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“Are they to your liking?” Luc asks, raising a hope-filled brow.
“Chef’s kiss.” I smirk, raising my fingers briefly to my lips. “You did good, Luc.”
“Perfect. They’ve all signed NDAs, and I’ve spoken to them at length, making them aware of what you need and the time scale.”
“Thanks, man. I owe you one.”
“No worries, bro.”
Luc has donewaybetter than I did. I think the gravity of the situation made me too anxious to get my head together. I kept finding fault with every potential woman I could think of. Then I realized none of them would be trustworthy enough not to try and screw me over.
Since the women Luc knows are slightly better than the company I keep, I knew he’d come through for me.
Mischief brightens his eyes, and he flicks the pages to a dark-haired beauty with striking blue eyes. Her name is Celeste.
“You might want to start with her. The gorgeous Megan Fox look-alike. She’s twenty-five, a personal trainer with a great pair of tits and a perfect ass. You can’t go wrong.”
I agree, but more than anything, as beautiful and perfect as she is, I feel nothing. I have no heart. That part of me is dead inside.
“Sure, I’ll start with her.”
“Cool. I’ll set up a date with her first, then each of the girls every day for the next week. I’m in Tampa all of next week for a few games, so maybe you’ll make your choice by then, and we can move on to the next stage.”
“The marriage.” Every time I say that word, I feel hollow inside.
“Yeah. The marriage.”
I hate that I’m at the mercy of my grandfather, but if it’s one thing I know about him, the great Bradford Grayson, it’s that you either play by his rules or lose by your own.
I have the greatest respect and love for my grandfather. For how he took care of Knight and me, and for how he built the Grayson empire to what it is today.
Grayson Inc. is a world-renowned multibillion-dollar international company that is second to none in the real estate and property development market.
It was built on the back of Grayson men, but my grandfather started it all, and he wants his legacy to continue in the way he wants, so I’m either in or out.
Being out is not an option for me. A new path was paved for me the day Grandfather decided to split the company. From that day onward, I saw no other way, so here I am—planning to get married.
“Have you thought about how this is going to really work?” Luc gives me a skeptical stare. “What if your grandfather finds out you’re doing this?”
“He won’t.” Even I know I sound overly confident. No one should be like that because nothing is ever guaranteed. Especially when you have to rely on other people to accomplish your goals. In my case, I’ll have to exercise some element of trust for the woman I choose to be my wife. That already rubs me the wrong way, but this has to work. “I can’t let him find out, so that’s not an option.”
“Well, I’m routing for you, and I’m here if you need me.” Although he still looks skeptical, he nods and raises his glass of scotch to make a toast. “To success.”
I lift mine, too, and clink my glass with his. “Success for both of us.”
This is an important year for him, too. Last year, he led his team to victory, and they won the world championships. This years’ goal is to defend their title.
“Cheers to success for us both.” He smiles with appreciation.
We drink, and the music changes again, growing a fraction louder to signal the start of the main show.
We’re sitting in the VIP section, which is two floors above the main floor. Up here the music is usually low so you can carry a conversation without interruption, but when the main show begins, the volume is the same as it is everywhere else for the first five minutes.
The lights dim, and a spotlight lights up the large stage between the two smaller ones by the bar with strippers wearing nothing but barely-there thongs and feathered boas.
I was told the owners of the place used to be Cirque du Soleil stars and have an eccentric taste for mixing dark sexual fantasies with art. Months ago, when I was here, they had a Vegas-style burlesque show. Tonight, it looks like they might be doing something different.
The curtains open, revealing streams of long, red, silky material flowing from the ceiling to the floor. Like a flower in bloom, the middle opens, revealing a fiery-red-haired aerial dancer who loops the material around her body so she can somersault into some unreal split position.
