Total pages in book: 138
Estimated words: 130414 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 652(@200wpm)___ 522(@250wpm)___ 435(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 130414 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 652(@200wpm)___ 522(@250wpm)___ 435(@300wpm)
“She was the au pair for a couple across the street. A charming Midwestern ballerina. Blonde, beautiful, bewitching. She attended Juilliard on a full ride and had a dimpled smile and impeccable manners. And she was great with kids. Very endearing.”
He picked up his tumbler, twirling the tawny liquid. Specks of gold shimmered inside it. He studied them with a deep frown.
“I was twenty-one. She was nineteen. I was rich. She was … not. It didn’t matter to me then. It doesn’t matter to me now. But as soon as Senior caught me looking her way, he informed me blue blood doesn’t mix well with that of mere mortals. ‘Treat her like the ocean, Son. A few dips won’t hurt—but don’t go in too deep.’ I ignored him. And what started as giving her rides after she clocked out for the day quickly escalated to sex in my back seat, skinny-dipping in the ocean, and talking from night till morning until our mouths dried.”
Jealousy clasped my gut in its tight fist, twisting it painfully. This unattainable, larger-than-life creature who’d strode into a ballroom months ago, able to have his pick of every available girl at the event, had boyishly courted an ordinary girl. One whose daddy didn’t own a key American company and whose last name didn’t open doors.
He sipped his drink, still staring at the wall. “By the time summer ended, it was clear Morgan and I weren’t a seasonal fling. She quit Juilliard to move in with me while I finished my degree. A move Senior had anticipated. He claimed women of her pedigree could never stand toe to toe with men like us. That Morgan was too blinded by my fortune to be my equal. I refused to take love tips from a man who notoriously cheated on my mother my entire life.” The flex of his jaw told me he regretted not listening to the advice. “At any rate, Morgan moved in with me, and Senior fumed.”
I knew where this was going. I tucked my legs under my butt, gulping down whisky to calm my nerves.
“Morgan slipped effortlessly into a life of luxury. While I attended classes, she shopped, got her hair done, worked out, and stepped into the role of a trophy wife. Only we weren’t married yet. Not even engaged. And that was a problem for her.”
A wry smirk touched his lips as though he remembered something particularly unpleasant.
“She waited until I graduated before she told me she expected me to propose.”
“You were so young.”
He shot me a glance. “Still older than you are today.”
I knew in that moment he regretted taking me against my will. Which, sadly, only made my stomach churn further. I couldn’t imagine losing him, even if he was never truly mine.
“I was born to be a wife and a mother.” I crawled to him, skimming his knuckles. Although he didn’t pull away, he also didn’t lace his fingers through mine as I wished. “I know it sounds old-fashioned and small-world. But we cannot help the things we desire. Please, carry on.”
He worked his jaw, palming it in his free hand. “I was ready to propose. I knew I loved her, flaws be damned. God knows I had my own. When I notified him of my intentions, Senior blew a gasket. He informed me he wanted me to marry. But on his terms. Someone he could flaunt. A woman with an influential last name who would bring her own fortune to the table and make us even richer.”
A woman like me.
I knew I was never my husband’s choice. That I was convenient because I once belonged to Madison and wielded acceptable lineage, but the reminder sliced through me with a blade so sharp, I could feel the burn on my skin.
“Senior told me it was time to face reality. He even suggested I pick up with her again after marrying a suitable girl. I believe his words were—everyone does it, Sonny. Monogamy is an upper-class creation to oppress the middle class. We needn’t adhere to it. Monica, herself, came from a very wealthy family. Her parents footed the bill whenever Costa Industries needed outside capital. To Senior, a marriage that didn’t include a business contract was utterly pointless.”
I withdrew from his knuckles. “But you didn’t listen to him.”
“I bought Morgan a ring. I was twenty-two ; she was twenty. I didn’t want to buy the engagement ring off my parents’ credit card. It seemed wrong, considering they both opposed the union. Monica less adamantly—she always saw Morgan as a gold digger but let me live my life. So, I bought the ring with whatever money I had saved up from my TA gig.”
That couldn’t had been much. A hunch Romeo confirmed by tipping back his tumbler, polishing off the rest of his drink.