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"No," I whisper.
He nods seriously. ”Do you love him?"
"No," I whisper again. Looking into Colton's kind eyes, I tell him the truth. "I don't love him, but I think I could."
A slow smile curves his lips. "That's good. And what's the worst case Janey? What if you don't fall in love?"
My stomach drops to my toes. "Then I break his heart." I rub my bare arms, and gaze down the hallway. This place is deserted. I don't know how they convinced a judge to come in on a Saturday to marry us. "This is wrong. I can't do this to him."
Colton straightens and leans on the wall. A raised chorus of voices come from inside the courtroom. Colton seems unbothered and stays completely focused on me. "Are you doing it to him, though? Seems to me Jonas is the one that proposed."
"He thinks he loves me,” I admit, pressing my hand to my cheek. I’m almost embarrassed to say it, it feels so out of the realm of possibility.
Colton chuckles softly. "I made that mistake once, you know."
"What mistake?"
"Assuming Jonas didn't know his own mind. Ransom wanted him in college. We all did. He was so damned smart, we figured it would be best for him. He didn't want to go." Colton gazes unseeing at the wall, a grin on his lips. "Ransom tasked me with driving him and picking him up every day. Jonas fussed a bit but went. And every day, he was there, waiting for me to pick him up. I thought he gave in. That Ransom got his way."
"He didn't?"
"I think Jonas went to classes for the first week. Then he stopped. He set up shop in the Library, and started some sort of tutoring business. Or maybe he was selling term papers.” He chuckles, shaking his head. "Even the grad students were coming to him for help. Jonas knew more than all of them at eighteen. We didn't figure out what he was doing until Christmas. By then, he had taken his tutoring money, started playing the markets, and made his first million on his own. That's when we finally got it. Jonas is not someone who will fight us...though as he's gotten older, he does it a bit more. He's more likely to just quietly go on his way, doing exactly what he wanted all along. So Janey, if he asked you to marry him, you can be damned sure he has a plan."
Jonas's words from earlier come back to me. "He said he's been researching proposals."
Colton snorts and shakes his head. "Of course he has." He sobers, pinning me with a somber gaze. "He loves you. Being loved by Jonas is a damned privilege. If you think there's a chance for the two of you, then go for it. But if you know in your gut that this isn't going to work, then don't do it. We'll handle Jonas." Moving to me, he puts a hand on my shoulder. "I know you have your own reasons for agreeing. But if there's something happening in your life that you need help with, you have all of us. With the kind of money we have, I guarantee you there's no problem of yours we can't solve. You don't have to get married."
There it is. My out. He's not saying anything I didn't already know. I work for good men. If I went to them about Mark, I know they'd help.
So why does the idea of calling this off make me nauseous? Jonas's rich brown eyes flash through my mind. He goes through his day avoiding most of the people at work, but when he sees you, truly sees you...there's no feeling like it. Jonas looks at me like I'm special. Like I'm someone worth knowing.
"I was fooled before," I admit, staring at the floor. "I was dating someone, and he stole everything from me." Colton makes a low sound and tightens his grip on my shoulder. "I wanted to believe, so badly, that I could be loved. That I could have a family, and a husband, and a home. He took advantage of that."
Taking a deep breath, I meet Colton's eyes. "I don't know if this will work. It's more likely it won't, and in a year, we'll go our separate ways. If that happens, I promise, it won't be because I broke his heart." It's a promise I can make. In a year, Jonas will truly know me and, will probably be happy to divorce me. But until then, maybe I can pretend I have the dream.
Colton doesn't look convinced, but the shouting voices escalate in pitch. He growls and swings the door open, blocking my view inside with his body. After some whispered words, he backs up and lets Maverick out.
Maverick has always been one of the quieter, more watchful men. He stands back, ready to jump in with legal advice whenever he's needed. I'm sure he trained in one kind of law, but with this group, he's had to become knowledgeable in a lot of areas. He was right there for Cara after she killed her sister's boyfriend, and he helped Holly with her divorce. So seeing him walking toward me right now isn't surprising.
He's holding an envelope, and he won't meet my eyes. Colton looks grim. Glancing between them, I let a small smile out. "Is that for me?"
Maverick tightens his grip on the envelope and meets my eyes, frowning. He nods, and I let my smile grow. "Ok. Would you like to give it to me? I'm guessing it's something you need me to sign, assuring everyone I won't take everything if we get divorced?"
Maverick's eyes widen, and he and Colton share stunned looks, which makes me laugh. "Hand it over. I'll sign."
Maverick hands me the paperwork and goes over it, page by page. "You really should have your own lawyer, but I tried to make it as fair as possible."
"I'm sure you did. I'm not worried. I'm coming into this marriage with nothing. Leaving with nothing is okay."
He frowns and shakes his head. "No, it wouldn't be Janey. Jonas wants this badly, and right now, he has all the power...financially, anyway. You need to be protected. We've laid out a table here that I think is fair."
He goes over the dollar amounts I will get if we divorce, provided we're married for at least a year, and my brain explodes a little bit. "Wait. This is way too much. This isn't what we talked about."
He frowns. "Jonas said you'd be a rich woman."
"Yes, but I thought maybe that meant he'd pay the lease on a new apartment, and give me a little nest egg. Not this. This is...crazy."
Colton chuckles and leans back on the wall, grinning. He and Maverick exchange glances again, and Maverick turns to me, shoulders squared. "Do you know how much Jonas is worth?"
