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Toby? I’ve secretly loved him since the day we met. This should thrill me. But I don’t want to marry him because I’m forced to. Our friendship is unique. Even when we’re not in the same country, we’re talking. Tobias, Owen, and I started a group chat that hasn’t been quiet for a single day since we all got phones. I’ve never worked up the courage to text Toby outside of our group. What if he doesn’t like me back? Well, I guess that doesn’t matter now. It seems I’m going to marry him in a few years.
My father puts a hand on my shoulder. “This is a good match, sweetheart. You must stop looking at him as one of your tomboy friends. It’s time for you to grow up and act like a woman.”
His tone makes me bristle, and I shy away from his touch as he looks at my damp dress and curls with distaste. Just because I don’t spend my days worried about the latest fashion and I don’t paint my nails doesn’t mean I’m not feminine. But my father thinks I spend too much time with male friends. He’s always trying to find girls for me to socialize with.
“I do act like a woman, Daddy. I just happen to be friends with Toby and Owen.”
“Tobias. Stop calling him Toby. He’s going to be your husband, and you shouldn’t use such a childish nickname.”
It’s a fight to keep my eyes from rolling into the back of my head. Everyone calls him Toby except for our parents.
“You’re going to dinner with his mother and sister tonight.”
“I can’t. Owen and Toby—Tobias and I are seeing a movie.”
“Well, your plans have changed. This is a business trip, Bellamy. Your job is to get acquainted with your future in-laws. Do not embarrass me.”
A knot forms in my stomach as he walks out of the office. A question burns in my mind, and I stop him. “Wait. Does Tobias know?”
“Tobias has known it was a possibility since he was thirteen. Today was just about finalizing the details.”
My mouth drops open. That bastard knew for the past four and a half years and never told me? I want to storm out to the pool and make a scene, but that won’t be well received. These marriage contracts are about business, so I have to be cautious about the way I confront Toby. But I’m damn sure confronting him.
***
Four Years Later
Bellamy
“If Tobias doesn’t marry my daughter soon, we’re going to have to renegotiate the contracts. You’ve kept us waiting for too long.”
I sit in my father’s office and listen to him speak about me as if I’m a piece of land or one of his precious backroom deals. In a way, that’s exactly what I am. My arranged marriage to Toby—Tobias Hunt—is intended to give him access to political and business resources he’s wanted for years.
“Tobias isn’t ready for a wife yet. It’s not urgent. Gabriel is in training to take my place as head of the family. When the time is right, Tobias will propose, and we’ll have a proper engagement. Until then, let the boy do what he wants. And right now, he wants to build a business for himself. Something I’ve encouraged all my children to do.”
Mr. Hunt’s voice is calm, but there’s a thread of sinister running through it as he eyes my father coolly. It’s no secret that Daddy is getting a lot more out of this deal than the Hunt family is, and if he wanted to, he could make our lives miserable. I don’t pretend to know all the details, but my father needs this deal to work. And it’s that reason alone that I haven’t put my foot down and shared how I really feel about the idea of arranged marriages.
It’s also true that all the Hunt children have built businesses for themselves. I suspect their father uses their legitimate companies to mask his own illegal dealings, but I wouldn’t dream of saying that out loud. And Tobias was always starting new projects when we were teenagers. It wouldn’t surprise me if he’d started more than one business since we’ve been apart. I’m supposed to marry him someday—presumably soon—and I don’t have a clue what he’s up to.
My father slams his hand on the desk, making me jump. “I could have taken the deal Ernie offered me, but you were offering me the better terms.”
Their incessant arguing over my value as a wife is fueling my feminine rage—something my parents are appalled I’ve developed in college—and I can’t take it anymore. I stand with a huff. “Do I have to be here for this?”
My father stares at me for a moment, as if he’s forgotten I was there.
“No. You may go. Just don’t be late for dinner. If Tobias is there like he’s supposed to be, you need to spend some time with him.”
Although I’m rolling my eyes in my head, I keep my expression neutral. I still have another semester of college, and my father is already trying to force the wedding. The original deal our parents agreed on was that we would marry when we’d both finished our educations. It seems Tobias has other ideas. I do too, but my ideas are rarely considered in these discussions.
There’s no point in listening to them squabble over when I’ll be married off to a man I haven’t seen in more than three years, so I escape to the kitchen and pour myself a glass of wine.
My phone chirps as I’m taking the first sip, and I press the side button to turn on the screen. A familiar name makes me smile.
Owen: Hey love, I have a proposition for you. Join me for dinner tonight?
My heart skips a beat. Our relationship has changed since the marriage contract saying I would marry Tobias someday was signed. At first, my father thought it was inappropriate for us to spend so much time together when I was promised to another man. But he relented when I attended the same university as Owen and begged to let him be in charge of my security instead of a stranger he wanted to hire. Now I’ve fallen in love with him. I could never say that out loud, though, or my father would demand that I cut all ties with him, and it could cause issues with the deals he has with the Thornes.
My family often makes choices I don’t agree with, but I won’t purposely betray them, so I keep my connection to Owen quiet. They don’t need to know that he’s the one I lost my virginity to. Lately, things have been strained between us because we are both aware the wedding is likely to happen in the next year or two. And then I’ll have to take on the role of Mrs. Tobias Hunt.
