I tap the bottle against his glass of wine. “Congratulations!”
He grins. “Thanks.” He glances across the room at his fiancée. “Didn’t think I’d ever get this far.”
“Me either.” Ten years ago, at a beach party, he told me he was going to ask Wren Carter out. At the time, I was convinced he didn’t stand a chance. Twenty-three-year-old girls didn’t go out with eighteen-year-old boys. Sure enough, she turned him down, and I thought he’d blown it. But now they’re engaged and getting married in just over two weeks. Maybe miracles do happen.
“How did you talk her into that?” I tease. “Hypnosis?”
He grins, his eyes following her as she crosses the floor to speak to someone. Then, eventually, his gaze comes back to me. “Honestly?” He studies his shoes for a moment, then says, “On the night of the ball, she asked Caesar if he’d donate sperm for her because she wanted a baby.”
My eyes widen. “Shit. Really?” I didn’t expect that.
I’ve watched the rise of the Ashfords with admiration and quiet envy. Ten years ago, Marcus’s father, Edward, was still in the process of developing his pasture management project, and Marcus had only just started university. Shortly after that, the technology took off in a crazy way. The revolutionary system made the family a fortune and led to their meteoric rise.
By that point I was in the army, and didn’t get to see him much. We kept in touch, though, and when we met up a few months ago, he was quick to offer me a role in their security team.
We’ve both changed a lot in the last ten years, and haven’t yet returned to the close friendship we had back in the day. However, as he looks at the woman he fell for all that time ago, a touch of nostalgia has apparently prompted his confession.
He clears his throat. “Yeah. She went to a fertility clinic, but they told her single women have to wait years for a donor and suggested she approach a friend. She and Caesar had kept in touch, and she saw him as a good friend who’d help her out. He hesitated, and so I took the opportunity to step in.”
“And she said yes! That’s so cool.”
He winces and scratches the back of his neck. “I told her I wasn’t going to donate and wanted to get her pregnant the old-fashioned way.”
That makes me chuckle. “You’re still as resourceful as you always were, I see.”
“She wasn’t happy about it. She’s determined to keep her distance. But I’ll talk her around.”
His quiet determination warms me through. “You old romantic.”
“I do my best.”
Smiling, I glance across to check on Aurelia, then look back at him. His smile has faded.
“She still doesn’t know about the photo?” he asks.
I shake my head. “It won’t come from me.”
“Fucking bastard,” he says, glowering.
“The stalker? Or Dom?”
“Both. I can’t believe he kept photos of her on his phone.”
“He swore he didn’t know they were still on there.”
“Do you believe him?”
“I’m choosing not to, because it makes it easier to explain how much I hate him.”
“Glad I’m not the only one.” He smirks. “I hear you nearly punched his lights out.”
“I showed amazing restraint.”
“Shame.”
I blow out a breath. “It wasn’t easy.”
“She doesn’t know you went to his office, though?”
