Page 23 of Bargaining

“Good.”

Her eyes slipped away. “Good.”

I asked the question that had been bugging me, just to move us on to something more palatable. “What made you change your mind about accepting the offer?”

“I can’t afford to buy Tiff out of Dad’s house.” Her gaze dropped to her Converse. “But I can’t bring myself to sell it.”

So I’d get what I wanted because she felt cornered. That wouldn’t do. Her quiet capitulations and careful eyes felt all wrong. This had to be an informed decision, not an act of desperation.

“I’ll give you the money for the house. You don’t have to marry me. No strings. It’s a birthday gift. You can take it and walk out of here.”

Her eyebrows flew up. “What? It’s too much. I can’t accept that.”

“It’s nothing.” I opened my drawer and pulled out my checkbook. “You can have it now.”

“Why?”

“Because coercion and consent are different things. I don’t want you to agree to this because you’re being backed into a corner. And I don’t want you to marry me because Tiff thinks it’s a good idea. You need to sign this contract because it’s the best thing for you.”

She fell silent as she fiddled with the gold hoop in her ear. Enough. I wouldn’t force her into something that made her uncomfortable, no matter how much I wanted it. I grabbed a pen and lowered my hand to the check.

“Wait.” Her hand slid across the desk. “This isn’t just about what Tiff wants. Five million is a lot of money. This is what I want.”

I lowered the pen. “You’re sure.”

She gave a resolute nod. “Yes.”

Five millionwasa lot of money, but nothing compared to how much I’d lose if my shareholders had beef with me. I couldn’t fight a war on two fronts. If I was going to take down my father, then first I needed to get my own house in order. I’d never be able to ruin him without my company backing me. Sir Philip Thorner needed to pay for what he’d done to my mother. This was perfect timing. A lovely young wife would shut the shareholders up so I could get on with it.

She gave me a speculative glance. “You know you could ask anybody.”

“I don’t trust anybody. Not a single soul on this planet.”

She frowned. “But you trust me?”

“Yes.”

It had been so long since I’d seen her, but I knew this woman. There were so few good people in this world, but she was one of the best. She was also one of the few people in my life that my father hadn’t sunk his claws into yet.

She rubbed the back of her neck. “I can’t even imagine what Dad would have made of all this.”

Roy had been a good man. He’d been the father I always longed for, but he’d put his own child first, and I respected that. I’d asked him for help, and he’d turned me away. He’d acted in Charlotte’s best interests, to protect her future. I’d wanted to protect her, too. But Charlotte could never know. She idolized Roy. I wanted to help her, not piss on her father’s grave.

“I think Roy would have been happy to see you taken care of.”

She glanced at me, but her eyes wouldn’t meet mine.

“You can leave all the arrangements to me. Let me take care of everything. You won’t even have to buy a wedding dress.”

She fixed her gaze over my shoulder at the view of the city skyline. The soft clicks of keyboards and polite telephone conversations drifted in from outside.

She cleared her throat. “Fine.”

“Fine?”

“I’ll sign the contract.”

I tried to keep the eagerness out of my voice. “You’ll marry me?”