Chapter 3 - The Marriage Contract
I should have left.
I knew that.
Any sensible woman would have packed her children into the waiting car, taken Nathan’s promised travel money, and found somewhere less complicated.
Somewhere without armed guards.
Somewhere nobody discussed succession wars before pancakes.
Instead, I sat beside the pool at two in the morning reading the marriage contract for the fourth time.
Nathan found me there.
He stopped several feet away.
“Can I sit?”
The fact that he asked mattered.
“Yes.”
He sat on the opposite chair.
For a while neither spoke.
“You lied,” I said.
“Yes.”
That surprised me.
“You’re not going to defend yourself?”
“I told you my mother wanted me married.”
“You left out your uncle trying to take your position.”
“Yes.”
“That’s a significant omission.”
“It is.”
“Why?”
“Because if I told you everything beside that highway, it would sound like I was buying a desperate woman’s fear.”
I looked at him.
“Aren’t you?”
His jaw tightened.
“I’m trying not to.”
“That’s a complicated answer.”
“It’s a complicated situation.”
I closed the contract.
“What happens if Victor wins?”
“I lose operational authority.”
“Money?”
“Some.”
“Power?”
“Most.”
“And you care about that.”
“Yes.”
No fake nobility.
“Why?”
“Because Victor is worse.”
“Convenient.”
“True.”
Nathan leaned forward.
“My father built the organization through violence. I’ve spent seven years converting what I can into legitimate businesses.”
“What kind?”
“Freight. Construction. Security. Hospitality.”
“And the criminal side?”
“Still exists.”
“You could leave.”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because hundreds of people depend on who controls it.”
“That sounds like something powerful men say.”
He looked toward the dark water.
“It probably is.”
I didn’t trust him completely.
But I trusted the discomfort in his answer.
“Why me?”
He looked back.
“You’re not connected to any family.”
“That’s romantic.”
“You asked.”
“Continue.”
“No political history. No criminal record. No debts to anyone who matters to my organization.”
“Just normal debts.”
“Yes.”
“Medical bills.”
“I know.”
My eyes narrowed.
“You investigated me.”
“After you agreed to come here.”
“I didn’t agree to marry you.”
“No.”
“What else do you know?”
“Your ex-husband is Daniel Parker. Divorced eighteen months. He stopped regular support seven months ago.”
My face heated.
“He lost his job.”
“He owns a boat.”
I blinked.
“What?”
Nathan took out his phone.
A photograph.
Daniel standing beside a fishing boat.
New enough to shine.
I stared.
“When?”
“Three weeks ago.”
My stomach twisted.
Daniel had told me he couldn’t send eighty dollars for Lily’s antibiotic because he was sleeping on his cousin’s couch.
Nathan watched me.
“I’m sorry.”
I hated that those words nearly broke me.
“Don’t.”
“Emily—”
“Don’t make this easier by being kind.”
His expression changed.
“Why?”
“Because I need to think clearly.”
He nodded.
Fair.
“What does Victor know about me?”
“Probably everything by morning.”
“Wonderful.”
“If you leave, I’ll put security near you for several weeks.”
“I don’t want your men following me.”
“You won’t see them.”
“That’s worse.”
Nathan almost smiled.
“Probably.”
I looked toward the mansion.
“You really expect a marriage to stop Victor?”
“Not alone.”
“What else?”
“My father’s trust requires the organization’s leader to demonstrate continuity if challenged during a succession period.”
“That sounds medieval.”
“It is.”
“Recognized spouse?”
“Yes.”
“Children?”
“Not required.”
“Then why did Victor look at mine like that?”
Nathan went quiet.
I noticed.
“What?”
“There’s another clause.”
“Of course there is.”
“If my household includes legally acknowledged dependents, certain family assets transfer into a protected trust Victor cannot access.”
I stared.
“My children become part of your strategy.”
“No.”
“They literally affect the trust.”
“Yes.”
“That’s using them.”
Nathan’s voice hardened.
“I would never adopt them for money.”
“Adopt?”
“That would be one route.”
“No.”
“Agreed.”
He answered immediately.
Something inside me relaxed slightly.
“What’s the other?”
“If we marry and you designate this estate their primary residence, they qualify as household dependents without changing parentage.”
“So Victor loses access.”
“Yes.”
“And you gain protection.”
“Yes.”
“How much?”
Nathan gave a number.
“Seventy-eight million.”
I laughed.
He didn’t.
“You people have ridiculous problems.”
“That is also true.”
I stood.
He did too.
“What if I say yes?”
“We marry quietly.”
“How quietly?”
“Courthouse or private ceremony.”
“No giant mafia wedding?”
“Absolutely not.”
“Good.”
“You receive independent counsel.”
“Not your lawyer?”
“Never.”
“My children remain mine legally.”
“Yes.”
“You never discipline them physically.”
His expression darkened.
“I don’t hit children.”
“Say it.”
“I will never hit your children.”
“You do not make parenting decisions over my head.”
“Agreed.”
“You don’t buy their love.”
He paused.
“That one may be difficult.”
I almost smiled.
“Try.”
“Fine.”
“And if you bring danger into the house?”
“It’s already here.”
I appreciated the honesty.
“Then you tell me.”
“Yes.”
“No secrets that affect my children.”
Nathan held my gaze.
“That will be harder.”
“Then no marriage.”
Long silence.
Finally:
“Agreed.”
I extended my hand.
He looked at it.
“For what?”
“A trial period.”
His eyebrow rose.
“One week.”
“You want to test being engaged?”
“I want to test living in your house.”
“With security?”
“With my rules.”
“And after one week?”
“I decide.”
Nathan took my hand.
His grip was warm.
“Deal.”
The next morning, Victor sent flowers.
Black roses.
I thought they were ridiculous.
Sofia did too.
Nathan did not.
There was a card.
WELCOME TO THE FAMILY, EMILY. ASK NATHAN WHAT HAPPENED TO THE LAST WOMAN HE WAS SUPPOSED TO MARRY.
I found him in the gym.
Sweat darkened his shirt.
He took one look at the card.
His face became unreadable.
“Who was she?”
“Emily.”
“Who?”
He turned away.
I followed.
“No secrets affecting my children.”
His shoulders tightened.
Finally:
“Her name was Cassandra Vale.”
“Was she your fiancée?”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“She died.”
My stomach dropped.
“How?”
Nathan faced me.
“Her car exploded.”
I stopped breathing.
“When?”
“Six years ago.”
“Who did it?”
“We never proved it.”
“You think Victor?”
“I think several people benefited.”
I looked toward the windows.
Toward the garden where Noah and Lily were playing with Sofia.
My voice shook.
“And you invited us into this?”
Nathan’s face broke.
Not completely.
But enough.
“You’re right.”
He walked to the bench.
Picked up his phone.
“I’ll have Marco drive you wherever you want.”
That should have been what I wanted.
Instead, I asked:
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I wanted one week where you might look at me without seeing what everyone else sees.”
The honesty hurt.
I stared at him.
“What does everyone see?”
“A man whose wife becomes a target.”
“You never had a wife.”
May you like
His eyes held mine.
“Exactly.”
