Save the Date (Modern Arrangements, #1)

"For now," he warned. We said our goodbyes and I made two more calls from my car, James and Oscar.

Once I arrived to my apartment, I started to make calls to Devlin as well as to the mansion staff. Devlin was going to draw up some preliminary marriage paperwork, prepare to release my inheritance and establish personal accounts with Lilli listed. The staff at my grandfather’s — well, at my house — was going to begin preparations for Lilli and me to arrive there after the wedding. With so much going through my mind, I thought I’d never fall asleep.

It wasn’t until I woke the next morning that I thought back to Viola’s question regarding Lilli’s family. Would she tell them about the arrangement or pretend that it was a real marriage for their sake? Prepared to simply call her, a better idea came to mind.

After speaking to my secretary and Liam, I made arrangements to clear my schedule after today. I went to work and handled some meetings and pressing obligations. Devlin delivered the preliminary paperwork before I caught a flight to Maine.

During the flight, I thought back over the conversation with Lilli. She was dead serious about me getting a mistress and her helping me. The fact she thought that up on the spot didn’t go unnoticed by me. She was very quick and pretty fucking smart, or diabolical. I didn’t want to admit she’d slightly bruised my ego by not wanting to have sex with me. She didn’t seem to be even slightly interested in me physically.

Having a child was going to be a hard discussion. I wasn’t kidding when I told her the idea of it scared the hell out of me. It did. However, without an heir, I would lose the company. I couldn’t let that happen. Devlin read over the fine details to see what our options would be but it turns out that infertility is the only situation that would get us out of a biological heir. So unless one of us ended up infertile, we would either have to bribe a doctor or comply with a pregnancy. This was going to be rough.

Once I touched down in Maine, I drove the remaining hour and a half to Winter Harbor. It was an extremely small town but it was charming; full of docks, fisherman boats and a lighthouse in the distance, the drive was scenic. I found the small, cottage style home easily. Taking a deep breath, I parked outside the white house with a green door and shutters. There was a chance I was going to piss her off by showing up.

I knocked on the door and heard her muffled voice on the other side. When she opened the door it looked as if she were going to pass out.

"Ai-Aidan, what are you...?"

I smiled large at her confusion and walked into the house.

"I’ve come to speak to your father." I winked and her mouth fell open.

She pulled me back to a corner.

"What the hell are you doing?" She said in a hushed voice.

"I told you. I want to talk to your father." I whispered back.

"For what?" Then it dawned on her and I smiled. "No. He doesn’t know about any of this and I don’t want him to."

"So, what, your parents aren’t going to know that you’re married for four years?"

She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. It was fucking adorable.

"Are you kidding me, right now?" She was still using her hushed tone.

"Just play along." I headed toward a doorway and she grabbed my arm trying to pull me back. She wasn’t strong enough to stop me but I halted and turned to her. "We can make this look real for your benefit or your parents."

She sighed heavily.

"No! I’ll eventually just tell my mother about it, but I won’t lie to Donald." I could read the irritation all over her face.

"Fine, but shouldn’t he at least meet me?"

She furrowed her brow and motioned for me to follow her as she led me into the living room. A very pale dark haired man with deep purple circles under his eyes watched Lilli as she approached. Fire and love lit up his eyes. Her father loved her tremendously. Looking to Lilli, the same love reflected in her eyes.

"Dad, this is Aidan," she motioned to me. "Aidan, this is my father, Donald."

"It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Snowe." Reaching out, I took his hand and shook.

He smiled and replied between breaths.

"Good o…meet…you…son".

I nodded and turned back to Lilli.

"Could you give your father and I a moment alone?" She furrowed her brow, aggravated, before turning back to her father. Donald nodded and she started to walked out of the room, turning back around before she left.

"I’ll be back in five minutes," she narrowed her eyes on me.

Once she was out of the room, I moved to sit near Donald.

"Sir, I’m Aidan Iverson and I have to admit that I am completely taken with your daughter," I smiled.

He let out a breathless chuckle and then whispered out, "Good luck…you will need it" then he winked. I chuckled.

"Yes, she is quite stubborn isn’t she?" He nodded and then motioned to himself. "She get’s that from you?" I asked for clarification on his motion. He nodded and I chuckled again. "Well it’s not a horrible quality," I smiled. "Sir, I would—"

"Call…me…Donald."

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