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“Son, I have no doubt you’ll make a phenomenal CEO. You’ve been trained for it since you were in diapers. You eat and breathe ships and Ocean Gate. There’s no one more qualified in this world to take the reins.”
“Wow, thanks, Pop.” I beam at him, the exaggerated widening in my eyes letting him know I didn’t hear it often. Not that I need to. Ocean Gate is my passion. And in the last ten years, it’s the only thing I’ve spent my waking moments living for.
“Yes, well. Whether you will actually become CEO is another matter.” My dad grumbles. “You’ve done everything else but the one thing you need to cement your position.”
I lean forward, resting my forearms on my knees and steepling my fingers. “Father. About the marriage thing...” I begin, letting my voice trail off.
“What about it?” he feigns an air of boredom.
“That’s the reason I decided to come to Seattle today. It’s not happening.”
He raises an eyebrow. “Really? Son, your ability to negotiate deals in record time is uncanny. Are you then telling me there’s no woman in the entire city of New York who will have you?”
“You know that’s not it.” I look into his eyes and let my nonchalance fall away. I let him see my pain and fear, in hopes that he’ll scrape together any remaining dregs of sympathy within him. “I don’t want to do it, Dad. You’re the CEO, you can make an executive decision to delay this a few more years, hell, you could throw the dated policy out altogether.”
For the longest moment, Richard Fairchild only stares back at me, and I see something shift beneath the icy shards of blue. He huffs out a breath, making me think I’ve finally gotten through to him until he slowly shakes his head.
“Son. I hate to say this, but it’s just the truth... I doubt that you have any room in your heart for a woman. Ocean Gate is your only priority.”
“Dad—”
“Ryan Richard Fairchild,” he calls me by my full name and I know he’s about to make an unshakeable pronouncement. “Are you telling me you’re not prepared to marry a woman you can’t love in order to win a company you can’t live without?”
I chafe. My father is even more infuriating when he’s right. “But why that clause though? It’s archaic, ridiculous. Not fit for purpose.”
Ocean Gate is an old ship-building company, but beats its newer competitors by miles in innovation and modernness. And that’s where its façade ends. At heart, it exists on the most archaic principles.
“Dad,” I continue, using the term he prefers in hopes of getting him to relent. “Being required to marry by a certain time might have been acceptable in the nineteenth century when this company started. But right now? I’m ashamed to have to abide by those rules because you wouldn’t change them.”
“Every family has its skeletons. Embrace yours.” Dad shrugs.
“Really? That’s your excuse for not getting rid of it?”
Dad smiles wryly, “No, the reason I didn’t touch it is because of you.”
“What?” My brow furrows in confusion.
“Because that’s the only way to safeguard your inheritance. The Reuben-Fairchild lineage can’t hold down a marriage to save their shares.” He replies, referring to our fiercest rivals. “As it happens, we Richard-Fairchilds can. Without the policies on our side, they’d do anything to wrest power from us. From you. And you know they fight dirty.”
“I know.” The creepiest sons of bitches I know happen to be my cousins.
“Good. So I would, for the sake of your children, keep the clause in. Teach them to learn to live with their partners instead.”
I’m afraid this nugget of wisdom is completely wasted on me. I might be the one to break this lineage. Because if I can’t stand being married for six months, how will I endure it for life?
“So, speaking of wives,” Dad continues, “are you going to come up with one in the next couple of months, or do I have to find you one?”
I throw my head back on the sofa and stare at the intricate carvings on the ceiling.
Fuck. There’s really no way around this. Unfortunately, I’ve managed to piss off the only woman I can see myself doing this with. What the hell did I do this time? It wasn’t the spanking two weeks ago. She had it coming. And she fucking loved it.
I close my eyes and let my mind recall how her green eyes grew bright with anger and then darkened with desire. The smell of her creamy, almost translucent skin. The way I grinned like a fool the rest of the day even as she glared daggers at me.
“Ryan?”
“Yes, I... er, have someone, Pop. We’re not at any commitment stage yet, but given the timelines, I should be able to hurry things along.”
“Well,” he beams. “That’s what I’m talking about! I knew you had this in the bag. Your mother would be pleased to hear this, I tell you.”
