Page 7 of Temporary Vows

I’m meeting him first thing. He wants to talk about the ultimatum he gave me yesterday when the shit with John hit the fucking fan.

Get married,he said.

Clean this up.Or you can kiss your future at Vale Global goodbye.

The threat wasn’t empty. It never is with him.

Marriage, to him, is a strategy. A public reset button.

A respectable woman on my arm. A wedding spread instead of scandal. Headlines rewritten.

I hate that part of me understands the logic.

I hate even more that he might be right.

That aside, this situation could have been avoided had I been aware someone was out to get me.

I learned that Vale Global has a fucking mole. A goddamn leak. Someone who’s been trying to destroy us from the inside. They wanted this scandal to break. Just like all the others.

They started this crusade years ago when they tried to ruin Knox, my older brother.

Now it’s my turn.

I step into the shadow of the Vale Global building, and the thought sharpens in my mind like shards of broken glass. Anger coils low in my gut, poison taking root.

I have to stay focused. I must. Losing my cool now won’t benefit me. I just hate being at someone else’s mercy.

I walk up to the wide stone steps and key into the building, nodding at the doorman without breaking stride. He looks at me a fraction longer than usual, curiosity thinly veiled behind professionalism.

He looks the way everyone else has since the news broke, but they wouldn’t dare approach me.

I step into an empty elevator. As the doors close and the car climbs, I allow the silence to press in and balance my mind, draining away all thoughts that shouldn’t be there. Including Elodie Harper.

It’s time to fight for my legacy.

My father is not a man to trifle with. Neither am I.

I live by my rules. But unfortunately, he holds the keys to the things I want.

Knox is the leader. The chief. I’m the general. The man who fights wars and wins. The Enforcer.

By the time I reach the executive floor, my expression is set and my mask is back in place.

The elevator slows, then stops.

A soft chime sounds as the doors slide open.

I’m already shifting gears, already calculating next moves.

Speak to my father first.

Then tackle the leak.

I step out and immediately clock my surroundings.

I find my brothers standing by the glass wall, coffee in hand.

Knox, Levi, and Locke.