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Of course, he’d said I was out of my mind. He’d given a hundred reasons why it wasn’t possible. Why would he be kissing Iva? He didn’t even know her. I’d been too far away. I was tired from hiking all day. He’d talked around me in circles to where I doubted what I had seen. Maybe they hadn’t been kissing. Maybe I was just tired.
After an hour of going back and forth, I’d given up. Ryzen was much more like my father than I had realized. My father was the same way every time you confronted him about some type of indiscretion. It was called gaslighting, and he was good at it. I was learning that so was Ryzen.
It wasn’t even jealousy that made my blood boil. The so-called feelings I had had when we’d arrived at Covington’s manor a week ago, the ones I had started to develop a month ago when this fiasco had started, had quickly begun to dissipate. Was it the fact that I had spent more time with Cian? I didn’t know. But either way, I was counting down the days and hours until this entire scheme was over with.
Speaking of the Devil, Cian swaggered into the dining room and took a seat a few tables down from ours. From where I was sitting, I saw his face clearly. He scanned the room, and I looked the other way. His eyes were on me, burning into my skin, but I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of acknowledging his presence.
“How’s the garden holding up while you’ve been away, Hewie?” I gave him my full attention as he babbled on about purple cauliflower and the correct way to grow it.
Iva came in a few moments later and sat at Covington’s table up front. She looked happy. Too happy. The way she was cooing over her grandfather had me thinking that maybe she knew something the rest of us didn’t. Like she was getting the hotels. I sipped on my champagne and smiled when she waved at me. I wouldn’t take out my irritation on her. Not when I didn’t know for sure what was going on between her and Ryzen. Not yet. I raised my glass to her and nodded. Her eyes lit up, and she did the same. Like Grams always said,Keep your friends close and your enemies closer, and if you’re not sure which category they fall into, it’s probably the latter.
Covington stood and tapped the side of his glass with a fork and the chattering turned into murmurs around the room. “My dear friends and family, I want to thank you for a darn near record turnout this year. With all of your contributions, we were able to raise close to two million dollars for the Covington Foundation!”
Applause roared around the room to a deafening volume. Ryzen gripped my elbow and dragged me to stand next to him, others following his lead. After a few moments, the clapping quieted down and we took our seats. Covington spent the next twenty minutes going over the fundraising achievements over the last few days, with rounds of applause in between.
My stomach protested when I started on my second glass of champagne. I could practically hear it yelling,Give us food, you fool!I couldn’t eat even if I wanted to though. It was taking all the self-control I had not to yell out at Covington,Announce your successor. End this madness. I want to go back to my normal life where I get to design dildos and think about orgasms all day!
Covington cleared his throat and raised his champagne glass, and I perked up at his expression. “Now, y’all know that I’ve had my business associates here so I could work out who’s going to take over my legacy. It’s with great pleasure I announce my successor.”
The room was quiet, Hewie twisting his cloth napkin in his hands next to me.
“Ryzen Goodacre, get your city ass up here, son!”
My breath caught in my throat, my hand going to my neck. He’d won. He’d actually pulled this off. Ryzen stood up and puffed his chest out, straightening out his jacket. Hewie threw his napkin on the table, his chair scratching against the floor as he abruptly stood and stormed out of the room.
My eyes searched for Cian. Would he have the same reaction? Would he storm out or try to tackle Ryzen? Anything was possible with him. I shifted in my seat and peeked over at his table. Cian was—he was smiling. Not a fake smile. A satisfied smile. A shit-eating grin, some would call it. Why wasn’t he exploding? Why wasn’t he throwing chairs and trying to strangle Ryzen?
Ryzen reached for my hand, and I stood, letting him embrace me in the room full of people. When his lips met mine, the room grew louder with applause.
“Congratulations, Ryzen,” I squeezed him in a hug. I was happy for him. OK, I was happy for myself that this charade would now most definitely be over soon, but he didn’t need to know that.
“Congratulations to you as well, Nova.” He winked and led me towards Covington’s table.
We spent the rest of the night at Covington’s table. Iva did not look thrilled about the announcement. Her lips were set in a thin line. Lorraine and Cricket talked my ear off over champagne, and before I knew it, Ryzen was walking me back to our room.
“We did it.” He lifted my hand and kissed it. I let him pull me close, his lips warm against mine.
There was nothing. No sparks. No butterflies. Just lips on lips.
He pulled back and raised his eyebrow. Knowing Ryzen, he wasn’t used to a woman not falling at his feet when he offered them a kiss.
He cleared his throat. “I need to meet with Covington. The jet will be ready at eight a.m. We’ll talk more then.” He kissed my forehead and turned on his heel, marching down the hall.
My shoulders slumped, and I leaned against the door. This was good. This was what he’d wanted. What we’d wanted. Now things could go back to normal, and I could focus on work. Before I knew it, my head was hitting the pillow and I was off to dreamland.
The morning flew by in a blur. After Lorraine hugged me tight and promised me a lunch visit in the next week or two, we boarded the jet and took off back to Chicago.
Ryzen was quiet for most of the trip, and it was a little unnerving. The energy on the plane was pulsating with—something not right, and when I caught his eyes on me, an odd expression on his face, I knew something was up.
“OK, what aren’t you saying?” I closed my laptop and turned towards him. “Spill it.”
He was quiet for a moment, rubbing his thumb against his bottom lip. After what seemed like an eternity, he leaned forward and clasped his hands together. “We have to get married.”
I think I stopped breathing for a moment. I chuckled. “I’m sorry, what the hell are you talking about?” Had I woken up in another universe?
“Covington wants to come to the wedding. He wants to make sure this”—Ryzen pointed back and forth between us—“is real. That I’m not lying.” He said it with such a straight face, I could almost believe he thought we were going to get married.
“But you are lying. Have been lying. We can’t get married. Absolutely not.” I laughed and would have kept laughing if his face wasn’t so serious. “Ryzen. No. I will not. That’s not what we agreed on.”
