Page 6 of The Billionaire's Last-Minute Marriage
Xander paused mid-step, his mouth opening slightly. ‘Did you just...curse at me?’
‘Hardly a curse.’ She stood tall, tilting her chin up. ‘Xander, we could track her down and explain my part in it. Let me... I can fix this.’
‘The damage has already been done. The information that you leaked contained changes to the prenup that Priya had not approved. She quite literally ran away the moment my brother informed her of the deception.’
Pandora felt her stomach drop at his words. Could it be true that Xander would have intentionally tried to deceive Priya like that? The marriage had been strangely sudden and devoid of any declarations of love or romance, but she had simply put that down to Xander’s nature. He was an intensely private man for someone who was constantly in the public eye. They might have spent countless hours working together but she was under no illusion that she had come anywhere close to seeing what lay beneath his glacial surface.
‘Nothing to say?’ Xander bit out. ‘No rushing to my defence?’
She bit her lower lip, trying to ignore the sensation of the walls of the safe closing in on her. ‘I don’t pretend to know where your morality compass lies, Xander. But I do know that you tend to prefer a more direct approach to getting your way rather than indulging in outright deceit.’
‘That’s almost a compliment, Quinn.’ Xander paused, gathering his thoughts once more. ‘No. I did not deliberately try to deceive Priya. The final part of the deal was done entirely through her uncle and I was told that she approved of the whole thing. But she clearly doesn’t know that. Not that any of that matters now, considering she was last seen running from our wedding and into the waiting arms of my brother.’
‘She really just walked away and left you standing there?’ Pandora frowned.
‘I told you, she ran. Quite fast for a woman in heels and haute couture.’
Pandora made a distressed sound.
‘I never planned to ever get married and I highly resent being manipulated into the endeavour. That was actually something my bride and I had in common. It was a business agreement between us, really. A mutually beneficial one that I believed was foolproof.’
‘Surely there is another way to achieve your publicity goals here, Xander. Other than getting married to a woman you barely know.’
‘You think I entered into a whirlwind marriage just to get a line in the papers?’ His stunned laugh was laced with a growl. ‘Christos, I wish it were that simple.’
‘Then why did you do it?’
‘It’s common knowledge that my mother was Zeus’s secretary in the Athens headquarters. He paid her handsomely to keep my existence a secret from the world. Until he found out he had become sterile and decided he needed to hunt down his illegitimate children to carry on his precious bloodline.’ He paused, wondering why he was telling her this. But the words kept coming. ‘I was nineteen when he found me, and my mother had long disappeared, so when he offered me a chance to make something of myself I took it. I joined the company and worked my way up from the bottom. I jumped through every hoop he asked of me until I reached the top of the pecking order and he accepted me as his right-hand man, running the European arm of the business. And then what does that bastard do, even after I fly over here and hold everything together while he’s ill? He offers up the legacy that I rightfully earned, as a prize to be won.’
‘This...the wedding...it’s all because of Zeus?’
‘He left a will. A very detailed one, in fact. The first of his three illegitimate sons to marry and stay married for one year...takes everything.’
‘And your brothers?’ she asked. ‘They know about this stipulation in the will?’
‘Yes. Like me, Eros always vowed never to marry. He never cared about the fortune but if given the chance to exact revenge on me... Let’s just say I need to find a replacement bride fast or admit defeat.’
‘I’ll do it,’ she said quickly, then froze, her mouth sagging open for a moment before she slapped a hand across the lower half of her face. ‘I meant that I can help to find your replacement, not marry you myself.’
He pushed away the ridiculous sensation in his chest that felt far too close to disappointment. Sure, having her offer to take his bride’s place would have made things a lot easier, but he could never have accepted. This was Quinn he was talking to here. Apart from the fact that he had just uncovered that she was completely untrustworthy, she was his employee, and employees were strictly off limits for romantic relationships in Xander Mytikas’s book. Even fake relationships.
But...a small voice within him piped up, she had resigned. Technically right now, she wasn’t his assistant. She was the woman who had ruined his wedding and broken into his father’s home for reasons he had yet to glean. She’d chosen to cease being his employee, hadn’t she? He’d be lying if he said he hadn’t chosen his previous well-connected bride because she would ease his way to the top echelons of society, but that could all be pushed to the side for the moment. Right now, all he needed was a willing party. One that he could tolerate for the next twelve months.
He paused, taking in the woman before him and feeling the first flashes of his new strategy edge to the forefront of his mind.
‘You want to escape the consequences of your actions today, Quinn? Well, your redemption comes at a price, if you’re willing to broker a deal with me.’
‘You mean like a bargain for my soul or something?’ she asked, eyes narrowed with suspicion.
‘I’m not the villain here, Quinn. You’re the one who ruined my wedding day, remember?’
She frowned, her fingers fidgeting fast by her side. ‘What’s the deal?’
‘It’s a new position, of sorts. A twelve-month contract. One that involves occasional travel and public appearances but, otherwise, is essentially just keeping a low profile.’
‘This feels like a trick,’ she mused, still looking wary. ‘What’s the catch?’
‘In order to accept this offer, you would have to marry me.’
