Page 21 of Cade

“No. That’s not good enough.”

“Fine. But please stop pacing. It’s driving me nuts.” April tossed him a look that said she didn’t care. “I need your word that you won’t say anything to anyone about this. No matter what you answer.”

“You didn’t bring an NDA with you?” April asked, honestly shocked.

“No. No one knows I’m here. I trust you to agree not to tell anyone, and I am still hoping that you’ll say yes.”

“You have my word. None of this conversation leaves this bubble right now.” She agreed. They’d often had talks that were extremely private and had stayed in their bubble, as they called it.

“Thank you. My father is behind all the damage to the restaurant and a few other things that you probably don’t know about.”

She was losing count of the times he had shocked her tonight. “Okay?”

“He is demanding me get married and have him grandchildren, and he will stop. It makes as much sense to me as it does to you. I have people looking for him, but right now, the best way to stop the damage is to give him what he wants.”

April did stop pacing as her brain started the mental gymnastics it needed to do to make this make sense. “Your friends don’t know?” she asked.

Cade shook his head. “They don’t, and I don’t want them to.”

She stopped pushing her feelings down and let herself feel bad for him. “You know they won’t think worse of you, right? I’ve met all your friends, and they are great. They would support you.”

“I don’t want them involved in this. Besides, I can’t find him anywhere to do anything about it, and he’s just sending others to do the damage for him.”

“What exactly does he want from you and, by extension, me?”

“For me to carry on the family name and create an heir.”

“You could do that with a surrogate,” April argued.

“If you don’t want to make this marriage that real, we could do that. Or even IVF.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“I know. I can also make you look much more desirable for the partnership in your firm. I have power and influence, and you would, by extension.”

Ironic that what he was offering was so far off from what she wanted. “I need one thing from you before we can talk, Cade. Why did you leave before, and what would I have to say that it wouldn’t happen again?” She waited for his answer, needing to know what it was.

Cade sighed. “I can’t answer that one without your agreement on this.”

April put her hands on her hips and stared him down. “That doesn’t make any sense. Whatever it was that I did to upset you back then can hardly just be talked about after I agree to marry and sleep with you.”

“April—” Cade started, but she cut him off.

“No. I’m done.” Shaking her head at herself, she tried to make sense of the last few minutes and what had happened to her rational brain just because Cade was the one with this insane offer. “I can’t believe that I was even entertaining this thought. Why would I? So I could be in custody court with you later on when I do something else to piss you off? Get out, Cade.”

April pointed at the door. Cade looked like he wanted to say something, but wisely kept his mouth shut and let himself out.

She sunk down onto her sofa after locking the door. There was no reason for her to entertain that offer. It was bizarre, and she was better than that. It was better than tying her life to a man who so clearly didn’t want her and ending up stuck in a one-sided marriage for who knows how long.

It wasn’t Cade she was mad at. It was her for nearly giving in to what he wanted, despite her own needs. She needed to do better at shielding herself around him or work better to not be around him. Anything was better than the way she felt right now, angry at herself, embarrassed, and alone.

Chapter Ten

Cade

“You know that Lauren is my employee, right? Like she has actual work to do?” Cade asked his sister, Catherine, as she took a seat in his office.

“You know that I don’t buy that tough guy act, right?” Catherine waved him off. “Besides, this time, you invited me here.”

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