Even seeing Scarlett again hadn’t allowed me to ask the questions I wanted answers to. Instead it just raised new ones. Why did she like her job so much? Where had she worked before? Where had she gone to college? Had she been a good student?
I closed the door to my office and emptied my pockets—my mobile, my wallet and my keys—onto my desk. My phone lit up as it clunked against the wood showing three missed calls. I swiped it open. It was my grandfather’s lawyer. He was working with me to try to find a solution to the biggest problem in my world at that moment—Frederick’s inheritance of my company.
I hoped he’d found a way out.
I dialed him back immediately.
“Ryder, thanks for calling me back,” Giles said.
“No problem. You have good news for me, I hope.”
A fraction of a second too long passed for it to be good news.
“I did warn you.” More silence. Fuck. “I’ve spoken to the top barristers. The trust is very clear. I’m sorry.”
“There must be something we’re missing,” I snapped.
“But I think there is a very simple solution.”
My heartbeat spluttered against my chest. I knew it. There was no way I was going to lose control of Westbury Group.
“You need to find yourself a wife,” Giles said.
I groaned and rested against the side of my desk. “Well, unfortunately, life’s just not that simple.”
Even when all my friends from college and I were playing the field in our twenties, they’d all given themselves a deadline of thirty or thirty-two—thirty-seven in Jim Hassleback’s case—to settle down, get married and have kids.
I’d never given myself a deadline.
Never seen a wife and kids in my future. I knew I liked women too much to limit myself to one. Last night had been a reminder. Scarlett had been unexpected. I’d not been looking for anything and it had been incredible. Imagine if I’d had a wife back at home? I couldn’t deny myself a beautiful woman like Scarlett. And I wasn’t a man who would cheat on his wife. I kept my promises.
“Darcy mentioned she thought Aurora would be willing,” he said. Jesus, there was no escaping my sister’s interfering. Aurora was sweet and attractive and no doubt she’d make a wonderful wife but that wasn’t what I wanted.
“Aurora’s not an option,” I replied.
“Well, you need to find yourself an option. You’re a rich, handsome man, Ryder. If you don’t like Aurora, I’m sure you can find someone you do.”
“It’s not like I can look through a catalog,” I said, although that would help explain how Jim Hassleback got his wife.
What kind of woman would get married for money? No one I’d want anything to do with. Aurora might have been an option, but she wanted too much. And the whole reason she wanted to marry me was to be married to me. A divorce a year later wouldn’t suit her at all.
“Well you have to decide what you want more—to remain a bachelor or retain your company.”
My stomach twisted at his stark declaration, but I couldn’t argue.
“I suppose there’s always the small chance that Frederick won’t interfere and will just be a silent partner like your grandfather was,” Giles said.
“I think we know that’s unlikely.” Frederick’s jealousy had pervaded our whole lives. He hated that I got to go to boarding school in New York while he’d been sent to the far north of Scotland. He hated that my friends didn’t like him. That girls didn’t like him. In his head, he’d made it all my fault.
Frederick would see taking over Westbury Group as payback. Simple as that. And I couldn’t let him do it.
“It’s bad enough that he’s going to get the title and the estate. Isn’t that enough for him?” I asked.
“I’m afraid to say it, but I don’t think anything will ever be enough for him.”
Frederick had a chip on his shoulder the size of Canada. It wasn’t just me who thought so.
“I want you to think about marriage—if not Aurora then I’m sure if we put our heads together we could find someone else. The sister of a friend or someone.”
“What, and I pay them a ton of money, we have some registry office service and then we divorce?” Could I really do that?
“Well, it’s not quite that simple. The marriage has to last until you inherit,” Giles said.
Jesus.
“And you can’t give Frederick a reason to challenge it. The terms of the trust say that it must be a genuine marriage.”
“What does that mean?” I asked.
“You’ll have to live together as man and wife. Go to events together. On holiday. You need to have a marriage.”
I blew out a huff of air. This would be more than an arrangement. I was going to have to have a relationship with a woman, even if it wasn’t sexual.
“Is there anyone you can think of who would respond to a generous payment that I know you’d be prepared to offer?” Giles asked.
I let my head tip back and focused on the corner where the ceiling met the wall. Was I really thinking about doing this? “Maybe I could ask my assistant? I pay her well but not that well.”
“Your assistant is married, if you remember.”
“Oh shit, yes.” I’d deliberately recruited someone married so I wouldn’t end up fucking them and she’d end up hating me and leaving.
The list of potential wives wasn’t particularly long—Aurora, blonde cabin crewmember with the long legs, girl with the brown curly hair and great ass who worked at the gym.
No one from work. That would be too messy. I didn’t believe in shitting on my own doorstep.
There was the girl who worked behind the counter at the coffee place on the corner. She was pretty and could clearly use the money. But she couldn’t be more than twenty. What happened if she turned out to be a monster?
I didn’t really know any women socially, other than my friends’ wives, or my sister’s friends. “I can ask Darcy,” I said.
“Well, consider if one of Darcy’s very English friends is the right way to go. Wouldn’t someone in New York be better for you?”
I stood up and wandered toward the window and looked out over the city. There must be a woman in this town who needed a big wedge of cash.
“Let me think about it.” When I had big decisions to make, I usually knew the right answer in my gut. Yet despite getting married seeming like the only option, it still didn’t feel right.
“Just don’t take too long. I know your grandfather just had a fall this time, but I’m sorry to say that you don’t know whether it could be more serious next time. And you might not get any warning. If you want to keep control of Westbury Group, you need to get married fast.”
I nodded. “Thanks, Giles.” I couldn’t think about my grandfather’s death being imminent. I wasn’t sure I would ever be ready for such a huge change to all our lives.
I cancelled the call and slung my phone across my desk. What a mess.
John interrupted my reflection as he swept into my office. “So, you didn’t close it?” he asked. “This could be a really good investment for us. What’s getting in the way?”