Page 3 of Yours, Forever

We'd been working together long enough that we didn't need formalities anymore. He jumped right into the conversation, too.

"You didn't make it easy on us, Max, but we figured it out. It should work." He chuckled. "You're a wild guy but damn, you did it."

Something about his tone had me straightening in my seat. There was only one thing that had stumped us in recent times.

"Remind me, Leon. How did I fix this?"

He laughed like he thought I was joking. "I really thought we were running out of time, then you go and surprise us all with the most ludicrous plan ever, but it worked. Can't believe it worked."

The city passed by through the window. Light rain smeared the glass in long streaks; not too heavy, and likely no more than a few rogue drops.

I rubbed my eyebrow and sighed. "Give me a sec, Leon. Martin, sorry, I need to close the privacy window."

"Of course, don't worry about me." Martin dealt with the window himself.

"Okay," I said to the phone. "This conversation is covered by your confidentiality rules, right?"

"Yes." His tone was radically different in that single word. "Of course."

"I really don't know what I did. If we're talking about what I think we're talking about, that could be a problem, couldn't it? Hypothetically speaking."

It took him a second to respond. "Max. Really? Yes, it could put it at risk. I know you'd been drinking that night, but I didn't realize you'd drunk that much."

That was all I needed to put enough pieces together. "Vegas. What happened in Vegas?"

"You got married, of course."

The statement wrapped my ribcage in a straitjacket. Each sound that defined the wordmarriedfastened it tighter, to the point breathing became difficult.

Only one word made it out of me, old and rarely used, and it came through choked. "Mierda."

"Max, I thought that was the whole point. We've been working toward this for years."

"Who did I marry?"

"Her name is Eva Medina. You really don't remember?"

"I wouldn't play around about this. You of all people know how much this matters to me. Just give me a quick rundown."

Maybe it would jog my memory.

I gulped and closed my eyes. My lungs worked again, shallow and fast.

Leon cleared his throat. "You called me at eleven p.m. to tell me you'd found a bride, but didn’t know how to marry her and were worried about the time. We sent Chris from the Vegas office while we figured out a plan from here. Chris was your witness and helped execute everything. You and Eva barely made it to the license bureau, but you did it."

Hyperventilation became a real risk, and I devoted a part of my brain to making sure I didn't get sick.

Leon continued. "We provided... let's say,financial compensationliberally, so we could make it happen and keep it private. We got you a proper marriage license and we had everyone sign NDAs. We made it tight, Max. Chris brought the papers back home and we got it all double checked and legalized. Even that prenup you gave us. Seriously, writing it on a napkin? Not a good idea. Luckily we found legal recourse and a couple good precedents. We'll have to draft it into a legally binding document and have you sign it again. You and Eva, of course."

Eva. My wife.

I gulped. After so long looking for ways to be free of my father's machinations or get myself tied to someone, it seemed I was finally a married man.

Could my wife and my overnight friend be the same person? Or did I meet my bed companion that nightafterI got married?

My blood rushed away from me, leaving me dizzy. If I had cheated on my mystery wife, I'd be sick. We may not have had sex with the curly haired beauty, but just ending in her room crossed a line. I didn't care if it was a fake marriage, I would never be like my dad.

"Do you have a picture of Eva?" I asked.