The Wedding Contract

Chapter 33





We drive forever, backtracking out east. Again. Nick puts gas in the beast. I’m barefoot because my shoes absorbed the nasty water. They were stinking up the car so we tossed them in a dumpster. Nick had this waterproof stuff on his boots so all the sewage rolled right off. Someone needs to make that for people. When life gets shitty, you can spray a little on your emotions and they all go back to the way they were before.

I’m not that na?ve, but I can wish. We arrive at the Ferro family mansion in the middle of the night. Nick parks my ugly car right in front and rushes up the steps. Then he’s inside and bolting up the stairs. I’m ready to drop, but I manage to follow him through the twisting halls.

He heads straight into a room with tall ceilings and leather walls. Bookcases are scattered about, along with a few sculptures that cost a small fortune. Nick’s father, Darren, is behind his desk, still dressed, tie loosened and talking on the phone. “Jared, things aren’t that simple and you know it.” When Nick rushes in, his dad stops talking abruptly and says into the phone, “I’ll call you back.”

“What did you do?” Nick asks. His shoulders are tense and he looks madder than he did before.

His dad looks at Nick and then his gaze drifts back to me, dipping to my bare feet. “Secured your position and taught you a lesson at the same time. You had only a few days left and, as of this morning, Miss Thompson’s business was still open. You don’t want to lose your place at the company, do you? Acquisitions are hard and you did very well up until now. Being around the acquired business’s owner is a mistake. You proved yourself to me. We just had to finalize everything to make it look all right with the company. I can’t have people accusing me of nepotism.” He laughs and adds, “Or that the Ferros are going soft.”

“Her business is not closed. It’s been moved to my storefront. I lost.” Nick slams his hands down on his father’s desk so hard that it makes me jump.

A knowing smile crosses Mr. Ferro’s face and he addresses me, instead of his son. “He’s had a crush on you for a long time. Do you have any idea how much determination and stamina it takes to destroy the business you admire the most? I watched my son tear you apart, brick by brick. Why you’re standing in my office in the middle of the night, shoeless, is beyond me.”

I walk across the room and stand next to Nick. “I’m standing here because your son loves me. I’m standing here because he gave me his store. My business’s name is on his front door.”

Mr. Ferro smirks. “You think you can get him so easily?”

Nick cuts in before I can answer. “She doesn’t want me.” The words ring loud and clear. Nick leans in by his father’s face. “And I don’t want you.”

He laughs. “Nicholas, you’re being ridiculous. You’re going to walk away from everything and for what? A girl that doesn’t share your affection?”

Nick is already at the door. He turns back and shakes his head. “No. I found my soul over the past few days, and I’m not going to work with you and have it sucked out again.”

I follow Nick through the door and hear his father say, “If you leave this house, never come back.”

Nick walks faster toward the front door. That wasn’t fake. I look over my shoulder and then rush at him just as he’s about to step outside. “Wait!” I pull Nick’s arm and stop him. “You can’t walk out.”

“Yes, I can. It’s a step and I’m gone.”

“But, you’re a Ferro.”

“And I wish that I wasn’t. If I stay here, I know who I’ll become and it’s the man sitting behind that desk. I meant what I said up there. I lost myself, but over the past few days, you brought me back. I’m not staying here and changing who I am to please them again.” He laughs. “The Ferro fortune is cursed—the papers say that—and they’re right, because you have to give up your soul to get it. I’m done here and I’m not looking back.” Nick walks outside and takes a deep breath of night air, like he’s been a slave and now he’s a free man.