Terms of Engagement

Six

“You told him—the enemy—that Mother might be dying, and you didn’t tell me or Jaycee! And you did this behind my back—weeks and weeks ago!”

Kira fisted and unfisted her hands as she sat beside her father in the preacher’s library. Rage and hurt shot through her.

“How could you be so disloyal? I’ve never felt so completely betrayed. Sometimes I feel like a stray you picked up on the side of the road. You didn’t really want me—only you have to keep me because it’s the right thing to do.”


“Nonsense! You’re our daughter.”

He blanched at her harsh condemnation, and she hung her head in guilt. “I’m sorry,” she muttered.

She wanted to weep and scream, but she wouldn’t be able to think if she lost all control.

“You know your mother and how she always wants to protect you. I thought only of her when I confided in him.”

“First, you sell Jaycee to him because, as always, she’s your first choice.”

“Kira…”

“Now, it’s me.”

“Don’t blame me. He wants you!”

“As if that makes you blameless. Why didn’t either of my parents think about protecting their daughters from Quinn?”

“It’s complicated. Even if your mother weren’t sick, we need someone younger at the top, someone with a clearer vision of the future. Quinn’s not what you think. Not what the press thinks. I knew him as a boy. This can be a win-win situation for you both.”

“He grew into a vengeful man who hates us.”

“You’re wrong. He doesn’t hate you. You’ll never make me believe that. You should have seen how he acted when you disappeared. I think he’ll make you a good husband.”

“You don’t care about that. You don’t care about me. You only care about Murray Oil’s bottom line, about retiring and being with Mother.”

“How can you say that? I care about you, and I care about this family as much as you do. Yes, I need to take care of your mother now, but like I said—I know Quinn. I’ve watched him. He’s good, smart, solid. And he’s a brilliant businessman who will be the best possible CEO for Murray Oil during these tumultuous economic times. He’s done great things already. If I had time, I’d fill you in on how he helped organize a deal with the EU while you were gone. He’s still in the middle of it at the moment.”

“For years he’s worked to destroy you.”

“Hell, maybe he believed that’s what he was doing, maybe others bought it, too, but I never did. I don’t think he knew what was driving him. This company is his heritage, too. And I saw how he was when you were gone. The man was beside himself. He was afraid you were in trouble. I don’t know what happened between the two of you before you ran away, but I know caring when I see it. Quinn cares for you. He’s just like his father. You should have seen how Kade loved his wife, Esther. Then you’d know the love Quinn is capable of.”

“You think Quinn will come to love me? Are you crazy? Quinn doesn’t believe he can love again. The man has lived his life fueled by hate. Hatred for all of us. How many times do I have to repeat it?”

“Maybe so, but the only reason his hatred was so strong was that the love that drove it was just as strong. You’re equally passionate. You just haven’t found your calling yet.” Her father took her hands in his as he continued, “You should have seen him the day he came to tell me he had me by the balls and was set to take over Murray Oil. He could have broken me that day. Instead, he choked when I told him about Vera because he’s more decent than he knows. He’s ten times the man that his father ever was, that’s for sure. Maybe you two didn’t meet under ideal circumstances, but he’ll make you a good husband.”

“You believe that only because you want to believe it. You’re as cold and calculating as he is.”

“I want what’s best for all of us.”

“This is a deal to you—just like it is to him. Neither of you care which daughter marries Quinn today, as long as the deal is completed for Murray Oil.”

“I suggested Jaycee primarily to avoid a scene like the one we’re having, but Quinn wants you. He won’t even consider Jaycee now, even though he was willing to marry her before you meddled.”

“Oh, so this fiasco is my fault.”

“Someday you’ll thank me.”

“I’m not marrying him. I won’t be sacrificed.”

“Before you make your decision, your mother wants to talk to you.” He pressed a couple of buttons on his phone, and the door behind him opened as if by magic. Her mother’s perfectly coiffed blonde head caught the light of the overhead lamp. She was gripping her cell phone with clawlike hands.

She looked so tiny. Why hadn’t Kira noticed how thin and colorless her once-vital mother had become? How frail and tired she looked?

“Dear God,” Kira whispered as she got up and folded her precious mother into her arms. She felt her mother’s ribs and spine as she pressed her body closer. Her mother was fading away right before her eyes.

“Please,” her mother whispered. “I’m not asking you to do this for me, but for your father. I need all my strength to fight this illness. He can’t be worried about Murray Oil. Or you. Or Jaycee. I’ve always been the strong one, you know. I can’t fight this if I have to worry about him. And I can’t leave him alone. He’d be lost without me.”

“I—I…”

“I’m sure your father’s told you there’s a very important international deal with the EU on the table right now. It can make or break our company.”

“His company.”

“Your father and I and the employees of Murray Oil need your help, Kira. Your marriage to Quinn would endorse his leadership both here and abroad. Have I ever asked you for anything before?”

Of course she had. She’d been an ambitious and very demanding mother. Kira had always hoped that when she married and had children, she’d finally be part of a family where she felt as if she belonged, where she was accepted, flaws and all. How ironic that when her parents finally needed her to play a role they saw as vital to their survival, their need trampled on her heartfelt dream to be at the core of her own happy family.

Would she ever matter to her husband the way her mother mattered to her father? Not if the man who was forcing her to marry him valued her only as a business prize. Once Quinn had Murray Oil under his control, how long would she be of any importance to him?

Still, what choice did she have? For the first time ever, her family really needed her. And she’d always wanted that above all things.



“I don’t want to marry you! But yes!” she spat at Quinn after he had ushered her into one of the private dressing rooms. She’d spun around to face him in the deadly quiet. “Yes! I will marry you, since you insist on having your answer today.”

“Since I insist we marry today!”

Never had she seemed lovelier than with her dark, heavily lashed eyes glittering with anger and her slender hands fisted defiantly on her hips. He was so glad to have found her. So glad she was all right. So glad she’d agreed without wasting any more precious time. Once she was his, they’d get past this.

“Then I’ll probably hate you forever for forcing me to make such a terrible bargain.”

Her words stabbed him with pain, but he steeled himself not to show it. She looked mad enough to spit fire and stood at least ten feet from him so he couldn’t touch her.

Looking down, staring anywhere but at her, he fought to hide the hurt and relief he felt at her answer, as well as the regret he felt for having bullied her.

Bottom line—she would be his. Today. The thought of any man touching her as Quinn had touched her their one night together seemed a sacrilege worthy of vengeful murder.

“Good. I’m glad that’s finally settled and we can move on,” he said in a cool tone that masked his own seething passions. “I’ve hired people to help you get ready. Beauticians. Designers. I selected a wedding gown that I hope you’ll like, and I have a fitter here in case I misjudged your size.”

“You did all that?” Her narrow brows arched with icy contempt. “You were that sure I’d say yes? You thought I was some doll you could dress up in white satin…”

“Silk, actually, and no, I don’t think you’re some doll—” He stopped. He wasn’t about to admit how desperate he’d felt during the dark days of her absence, or how out of control, even though his silence only seemed to make her angrier.

“Look, just because you bullied me into saying yes doesn’t mean I like the way you manipulated my family into taking your side. And, since this is strictly a business deal to all of you, I want you to know it’s nothing but a business deal to me, too. So, I’m here by agreeing to a marriage in name only. The only reasons I’m marrying you are to help my father and mother and Murray Oil and to save Jaycee from you.”

His lips thinned. “There’s too much heat in you. You won’t be satisfied with that kind of marriage…any more than I will.”

“Well, I won’t marry you unless you agree to it.”

He would have agreed to sell his soul to the devil to have her. “Fine,” he said. “Suit yourself, but when you change your mind, I won’t hold you to your promise.”

“I won’t change my mind.”

He didn’t argue the point or try to seduce her. He’d make the necessary concessions to get her to the altar. He’d pushed her way too far already.


He was willing to wait, to give her the time she needed. He didn’t expect it would be long before he’d have her in his bed once more. And perhaps it was for the best that they take a break from the unexpected passion they’d found.

Maybe he wanted her to believe his motive for marrying her was business related, but it was far from the truth. Need—pure, raw, unadulterated need—was what drove him. If they didn’t make love for a while, perhaps he could get control over all his emotions.

After they’d made love the last time, he’d felt too much, had felt too bound to her. Her power over him scared the hell out of him. She’d left him just as carelessly as his own mother had left his father, hadn’t she?

He needed her like the air he breathed. Kira had simply become essential.

But he wasn’t about to tell her that. No way could he trust this overwhelming need for any woman. Hadn’t his father’s love for Quinn’s own mother played the largest part in his father’s downfall? And then his own love for his father had crushed him when his father died.

Grief was too big a price to pay for love. He never wanted to be weak and needy like that again.