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Neither Bastian nor Father are stupid enough to come after me. If they’re dumb enough to try, they know I’ll only come back stronger. And I would. I’m willing to bet Bastian was with Lana before she turned seventeen. In New York, seventeen is the age of consent, which means if I find one little thing that places him with her before her seventeenth birthday, Bastian will go down for statutory rape.
I don’t know what kind of legal punishment he’ll get, but I know her father will raise hell. He won’t allow Bastian to get away with being with his precious daughter. Teddy will undoubtedly ruin him.
“I guess you’re right.” Knight sounds more at ease.
“I am. So, how about you stop worrying, and I see you at work in the morning?”
Knight smirks. “Alright. See you then.”
We hang up, and I focus on Luc. He straightens, moves a lock of his dark hair away from his eye, and lifts his chin toward the newspaper.
“I won't bother to ask you to elaborate.” He gives me a cunning grin.
“It’s better if you don’t.” I sit forward and slide the newspaper to the side to give us room. “That’s one more secret to shove under the rug.”
He chuckles. “Well, let’s leave it there. Knowing you, it’s probably fucked-up shit that will get me in trouble.”
“Indeed.”
Luc has been Knight and my best friend since we were kids. Knight and I lived in France until our early teens when we moved to New York to live with our grandparents. Before the move, Luc was the friend we’d see first thing when we visited in the summer breaks.
Luc is the same age as Knight, so he did most of his schooling with him, including going to Princeton. However, the two of us share a special villainous bond I don’t have with Knight.
Luc plays professional ice hockey now for the Hawks, New York’s NHL team. Although they’re in the middle of the hockey season, he made time to help me with my latest venture. He’s the only person I can trust with the details of the plan to get my inheritance. I usually tell Knight everything, but this is one time when I can’t. And won’t.
I trust Knight with my life, but sometimes, he lives too far up my grandfather’s ass. For the next part of my grand plan, I need the kind of secrecy you take to your grave.
“Well, on to more important items to discuss.” Luc pulls out a document from the folder he’s carrying. “I have some seriously hot women for you to interview.”
On hearing that, I smile and slide my phone back into my pocket. “Show me.”
He chuckles. “I have a list of ten potential women I think will be a great match for you.”
He sets the document on the table and opens the file to the first page, showing headshots of ten beautiful women who are most definitely my type.
I nod with satisfaction and flick through the pages, liking what I’m seeing from one page to the next.
Luc and I decided to meet here at Club Edge because it’s more discreet than our usual hangout. It’s a high-end gentleman's club on the other side of town where the patrons who frequent the place are willing to spend a fortune just to get a lap dance.
Usually, we come for the strippers, but tonight, Luc is here to help me with the hardest part of my plan to get my legacy—finding a wife.
Except what I need is afakewife. A woman I’ll hire to play out the rest of this game with me.
Ten months ago, my grandfather announced his retirement from Grayson Inc. and decided to split the company into two separate entities.
Knight fulfilled his task to become the CEO. Now I’m doing my part. To do so, my grandfather stipulated—with no exceptions—that I needed to get married.
Find a wife and fix what he thinks is a playboy image after my own little brush with the paparazzi, then I’d get the position I’ve come to crave.
It's ironic given the fact that at one time in my life, I wanted nothing more than to create my own path and turn my back on the Grayson name.
Luc is here because I’m running out of time. I initially had three months, but now I barely have eight weeks to find a wife. Then I have to be married to my said wife for six months before I’m handed the CFO position. The cherry on top of the shit is if I get divorced before one year of marriage, I forfeit the entire offer.
My grandfather is hell bent on me findingreallove and settling down the way Knight did. That’s the reason for all the rules and the time scale. I’m happy Knight found love, but I’m not about that life.
My grandfather believes I’m currently dating with a view to marriage, but I’m doing things my way and just enough to tick all the boxes to make everything look legit.
The lucky woman I choose will enter a contractual relationship with me and receive a million dollars up front for the job. At the end of our marriage, she’ll receive another million.
