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Jan had never been some great beauty. It made sense that the only reason Alex had agreed to marry her was out of trickery. She supposed she should be pleased that she was portrayed as smart enough to pull it off.
“Not a word of that about Jan is true.” Alex’s voice was a low growl. He stood behind her chair. His hand, which had been resting at the top of the chair close to the nape of her neck without touching it, tensed.
Esme sat beside Jan, holding her hand in a tight, supportive grip. Outside, at the palace gates, the press had gathered. Out Leo’s office window, Jan could see their flashing lights in the distance. They were quite literally storming the castle.
“I’m referring to the part where the two of you have no plans to get married,” said Leo.
Jan felt Alex stiffen beside her. She might have changed her stance on marriage, but she hadn’t thought he had. She knew he never wanted to walk down the aisle.
But now it was all ruined. If they continued the engagement, everyone would speculate that they were only in it for the money. If they broke it off, it would confirm it as well. What were they going to do?
“We can salvage this,” Alex said quietly.
Jan looked over her shoulder so that she could see his face. Gone was the mischievous glint to his dark eyes. He looked tired, resolute.
“I made you a promise,” he said, “and I intend to keep it.”
“What are you talking about?” asked Leo.
“She gave up everything to try to make this work. She left her home, her family, her business,” shouted Alex, prowling over to Leo’s desk. The two brothers stood toe to toe. “We were never going to need the inheritance. This is a good, sound investment. We are a good, sound investment.”
The two brothers glared at each other. Jan’s insides twisted. Everything was ruined; the business, the relationship that was just getting started with Alex, and the relationship he had with his brother.
Instead of things coming to blows, Leo reached out to his brother and brought Alex into his arms.
“You should’ve come to me,” Leo growled. “Don’t you know you can always come to me?”
“I didn’t think you’d believe …” Alex let the words trail off.
“You didn’t think I believed in you.” Leo broke the hug and held his brother at arm’s length so he could look directly into his eyes. “I’m ashamed to say there’s a possibility you may have been right.”
Alex looked down at the ground and sighed. When he raised his head, there wasn’t
defeat in his gaze. “That’s fair.”
“I would’ve believed in Jan.”
Alex gave his brother a punch in the shoulder. But, despite the levity of the moment, they were still in a world of trouble. All eyes rested on the opened paper still on Leo’s desk.
“We can still make this work,” said Alex.
“How?” said Esme, speaking for the first time since seeing the paper.
“I just need to step out of the limelight for a while,” said Alex.
“You’re leaving me?” Jan rose, letting go of her best friend’s hand. Without Esme, she realized there was nothing tethering her, and her knees nearly buckled.
“No.” Alex came to her, wrapping her up in his arms. “Yes but no.”
Jan searched his gaze. There was remorse in his dark eyes. But there was more, something deeper. It was the same look he’d given her the other day when he asked her out to dinner. The same look he’d had when he’d leaned in to kiss her when they were alone without any cameras.
Jan wasn’t an expert in reality. She’d seen enough romantic comedies to think she knew what she was looking at. It looked like real, live desire. It looked the way the hero looked at the heroine in the last few moments of the movie before declaring his undying love. Was Alex about to declare his undying love for her? Jan desperately wanted to turn to Esme to get her bestie to give her assessment of the potentially declarative look of love in Alex’s eyes.
“I think we should break up,” he said.
It was déjà vu. She’d been here before. It was different words but the same feeling.
Her heart was in her feet. Her head was light. Her legs unsteady.
