Page 133 of The Contract Marriage

“Of course. I know it’s a big ask, and you might already have somebody else in mind. But I mean it. If anything happens to you, I want to be there to protect your baby. After what happened to your mom, I got to thinking that if you had a godmother or someone to advocate for you, maybe Hugh and Deena wouldn’t have been so disgusting toward you and isolated you from all your friends by moving you from school to school and other crap. And I want to be that shield for your kid.”

I stare at London. I didn’t realize she had such strong feelings about my baby.

“Don’t look at me like that.” She shifts, her cheeks flushing a little. “I never forgot the time I fell off Viola, and you came to pull me out from under her when she went wild for some reason. I could’ve been maimed. Or worse.”

“Anybody would’ve done that for you,” I say, remembering her fall from the pony.

“Not anybody. You were the only kid who did. Everyone else just stood around and watched. So what do you say? Deal?”

I smile. “Yeah. Deal.”

Chapter Fifty-Seven

Liam

“Hey, what are you doing?” Rhys says as I pore over the ring designs one morning.

“Working,” I say without looking up from the drafts spread out on his dining table.

“London texted you twice.” He taps my phone screen.

“I know. Don’t you have to go to work?” I know it’s well past his usual departure time. Max already left with Angelo.

“You owe her a date. And she isn’t even asking you to plan anything. She just wants you to show up!”

“Work?” I say pointedly, my eyes glued to the top two designs.

And Rhys ignores me. “What could be so important?” He looks over my drafts. “Rings? A special commission?” He squints. “For Barron Sterling? I heard he’s looking for something exceptional for his girlfriend.”

I grunt. The man probably wants something “grand” to propose to his girlfriend with. I respect him for dating someone his age rather than some jailbait bimbo, even though every young thing fawns over him.

Rhys grows thoughtful. “I should ask you to design something for Max—”

“Shhh! Go to work! Make more money or you won’t be able to keep her in the style to which she’s become accustomed, then she’ll have to divorce you and write you off for a billion bucks wasted. Might even be able to claim a loss carryover if her CPA is clever.”

Rhys glares at me. “Weren’t you the one who told me I work too hard?”

“That was before.” Before he started to get into my business.

“I’m taking a day off to take care of Max.”

“And yet she isn’t even here.”

“London?” he says again.

I finally lift my head and glare at him. “Are you trying to get me to date her?”

Rhys blinks at my aggrieved tone.

“I’m married. I’m staying faithful to my wife.”

“Yeah, except you’re here, and your wife is…” He points in a random direction.

My mouth flattens. “I’m working on it.” I look back at the designs. Mike said we just created an extraordinary rock: a twenty-six-carat yellow diamond. As soon as I saw the photo, my heart screamed this is it—the stone I envisioned when Olivia walked into Kingswood Stones & Designs. The starburst ring I thought would be perfect for her, except now… I might not have a wife to give it to.

Might? You mean won’t. Soon, Prescott’s going to call and say, “Sign the divorce agreement, Liam.”

I pinch the bridge of my nose as a headache starts.