Page 33 of Not His Bride

On reflex, I think Dad is going to push. Instead, he hangs his head.

Debbie reaches toward a Smoky Gray, then stops before touching it. “Is it okay if I buy a set?”

“Go ahead. The register is right there.”

She walks over and selects one of each: Smoky Gray, Raven Claw, Velvet Wine. She waits her turn in line, then pays cash. Neither Mom nor Dad says a word while Debbie pays cash. It means more than anything we’ve said. It does.

Debbie leaves, clutching the bag, face unreadable. Mom lingers for one last look, then sends me a soft smile. They wave goodbye and exit.

“Proud of you, Lil,” Gallagher whispers in my ear.

“Me, too,” I whisper.

My candles sell out one hour later.

Chapter 14

Gallagher

Velvet Masquerade launches, sells out, and resets the industry chatter for three weeks flat. Most of what I hear about Jovi Group is background noise. Last I checked, they hired three professionals to cover what Lilith handled on her own, and eventually stabilized to the point that even the tabloids got bored.

Then, on Wednesday morning, Latrice tells me that Phillip Jovi is in the building. I tell Latrice to show him in, even though I have half a mind to send him away. The only reason I don’t is because Lilith wants to be cordial with her family. I’ll respect that—what’s important to her is important to me.

Latrice opens the door shortly after, and Phillip walks through in a dark suit with the same expression he wears whenever he’s about to tell somebody that whatever he wants is also somehow in their best interest.

“We need to talk.”

“Fine.” I gesture toward the chair across from my desk. “Sit.”

He does before sliding a thick folder, the Jovi logo stamped across the front, across the desk toward me. “I want to reopen negotiations on the merger.”

“I thought that was dead.” It died when Lilith asked for an annulment.

“It was.” He settles back. “Then we stabilized. Hiring three people to replace one executive turned out to be expensive, but necessary. Operations are under control.”

“Does Lilith know you describe her as one executive now?” Lilith and I have been hanging out recently.

His shoulders pull tight. “This isn’t about Lilith.”

That alone tells me this conversation is going to be interesting—for me. No matter what Phillip says, I’m not doing it.

I open the folder. The proposal is good. Jovi products throughout my hotels and residences. Retail locations in several of my properties. Exclusive product launches, branded suites, home collections, seasonal collaborations. Exactly the kind of deal I wanted when I approached Phillip in the first place.

“As you can see,” he says, “our customer bases still overlap almost perfectly. We now have the infrastructure to handle the integration properly.”

I flip another page. The projections are obscene. If this landed on my desk without the Jovi name attached, I would probably already have Legal drafting revisions.

“There’s no marriage attached?” I ask.

“None.”

“No daughter thrown in as a signing bonus?”

His face twitches. “That was a mistake.”

At least he knows it.

Phillip leans forward. “This is business, nothing more. Your company benefits. Mine benefits. Nobody has to pretend our families are becoming one giant happy unit.”