Page 11 of Angels Are Falling

What would it be like to become the Prince of Darster and have them beg for my attention?

“Is that all?” I asked instead.

Kai smirked. “I suppose there are other things. You’ve always wanted to pursue a career in travel photography. I can make that wish come true as well.” He glanced at the faux cave where Amelie was reading to the kids. “You just have to grant one of mine in exchange.”

A bitter laugh spilled from my lips. This man was a master manipulator.

“If I marry Amelie and become her second husband, we can live in your dream house like one big happy family,” he continued, unperturbed by my laughter. “In exchange for welcoming me into your family, I’ll make you rich beyond your dreams. You can use my contacts to get your dream job. Vacation homes, boarding school for your brothers and sister, private jets, a fat bank balance, country club memberships. You name it. It can all be yours.”

It was the most audacious compliment.

He had appraised my wife and valued her worth at millions of dollars. Had any man ever been so offended? Had any man ever been so flattered?

In my mind, Amelie was the most exceptional woman on earth. I pursued her relentlessly in high school, and once she agreed to be my girlfriend, I held on to her with all my might. If I had given anyone else an opening, even the smallest window, they would have swooped in and done what I did—never let her go.

But according to Kai, he had met another equally exceptional woman.

“You can have any woman. Why did you target mine? Why not someone unmarried, or the woman you spoke of earlier? You could’ve approached her with this plan.”

“She wouldn’t have gone for it,” he replied remorselessly.

Meaning she wasn’t financially desperate enough to listen to his preposterous scheme. It always came down to money, didn’t it? I had to suffer this humiliation because I didn’t have any, and he had plenty of it.

I picked up the drink he had salvaged. I should do something dramatic, like throw the glass against the wall. But Kai was acting with class despite his unsavory suggestions. The calm in his voice made me feel childish for wanting to throw a fit. How dare he act like a gentleman while talking about fucking my wife?

“I’m offering us the best of both worlds,” Kai pressed. “One where you only have to share rather than give anything up.”

“You mean, share my wife with you?”

He nodded. “I want the marriage to be real in every way, which includes an intimate relationship and legal paperwork. But it doesn’t mean anything has to change between the two of you. You’ll be divorced on paper but remain married in every other way. And it’s at Amelie’s discretion whether she wants children from either of the marriages.”

I sneered. “Oh. I didn’t realize Amelie had a say in this.”

“Amelie has nothing to lose from this arrangement.”

“How about her dignity?” A pit in my stomach appeared at the image of them together in bed.

The smile on his face stretched. “I have immense respect for your wife, Stefan. I won’t let her suffer any indignities. I’m not a promiscuous man. I won’t stray from my marriage, so diseases and other women won’t be a concern. But if you’re referring to an intimate relationship, I’ll clarify. Yes, I want us to be a real couple and sleep in the same bed, but sex will be consensual.”

“You’ll spend millions of dollars to marry my wife, and she doesn’t have to sleep with you?”

“As long as she makes an honest effort in the marriage—spends a set number of nights with me, has meals with me, accompanies me to my company events, everything a wife does—I’m willing to wait.”

He was full of shit. “What if she never changes her mind?”

“All good things require patience. But I won’t force her even if we’re incompatible in the bedroom. It’ll be at my discretion to decide whether she made a genuine effort. But if I conclude that she did her part in making the marriage work, you’ll be compensated. I’m willing to put that in writing.”

His confession gave me pause. With sex off the table, this was just about a rich man playing house with us. That wasn’t so bad, was it?

Oh hell. Did I just entertain letting another man into our marriage? My unconditional love for Amelie suddenly felt cheap.

I desperately wanted the life he offered, but the cost was too high. I couldn’t sully our epic love story. A humorless laugh shook my shoulders. “You underestimate how much I love my wife. The reason I want financial freedom is to take care of her. What’s the point of money if I have to share Amelie’s love?”

“Without money, you won’t have Amelie’s love. She wants children of her own, but your dead-end job can barely support the three you have. She was raised like a princess and never wanted for anything. If she wanted to start a family, she could find someone else, someone financially secure. By then, my offer would be off the table, and you would’ve lost her anyway. All you would accomplish is depriving your family of a golden opportunity.”

Panic flared inside my rib cage. The thought had crossed my mind. That one day, Amelie would tire of living paycheck to paycheck and look for a man of higher stature. The possibility seemed more real now that Kai had said it out loud. Any rich man could come along, offer her everything I couldn’t, and take her away from me. For God’s sake, Kai Cavendish was willing to settle for being her second husband. Who was a better prospect than him?

“If you’re so confident she wants financial security, why did you approach me and not Amelie?” I asked.