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“Shut up,” I huff.
She beams harder. “I said nothing.”
I roll my eyes and get to my feet. “I’ll be right back.”
There are very few things that I want to do less than this today, but I’ve already committed. I walk down the corridor, my heart in my throat as I prepare for what or who might be waiting for me.
I open the door to the reception and my stomach turns. It’s not exactly a surprise to find Aiden waiting for me, but I really hoped it wouldn’t be him. Worst of all, Danna’s eyes are scorching into me even as she tries to pretend to be busy and not watch.
I have to play this one carefully. Don’t want to make a scene in front of the staff. Don’t want to entertain Aiden for a second longer than I need to.
“Why don’t we go to the meeting room?” I say, smiling as politely as I can manage.
“Wonderful,” he says, and his smile is genuine. I make a point not to notice.
The second the door shuts behind us and he sits, I let all professionalism vanish. “What the hell, Aiden? You can’t show up here like this! I have a job, you know. I’m busy — not that you’d know what that’s like, I’m sure. You’re lucky I didn’t have you thrown out.”
“Fletcher Tech is failing,” he says, so candidly that it stops me in my tracks.
“What?”
“Fletcher Tech is failing,” he repeats, his forehead creasing with worry and tiredness. “My father left it in a bad way, and I’m trying to pick up the pieces. Frankly, I need your help. We’re trying to acquire other, smaller companies with big potential, to give us all a boost. And I knew you would be sitting on something special. You always were.”
He looks older now — of course he does — but there’s a maturity to him that he never had at twenty-one. His jawline has widened, his shoulders broadened, his hair still picture-perfect. We’re still young, but his life has changed him since we last met. I guess time changes us all.
I narrow my eyes at him. “Why not go and buy up someone else, then? I already told you no.”
“We only have the budget for one merger right now, to be honest. And I want it to be with you. There’s no way that Mettie’s Marketplace won’t succeed.”
“Are you buttering me up because you’re going to offer a deal I won’t like?”
He sighs in confirmation. I fold my arms, waiting for the hit that has to be coming. “Perhaps I am. But before I make it, is there anything I could offer you that would make you reconsider the acquisition?”
I shrug. “Yeah. The amount of money I asked for.”
Almost with a groan, he rubs his eyes, drawing attention to the dark circles and fresh wrinkles around them. Has he been sleeping atall? It’s kind of heartening to realize that even the boss of one of the biggest companies in the world gets kept up at night with stress. It’s not just me.
“I’m sorry, I can’t do that. We don’t have it to give.”
“Okay,” I say, sitting down and staring levelly at him. Whatever he wants to say, I want him to say it looking me straight in the eye. “You have two minutes to explain your new proposal. I’m listening to it as the CEO now. Make it professional.”
He nods, pushing his shoulders back as he launches into what sounds like a preprepared speech. “My father has left our accounts and legal constitution in kind of a mess, and all of that means we wouldn’t be able to merge with Mettie’s Marketplace unless either we were able to buy you out for your full worth, or you gave yourself willingly to us.”
I scoff. “No way.”
“Exactly,” he agrees, trying a smile like he’s getting through to me. I haven’t decided yet if he is or not. “So we’re in a tough position now — we can’t buy, and you won’t give.”
“So…?” I ask. There’s a sting coming and I brace myself for it.
He stiffens in discomfort too. “So, we have found a loophole. In our constitution, there’s a clause which states that if an owner of Fletcher Tech is in a marital union with another person who also owns another company, then both parties can merge while retaining ownership and legal rights over their assets.”
I’m nodding because it all sounds great, but then the wordsmarital unionfinally click in my mind. “Marriage?” I say, mouth open in disbelief.
“If you were to marry me, we could merge without issue, yes.”
“Fuck off,” I say, very unprofessionally, then burst out laughing. This is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. “This is some kind of sick joke, right?”
Slowly, he shakes his head, his mouth a firm line of discomfort. “No. The benefits are enormous, if you’d consider it beyond a personal reaction.”
