Page 124 of Marry Lies
Miles
It used to be green, but now it’s blue.
Me
What shade of blue?
Miles
The color of your eyes when you’re laughing.
CHAPTERTWENTY-NINE
THE GROVELING
Miles
I check my tie a dozen times in the bedroom mirror, making sure it’s perfect. Smoothing a hand over my hair, I grab my whiskey and polish off the rest of the crystal tumbler. Not enough to inebriate me, butjustenough to quell my nerves. Chase mentioned that Estelle would be in attendance tonight, and I can’t help the tiny, miniscule spark of hope working through me. Seeing her in person gives me another chance to apologize.
And fuck, I have a lot to apologize for.
But the main thing is the lying. And the betrayal.
I’ve spent the last six days making vows with myself about the kind of husband I want to be. I’ve had several moments of reckoning while I shiver alone in my office in the middle of the night. I don’t deserve her, but I’ll do everything in my power to become worthy of her.
My phone vibrates in my pocket, and when I pull it out, my stomach drops.
Here goes nothing.
“Father,” I murmur, my free hand curling at my side.
“What the hell have you done, Miles?”
“Something I should’ve done a long time ago.”
“You can’t possibly think Prescott Deveraux is going to trust you after everything that happened—”
“Actually,” I interject loudly. “He already does. As of this afternoon, Prescott Deveraux is my newest client.”
“You can’t just poach my clients.”
“Oh no, that’s not what’s happening at all, father,” I drawl, smiling cruelly. “In fact, I’m saving you. Because I’m trying to be a good person. Abetterperson. It would really be a shame to be charged with another crime, wouldn’t it?”
“Are you threatening me, son?”
I laugh. “You lost a lot of money. Again. The courts aren’t going to look upon you very favorably, I’m afraid. Especially because Prescott Deveraux was able to track where his money went.”
“There’s no way.”
“Where there’s a will, there’s a way,” I reply, my fingers drumming along the mahogany dresser. “Luckily, I know some very important people who were able to dig into his portfolio a bit more, at least, the part you tried to hide. When I asked you last week if you’d lost the money, I never expected to find it in one ofyouroffshore accounts, father.”
“You can’t touch that money,” he growls.
“I don’t want the money,” I bite back. “I guess it’s a good thing that I donatedtwomillion dollars to Prescott’s various charities.”
“He can’t invest that—”
“I know. But he can invest the money I gifted him as an apology for getting tangled up with you. He’s nowfourmillion dollars richer. And I’ll tell you the same thing I told him: this time, I will ensure his money grows. This time, he can trust the person handling his hard-earned assets.”
