AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Mardi Gras 2.0, everyone.
The room was so silent you could have heard a pin drop. I glanced between the two men, waiting for one of them to crack a smile or laugh to show they were telling a joke. A stupid joke, but a joke, no doubt. But they didn’t laugh, and they didn’t smile.
“So—did you need me to tell this Covington guy that’s not true?” I shifted in my seat, uncrossing and recrossing my legs. Was this why they’d called me down here? Because they were too scared to tell this hotel guy themselves that I was not his fiancée? “I mean, sure—do you want to give me his cell or should I just email him?”
They glanced at each other and remained silent, as if they were having a conversation with just their eyes. Ryzen turned back towards me and leaned forward. “No, Miss La Roux. I don’t need you to call him. I need you to be my fiancée.”
I turned my head to look behind me, waiting for the guy with the camera to jump out and yell “Gotcha,” but that didn’t happen. Of course it didn’t happen, because based on the way these two men were looking at me, this was no joke.
They sat in silence, their expressions mirroring each other’s. Watching. Waiting. I couldn’t stop the laughter from bubbling up in my chest. They had to be out of their minds. “Why on earth would I ever do something like that?”
“We’ll pay you,” Riddick said, like he was pleased with himself for coming up with that idea.
I rolled my eyes. Of course. These were the kind of people who thought money could get them everything. And maybe it could. But not me. I wasn’t for sale, and I told them as much.
“Miss La Roux.” Ryzen’s voice was soft, gentle, just like in the elevator when he’d been trying to calm me down. “This isn’t ideal, but I need you to do this for me.”
I went into a full-on laughing fit then. He sounded so ridiculous. Was I supposed to fall for this bullshit routine? The “I’m so handsome and sexy, I know you’ll do anything for me” bit? I held my stomach as I chuckled, a single tear slipping out of the corner of my eye.
They looked confused, almost concerned as they watched me. I clutched my purse in my lap and pulled out a tissue, dabbing my eyes. “OK, OK.” I held my hand up. “That was good, that whole”—I waved my hand up and down at Ryzen—“‘please help me with my rich person problem.’ No. The answer is no, fellas. You’ll need to find someone else.”
Ryzen threw the tabloid back on the table and shrugged. “It has to be you. Nobody else.”
It was the shrug that really got to me. He was acting as if I had no choice. Hmm, a man in power trying to boss around a woman—where had I seen this before? Ah, yes, my whole life.
“First off, this is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.” I threw the strap of my purse over my shoulder and stood. “Second, nobody would ever believe this. I would never date, let alone get engaged to, someone like you.” I looked down my nose at him as he sat on the couch.
His eyes registered surprise and then darkened. Good. I hoped that hit him right in the gut. Some people were so entitled, they deserved to get their asses handed to them.
He leaned back into the sofa and rubbed his hand over his mouth and then jaw. Riddick stood up across from me. “Miss La Roux, we’ll not only pay you, but we’ll give you your lease back at Waveland and Ash.”
There was that look again, like he thought he deserved a pat on the back for coming up with this brilliant idea. “And if I say no?” I clenched my jaw, the answer already obvious.
“You don’t get your lease back, and I’ll make sure you can’t lease anywhere else.” Riddick handed me one of the thick folders on the table. I opened it and saw a non-disclosure agreement.
I shoved it into my purse. “You’re an asshole.” Riddick’s mouth fell open, and I stared daggers at Ryzen. “And you’re an even bigger asshole!” I turned on my heel and marched towards the doors. I glared over my shoulder as I yanked the doors open and gave them the bird.
Take that, you rich, ignorant jerks.
********
I took a detour on my way back to the office, passing on an Uber and walking instead. I needed to clear my head before I went into full-on rage mode. My feet ached halfway there, and I pulled a pair of flats out of my bag and continued the thirty-minute walk. Juliet was going to lose her shit when I told her about what happened. She might be petite with a resting angel face, but when she got angry, she turned into a demon on steroids.
By the time I had made it back to our office, I was still angry. Juliet and Owen were leaning over our long worktable, a spread of pictures laid out in front of them. She stopped laughing when she saw my face.
“Oh, boy.” She stood and followed me into the back room, where I grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and unscrewed the cap with as much venom as I could muster. “What happened?” she asked as she shut the door.
Her mouth was hanging open when I finished telling her about their proposal.
“No, they didn’t!” She paced around the room, her hands on her hips. “Those assholes!”
“That’s what I said!” I chugged the rest of my water and crushed the flimsy bottle between both of my hands. “Who does that? Who makes up a fake fiancée just to buy a business?” I threw the bottle into the recycle bin and sat on the edge of the table. I still couldn’t wrap my mind around it—the audacity they had to hold my business over my head like that. They knew I needed that lease, knew I was desperate for it. But desperate enough to fake a relationship? I scoffed at the idea. Ryzen Goodacre was a dick. I knew all about his type—rich men who thought they could control and take advantage of people because they were wealthy.
Juliet stopped her pacing and turned towards me. “Do you want to go to the rage yard?”
I snapped my fingers and pointed at her. “Yes, yes, I do.”
We slipped out the back without telling Owen. He knew better to come looking for us when we went to the rage yard.
