Page 43 of Bourbon Wishes
I call Jareth on the short walk to my parents' house to run it by him. The late afternoon sun beats down directly overhead, and I instantly regret making this walk in a suit. I strip out of my jacket, flinging it over my arm.
"Why are you calling me?" Jareth asks as soon as he answers.
"Hello to you too."
"I'm trying to get Zoya pregnant. You're fucking up the program."
I chuckle, not really surprised he's already on a mission to get her pregnant. I think he was on that mission as soon as he met her. But now that she's finished with school and she has his ring on her finger, he's moving full steam ahead.
"You'd better get through the wedding first. Knox will kill you if another of his daughters ends up pregnant before she's married."
"Why the fuck do you think I'm trying to make this wedding happen at the speed of light?" he grunts into the phone. "He likes me. I'm not fucking that up before we even say, 'I do'."
"Smart choice." Knox Mikhail is a goddamn Russian giant who loves his daughters beyond reason. I would not want to be on the man's bad side.
"Why are you calling me?" my twin asks again.
"I need a favor."
"If I agree to whatever it is, will it get you off my phone faster?" he sighs, exasperated.
"I want to give Constance my shares of the winery, effectively making her co-owner with the rest of you."
"What?"
"Before you say no, I'm marrying her," I growl. "But before I can do that, I need to not be her boss. This is the best way to accomplish that."
"We've never taken on a partner."
"Yes, we have. Uncle Nathan did the same thing with Aunt Brooke."
"Wait, really? When?"
"Before they got married."
"I didn't know that."
"Me either. I just talked to Miriam. I guess Aunt Brooke grew up in foster care, and he wanted to make sure she knew she had a place here, so they added her as a co-owner of the winery before they got married. It was his engagement gift to her."
"Huh. Did Constance grow up in foster care or something?"
"No. But it's complicated."
"Her family situation?"
"Our situation."
"Ah," he says, a smile in his voice. "She told you to fuck right off when you asked her to marry you, didn't she?"
"No," I snap. "I haven't asked her yet."
"Why the fuck not? You scared she'll tell you to fuck right off?" When I don't respond, he stops laughing. "Damn. You really are worried about it, aren't you?"
"I'm currently her boss."
"So?"
"She can't marry her boss. It's a whole thing." I pinch the bridge of my nose, pausing halfway between my house and my parents' place. "Do you want an explanation, or do you want to get your fiancée pregnant?"
