Page 82 of Made For You
After the call, I thought about messaging Aurora and letting her know I was heading back to Ashfield, but I hesitated. Something about surprising her was thrilling. I wanted to see her face when she realized I was back. Through her messages, she made it seem like she was convinced I wouldn’t return. Even though we talked and joked every day, and had phone sex nearly every night, she would still randomly ask about my clothes and toiletries I left there. Or where she should send her rings when our time was up—something I didn’t want returned, even when it was time for us to part ways. She could pawn them if she desired.
But I had something else in mind.
“Gigi,” I said when she answered my call. “I have to make a quick stop, then I’ll be headed your way to pick you up.”
Her response was to question why I was bothering her while she was trying to pack her favorite outfits that might “woo a hot former hockey player away from his young, talented, and gorgeous wife to give your eighty-five-year-old Gigi a second chance at love.”
Her joking and uplifted mood combined with my excitement to get back to Aurora was all I needed to hurry up with my new plan.
Thankfully, the lobby was empty of disgruntled employees when I made my way out of the office. I stopped by the front desk and asked them to issue anyone currently staying at the hotel a voucher for a free night stay at any Wilder Hotel for the disturbance. I probably should have run it by variousdepartments, but I didn’t turn the hotel around by ignoring our guest services.
The pit-stop went smoothly, and my gift to Aurora was nestled in my computer bag as Gigi and I flew high above and away from Florida. My grandmother wasn’t saying much about everything she’d been through today, but I hoped she felt a bit of closure where my grandfather’s death was concerned.
Next week, I was going to have to hit the ground running to fix all my uncle’s mishaps and mistakes he made with the business. I’d done what I could over the last year, but there were many files and financials he kept hidden.
“You okay, Gigi? Have you talked to Aunt Kate?” She was my grandfather and Gigi’s daughter, after all. My mom’s younger sister. And my uncle-by-marriage’s estranged wife.
“I tried calling her, but she’s not answering. I’m not sure she cares, if you want my honest opinion. You saw howremovedDelilah and Charlie were from the entire situation.”
I nodded, because Gigi’s relationships with Aunt Kate and her family were strained at best. The revelation that her daughter’s husband—separated or not—murdered my grandfather on his deathbed would likely push them even farther apart.
Halfway through the flight, I decided to work on some of the small task lists for the lodge, when a notification sounded from my phone. It was Dean.
Dean: It’s out. Man, I’m sorry.
At first, I thought he was referring to Charles’s arrest, but then he sent a link to an article. The headline was all I needed to read.
HOTEL HEIR FAKED MARRIAGE TO GAIN CONTROL
It was as if our good luck had run out. The wind was strong as the plane descended on Tennessee. So much so thatwe had to circle an extra hour before we could land safely. Then, to top it off, the rental car vendor had nothing available that was suitable for Gigi and me. I was growing impatient, and the grumpy man I thought I left back in Miami apparently followed me here like a stowaway.
Since the plane landed, I’d been checking the news and gossip feeds like a madman. So far, it seemed only one tabloid reported on the marriage between me and Aurora, detailing the contract and all the finite specifics. There was only one person who came to mind—Olive—even though I had no clue how she could’ve gotten a copy of the contract. There had been only one, the very one Aurora signed at dinner on the boat. And according to the article, their “highly credible source” tipped them off well before Olive had been let go.
I’d been firing off messages to my lawyer and Dean to see what we could do. The hotel PR team was about to make their money’s worth, what with my scandalandmy uncle’s arrest. I was hoping we’d be able to keep at least the gossip about me tampered.
I’d finally decided to contact Aurora instead of keeping my arrival a surprise, believing a warning about the current situation that came from me instead of being hit with it out of nowhere would be more appreciated, but she wasn’t answering. There was a chance she was still at the school, so I was hoping she just wasn’t able to get the call.
“Talon, dear. They have a car ready now,” Gigi said as she placed her hand on my arm to get my attention. I looked over at my grandmother, with her stern yet loving eyes.
Will she be disappointed in me? Will she sneer at the lengths I went to, even if it was to restore my mother’s birthright, to run the hotels that belonged to her family?
“You’re drifting away again.”
“I’m sorry, Gigi. I can’t seem to get a hold of Aurora.”
She nodded in understanding as I went over to the desk and signed for the rental car. I hated that the Ferrari wasn’t available again, but I doubted Gigi would’ve been able to ride in it comfortably. Worse, she probably would’ve tried to drive it.
“Well, she’ll be in for a surprise when she sees us, won’t she?”
I rubbed my hand against the back of my bare neck. I still hadn’t gotten used to my much shorter hair, though Gigi said she loved it when she first saw me walking through her door. “I suppose so.”
After securing all of Gigi’s luggage into the SUV, I pulled out onto the highway. I was desperate to see Aurora. Ihadto come up with a plan to shield her from any backfire from all of this.
The longer I sat in the car while Gigi napped in the passenger seat, the more I was able to convince myself this entire thing was going to blow over like it was nothing. Because really, weren’t all marriages a contract of sorts? Love only came into play if you were one of the lucky ones. People married for money, insurance, and children all the time. What made what I did any different?
And on Aurora’s side, there was nothing wrong with her agreeing. She didn’t hurt anyone in the process. As for my job, I kept thinking back to the monarchies and kingdoms of the past. Royals were married as a contract between two lands, uniting them. Or to marry into a “higher level” family to increase their status. In the long run, what we did was no different.
What’s more—I did it for a noble reason. My mother. The woman whose father shunned her, all because she fell in love and had me, instead of marrying someone out of duty, for the sole purpose of that man taking over the hotels. Gigi’s always said my mother was smarter than any of the men in our family and would’ve been better at running Wilder Hotels than anyonebefore her. Stupid, antiquated rules kept her from taking over what should have been hers. So, since she couldn’t be CEO of the company, and instead of living a loveless life like her own mother had, my mom decided she’d live the lifeshechose, one that would make her happy and fulfilled and out from beneath the thumb of her last name.
