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I turned.
“You don’t know the whole story.”
She stormed into the conference room. I closed the door behind us. It was bad enough the receptionist may have overheard some of my family’s dirty laundry.
Her pale eyes flared. “You are going to have a baby with someone you just married?” She put her fingertips to her forehead as if she had a sudden headache. “Tell me this is a nightmare. Tell me there is some other way you’re getting the money.”
“It’s the only way.” I looked at her.
“A baby? You’re going to have a baby with someone?”
“I don’t know why you’re struggling with this.” I looked through the window. A few employees had gathered in front of the reception area. “It was the last despicable thing my father did. I imagine he thought he could tie me down. Make me embrace a conventional lifestyle. The mansion on the hill with a white picket fence, complete with a smiling wife who bakes cookies in heels and an apron while our baby watches from a high chair. Sounds like he tried to deliver a fantasy, but I know better. It was his last attempt to control me. To force me into a life I never wanted.” I huffed. “And he punished my mother in the process. He got us both, at least until Evie.”
She pressed her palms into the glass of the conference table. “We have been partners for years. I can’t believe you would keep this from me. That you’d make a decision like this without me.”
I exhaled. “It wasn’t like that. I didn’t go to the will reading with a plan. I didn’t know what was in the damn thing until he read it out loud. There was no strategy. I left the attorney’s office defeated. I thought I had lost it all. But I saw Evie again and it fell into place. She was the answer to my prayers.” I had to stop myself from saving how much she had saved me. How being with her in a short time had already changed everything.
It shook me when I saw tears in Sasha’s eyes. “It could have fallen into place for us.”
“Sasha.”
She put a hand up. “No. No. You don’t get to talk to me right now. You’re a dick, Jeremy. A completely selfish dick.”
“Wait. Have you been… have you thought all this time… ” She was a business shark. I respected the hell out of her. I wasn’t going to pretend she wasn’t incredible in bed when we were together, but mother material? No. I’d never put that label on her. There was a side to Sasha that was dark and cold.
“You should have considered what I could have offered to this deal.” Her eyes pierced me. “You should have realized what kind of force we could have been together.”
Fuck.
“I didn’t not consider you. I didn’t consider anyone. I didn’t want to get married. You know me. You know that about me. It’s exactly why my dad put it in the will.”
“But her? Someone without an ounce of business background? What can she possibly do for you? She has nothing to add to the portfolio. No connections. No money. What value is she?”
Something primal broke free in my chest. Evie was mine. She was my wife. I valued her, and nothing else mattered once I realized that.
“She’s going to give me a baby, Sasha. I married her because I wanted to marry her.”
I slammed my fist on the table.
Sasha stepped back. My admission had surprised both of us.
I hung my head. “I need your support. I need to know you’re going to be on my side. This marriage has to be a success to inherit the money. We need Evie if we’re going to buy the team. And you know I need you too, Sasha. I always have. It’s not going to work without you.”
“I don’t know,” she whispered.
“The press conference is at four.” I looked at her, but she couldn’t meet my eyes. “I need your answer by then.”
I walked out of the room.
24
Evie
I wrung my hands together. I paced in front of the giant sets of windows. Was my dress too tight? Not tight enough? I plucked at the V-dip between my breasts. Was I showing too much cleavage? I groaned. I had put my faith in the girl at the boutique, and now I wished I could go back and buy something else. Cream silk seemed too innocent and pure for what Jer and I had been planning and doing.
The door opened and I almost threw myself in his arms. He wore a scowl instead of a smile.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
