Nothing about this park was tranquil. Cade texted to say he’d meet us in an hour as walking with the stroller was taking longer than he’d anticipated. The man thought he could control everything with technology but some things he had to still navigate in real time.
Luckily, he’d managed to get us passes to skip most lines. Morina and I decided to take on the biggest ride in the park. It was well known and took pictures of the riders.
After checking the signs, I ushered Morina to the faster line. We needed our cards and fingerprints to get through but Cade didn’t disappoint and they worked fine. Even so, we waited about ten minutes.
Taking in the park while we stood in the shorter line was an eye opening experience. A man told his son to stretch taller and taller just to get on a ride.
Morina watched, wide-eyed. “Do you think he’ll make it?”
I shook my head when the devastation occurred. The park employee dressed in full get up told the son and father he still wasn’t tall enough. The father yelled, and the kid’s face fell.
“Oh, jeez.” Morina said it like it broke her heart too. Her hand had left mine after literally minutes, and now it turned those beads on her wrist.
I wanted to punch the father, if not for the kid’s sadness, then for Morina’s.
That emotion wasn’t one I should’ve had, but it looked like one I’d need to deal with for the foreseeable future.
“He shouldn’t be held accountable for something he can’t control,” I mumbled more to myself than anyone else. When a kid can’t control an outcome, their parents can’t possibly hold them accountable.
My father had. It stuck with me far more than I wanted it to.
Morina heard though. “No, he shouldn’t. His father is human too though. He's probably working through something himself. At least they’re here.”
I glanced around while the theme park music played softly on speakers above us. All these parents navigated one another, pushing their kids around in strollers, doling out food from backpacks, all with smiles on their faces. They were definitely different from the parent Mario Armanelli had been. My father would never have brought me here. This whole park was full of parents who wanted to do right by their children.
Mario wanted to train me, not love me.
“Yeah, this is not a place my family would have ever come.”
Morina moved up in the line. It was supposed to be a rollercoaster that splashed us half way through. I wasn’t looking forward to getting my suit wet but the pictures would serve us well.
She thought about it for a second, her leg jutting out so she could tap. “Maybe my parents would have if they hadn’t been so occupied with their own stuff. Not sure.”
She didn’t seem bothered at all by this admission the way she had been before. “Were your parents ever not occupied with their own stuff?”
She glanced away. Ah, there it was, the past pain we both had.
“I guess we’ll tackle family relations later in our marriage.”
The word had her snapping her attention back to me. “I think we need to decide when that should happen.” Her hair blew in the wind, flying back enough to expose her neck. There was just a hint of blush there, like she was embarrassed to bring up our arrangement.
I found myself wanting to bring that color to her skin more and more in a very different way.
“Your file said the board meeting is just weeks away and the will says we need to get this wedding planned,” she pointed out.
“We’re building to that.” I should have discussed the plan with her. “I’ve got it figured out. The timeline I have in place will work well.”
She nodded and glanced at the family in front. One kid on the mom’s hip screaming and the other pulling on the dad’s leg, whining about hunger, told me we were fine–they weren’t paying any attention to us. “So, it might be nice to include your fiancé in the planning of that timeline.”
“My fiancé? My fiancé doesn’t really want anything to do with planning a fake wedding, does she?”
“Well, I don’t want to get stuck doing something I don’t want to.” She gripped the metal railing. “This gala is where we’re making our public entrance?”
“I think that’s best. We can go separately or together, whichever you prefer. Maybe make a display of it.”
“Display how?”
“People need to know I won’t let anything happen to you.”
“Because your dad did that for my grandmother?”
“Essentially.” I winced at how easily I lied. He’d taken advantage of her partnership but he’d also protected her in some capacity.
“Why can’t we just have the same understanding?”
“You’ll never be as protected. Your grandmother had ties to people overseas and refineries around the world. Now, you’re one lone woman with one ally.”
“And that’s you.”
“That’s right.”
“Grandma should have just let me sell the stock to you immediately.” She rubbed her forehead like this was all frustrating and confusing at the same time.
“I agree. I’m good to my word.” Even if her grandma hadn’t believed me.
“Yeah, well, grandma wasn’t stupid either. Yet, she only spoke highly of you. I’m guessing she wants us to fall in love and make the decisions together.”
“She was a tad delusional,” I grumbled and walked forward, almost at the ride. “The love aspect was far-fetched. But she was right about protecting you and it will ultimately benefit me. I’ll get an understanding of the company before I buy in.”
“Are you considering not buying in if you don’t like what you see?”
“No. I’m considering changing what I don’t like and evolving the port. This gives me time.”
“Couldn’t you just buy out some other shareholder?”
Although Morina was young and acted like a free spirit with no attention span, her questions were on point.
“Curious today, huh?”
“I’m always curious. It’s a curse of mine. I wouldn’t fall down rabbit holes if I didn’t inspect everything.”
I chuckled because just as she said it, we stepped up to the ride platform. We weren’t given many instructions as we boarded a log shaped boat on the channel of water. I pulled a bar over our laps and wiggled it over Morina’s hips.
She froze as my hand grazed her thigh.
My jaw ticked and every muscle in me tightened. Just a small touch set both me and her off now. I hadn’t been sleeping around or pursuing other women since the will hearing.
I probably needed an outlet.
Six months was going to be a long time, and we were still only counting down to our wedding. The marriage aspect would make it hard, if not impossible, to find another woman I could indulge with.
The feeling of her smooth skin on the back of my hand as I confirmed the security of the bar made me not even want to think about another woman.
I had silky, soft flesh here and she knew exactly how to make my cock feel good.