so first, I tried to sell my shares of the hotel to an old friend, so that I could use that money to start my own thing. Since Dad controls most of my other accounts, I need one that he can’t touch and I need to buy contacts that he can’t bribe. But then he blocked the sale of my hotel shares too because he’s…well…a poopy head. A very powerful poopy head. No one else will buy the shares from me because no one is going to want to tangle with Marcus Landing on a warpath. No one else except, of course, Marcus’ father.”

“Your grandfather?”

“Yup. He can help me get out of this and convince my dad to lay off me. Grandfather actually doesn’t care who takes over my dad’s company. He doesn’t see it as his legacy since Dad started it without him, and refused to take over Grandfather’s oil business.”

“Sounds like you’re following in your father’s footsteps then,” she murmurs, but I don’t like the comparison so I continue as though I didn’t hear her.

“The thing is, my grandfather is, for whatever reason, deeply concerned about my love life. Don’t ask me why, the man had an arranged marriage at eighteen and he and my grandmother hated each other for the entirety of their relationship. They lived in separate houses most of the time, but they never bothered to get a divorce. Nevertheless, he seems to think that marriage is a fantastic idea for me, and that I’m way past the age where I should be married. And he’s not going to help me until I agree to make a concerted effort to that end.”

“So you want me to play the part of your fake fiancée?” Understanding dawns on her features.

“Ding-ding,” I tell her. “I told him I was already seeing someone and that I would bring her over for dinner soon, so I desperately need someone good enough to play the role. I asked a few other people but they… erm, fell through.”

I first started the search with my former lovers but they ended up being either completely inappropriate for the role or they still held a torch for me that would make the situation more complicated than it needed to be. And the other people I tried out, the high-society girls that Grandpa liked so much, left me feeling cold and eager to get out of their presence. I don’t think I could pretend with them even if I tried my hardest.

When I was flying back to Laketown, I had my assistant looking for actresses to play the part but the problem with that is that my grandfather might hire a PI to look them up and then he would figure out the entire ruse.

It was starting to look hopeless but then just earlier this evening, when I saw Carly in that black dress, the idea hit me.

Carly could do it.

She looks sweet and has that old Hollywood charm about her. When she dresses up, she easily passes for a high-society queen.

Plus, I actually like being around her so it won’t be too hard to fake a relationship with her.

“So you just want me to go to dinner with you and your grandfather?” Carly asks, her eyebrow furrowing.

“No, not just that,” I tell her. “I’ll explain everything more in detail later, but it’s going to be a lot of dinners and probably more social events than you think.”

“Oh.” Apprehension enters her gaze and she bites her lip in brief thought. “Well, it’s not like I don’t want to help you out, Micah, but it’s just that I’m really busy. You know, with work and school, I don’t know that I’ll have time to even pretend to date you.”

Ah, and that’s why she’s perfect for the role. “Well, I thought it would probably be a big ask, which is why I’m offering a financial incentive.”

She pauses and stares at me.

“How does three hundred thousand dollars sound?”

She blinks. And then blinks again. “Are you serious?”

“As a spit take.”

She sputters a bunch of choked sounds before she manages to make a full sentence. “You would really offer me that kind of money for pretending to date you?’

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