Page 152 of Innocent Intentions

He smiles.

“He definitely got more of her attention. We were terrible influences. One time, when we were around seven, eight, and nine, we wanted pellet guns. We’d seen Dad’s real ones and wanted to be like him. Mom said no, so we decided to get them ourselves. The only problem? We had no money. So, we started a business. We told the kids at school we were campaigning to improve the cafeteria food and needed to ‘interview chefs,’ which obviously required funding. With my charms, Dom’s leader aura, and Roman’s intimidation, classmates were happy to invest.”

My jaw dropped.

“I basically created a Ponzi Scheme. The day Mom came home to find us bloodied and bruised, with black eyes and broken nose, she had some questions.”

“The other kids beat you up?” I gasp.

He scoffs, offended. “Of course not. No one could touch us. We were big for our age, and we stuck together. We got the guns and took them out to test, but a few stray pellets hit us. I couldn’t tell you who shot first, nor who was hit first. Somealtercationsfollowed. The whole story came out, and she was livid. She made us return the guns, give back the money, publicly apologize, and even write letters about how bad we were. It was mortifying, but effective.”

I double over, laughing.

“She’s amazing. I’ll have to take notes.”

“She knew what she was doing,” he says fondly.

“What about Bash? Was he as bad?”

“Worse. He was too behind us to fight with us, but he was smart. Manipulative, even. Especially with Mom. He was her golden boy. We protected him at first. He was nerdier and a few classmates caused him some trouble. We taught them their place. No one messes with a Montclair. But then he started playing chess while we were still learning checkers. He learned to hack around age eight. He used it to his advantage. I won’t say we were scared of him, but…Freshman year of high school a kid kissed Bash’s girlfriend. Bash exposedeverythingabout him. Texts, therapist’s notes, his parent’s divorce, even his fucking porn preferences. The kid had to change schools.”

My mouth drops. “He seems too nice. I can’t picture him doing that.”

“Oh, sweetheart. That’s just the tip of the iceberg. Bash’s lethal with a computer. I’m lucky to have him at Syndicate Enterprise.”

“Why did you start that instead of just working for the Syndicate?”

“Dom was always meant to run the Syndicate. He’s powerful. He can lead an army. Roman’s too hotheaded. Bash’s intelligence would be wasted in boardrooms and galas. We wanted a legal front to clean up the family name. And I love what I do. I’m good at it. Charming clients. Building the company. It’s so successful, most of our net worth comes from it now.” He says with pride.

“I’m impressed. I’m sure all that money and power has won over many women.” I wink teasingly, but the energy shifts.

His grin drops.

“There are no other women.”

I scoff. “Please. You’re thirty-four. You’ve been doing this for over a decade. There’ve probably been hundreds. Come on, I told you all my dating horror stories.”

He sighs. “I won’t lie and say I’ve never been with anyone else. But it was never emotional. Strictly physical. If they caught feelings, it ended. I don’t even remember their names. They were nothing. They weren’tyou.”

His eyes are sincere, but my doubts crawl in.

“How can you expect me to believe that? That you’d pickmeover models and heiresses? I love myself, but let’s be real.”

“Because I do! I’d pick you every time. You’re everything, Margot. My life revolves around you. I don’t measure my days by time anymore; I measure them to you. It isn’t morning until I’ve brought you your coffee. It isn’t night until I’m back beside you. If I don’t know where you are, I can’t function. I listen to your narrations at work just to have a piece of you. I can’t eat dinner if you’re not with me. I can’t sleep unless you’re pressedagainst me. I need you. Maybe more than I need air. You consume me. Margot, you are my future. I won’t even consider any future where you’re not by my side. There’s no version of life without you. You will be my wife. We will have as many children as you want. We will grow old together. And we’ll even die together, because if you go first, I’ll follow. I won’t spend one second of this life without you. Don’t you get that?”

His voice is loving and frustrated and raw.

I sit in stunned silence, my heart racing, trying to process what he’s telling me. He said we are real last night, but this? This is undeniable.

Do I feel the same?

Yes, you dumb girl. You love him.

Love him?

I don’t… I couldn’t…

But don’t I?

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