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“Ew,” Damien winces. “Not a mental image I needed, Luc.”
“And also a nonstarter,” I say.
“Okay, then you suggest something!” Luc tells me.
“I’ve been wracking my brains for days about this,” I say. “If I had a good idea, would we be here right now?”
“There is one other option we haven’t really discussed,” Damien says. “You could date Raven for real.”
“She wants more than dating, Damien. She wants a ring.”
“Then do that,” my older brother says. “Woo the fuck out of her, propose with the biggest damn diamond she’s ever seen, and marry her.”
“No,” I say fiercely. “That would break Emma’s heart.”
“I didn’t say you had to stay married to her,” Damien says. “Stay married long enough to get whatever share of the inheritance she wants to give you. We’ll draft an airtight prenup that will guarantee you get the money as soon as the ceremony is over. Then divorce Raven.”
“What about Emma, though? I don’t want to hurt her.”
“Dude, that ship has sailed,” Luc says.
“He’s right,” Damien nods. “You have hurt her, Finn. You didn’t mean to and you had what you thought was a good reason for getting back with Raven. But you still hurt Emma, and you need to own that.”
I know that Damien is right. But hearing him state all of this so boldly hurts like a knife to the gut. I close my eyes, shame and regret sweeping over me.
I’ve never felt this rotten before. I want to go to Emma and beg for forgiveness; I want to run away with her. But I know that Raven will make good on her threats to demolish Devil’s Advocate. And I can’t let everything that my brothers and I have worked so hard for be ruined. Not if there’s still a chance that I can save it.
“After you get divorced, then you can tell Emma what happened,” Damien says.
“And sweep her off her feet,” Luc says. “Pull out the full court press, make it clear that she’s the only woman you want.”
“Do you think that will work?” I ask.
Luc shrugs. “Maybe? I’ve never been in love before. What do you think, wise old married one?” he asks, looking at Damien.
“If she loves you, and if you make it clear that you’ll never hurt her again, there’s a chance,” he tells me.
I sigh. “Marry Raven, divorce her immediately, use the money to make the firm so powerful that any venom she might spit will just bounce off of us. That’s the plan?”
“It’s the best one you’ve got,” Damien says, and Luc nods.
“And hope that I’ll still have a chance with Emma when the dust settles,” I add.
“The fact that you’ll have saved her job might win you a few points,” Luc says.
I shake my head. “I won’t deserve any of them. Because you’re right, this is the best plan we’ve got. I’m going to marry Raven.”
21
EMMA
Okay, I admit it. I’m not proud of myself for eavesdropping on Finn and his brothers.
Except it wasn’t actually eavesdropping, because is it my fault that they’re all so loud? Or that Finn left his office door open a crack? Or that I had to walk past Finn’s office to drop off some files for another attorney before I could meet Lucy for that drink? With that combination, it’s a wonder the entire firm doesn’t know what’s happening.
Or what I think is happening, because all I heard was Finn say, “I’m going to marry Raven.” Then I bolted down the hall before anyone could see that I was about to cry.
I couldn’t hide how upset I was from Lucy, though. The second she saw me, she knew something was wrong. But I also couldn’t bring myself to tell her about Finn, even though I’d been planning to. I didn’t want anyone to know how foolish I’d been.
