I winced. "Shit. Sorry."

  "It's fine. What those girls on social media are talking about, the cinnamon rolls who know how to go down, I weep with jealousy. And Atticus Price does not look like he’s even heard of oral. So what the hell are you going to do about sex?"

  I tried not to think about it. "Well, I'm certainly not going to fuck him, okay?"

  Lies.

  "You better not. He probably goes at it like a robot."

  And then Morgan made robot arms and proceeded to wave them around and use a monotone voice. "I shall fuck you now."

  Despite myself, I laughed. "Oh my God, Morgan."

  She giggled. "What? You know I'm right. That's probably what it's like."

  "I mean, the man is good looking and has models following him around. He must have some ability. Right?"

  "Do you even want to risk finding out by marrying the guy? Because he's doing that whole 'this is not just a marriage-on-paper thing,' and that is concerning."

  I really wished he hadn't said that, because that part had been rattling around my brain ever since. No way he meant that.

  My sister watched me closely then softened her tone. "You didn't have to jump in and save me. I would have been okay."

  I shook my head. "No, you wouldn't have been."

  Morgan bit her lip. "Sooner or later, I'm going to have to learn to save myself."

  I reached over and palmed her cheek. "I'm your big sister. If I don't save you, who will?"

  "Yeah well, sometimes I think the price is too great.” She grabbed my hand. "I didn't ask you to do this."

  "You didn't need to. What Dad is trying to do is wrong. You and I both know that, okay? If this buys you a little time, then great. We’ll get you back in school, and in less than a year, you'll have your trust fund and you won't depend on Dad anymore. I just have to keep him from trying to marry you off until then."

  "I swear, he thinks it's the 1800s or something."

  "Dad wants what he wants when he wants it. To hell if any of us care."

  "You're really going to do this? You’re going to marry him? You don't even know him."

  I bit my lip. She was right. I didn't know anything about Atticus Price other than he made me unsettled and mildly irritated.

  And oh yeah, he was rich enough to buy my company and me with it. It just didn't bode well for me.

  "Look, my only concern is you and my employees. My whole Rebel Tech team. When Dad insisted on folding us in and developing us, letting us be the R&D arm of the company, I thought that was the best thing on earth. But I was wrong, obviously."

  "I can't believe he's doing this to you."

  "He's been making shit decision after shit decision for years now. I just didn't think he would bargain with me. But don't worry about it, Morgan. The most important thing is that you don't have to marry someone random."

  "Yeah, but you do."

  "Don't worry about me. I have my ways. Besides, a few weeks working with me and my company, and he will be running for the hills. I have been told that I am quite the handful."

  My sister narrowed her gaze on me. "You've been told that by pricks. You are loyal, beautiful, wickedly smart, and funny. Anyone who doesn't see that doesn't deserve you. He doesn't deserve you."

  "Relax, Morgan. This will be on paper only. I have it under control.”

  “If you say so. I just don’t want you hurt again after what happened two years ago.”

  I forced the bile down at the memory. “I do say so. I am never, ever going to fall for a man like that again."

  Chapter 7

  Gwen

  It didn't take five minutes for Lance to call me after leaving my parents' house.

  My apartment was on 57th Street, technically Midtown East, even though my stepmother still insisted on telling everyone that I lived on the Upper East Side. I had opted to walk the fifteen blocks home to clear my head.

  What the fuck was that? One moment I'd been standing there, with my drink in my hand, ready and willing to pitch a new venture capital firm, and the next, my father was telling me that he was marrying Morgan off to Atticus fucking Price. The Ice King of New York.

  And then I pulled a Katniss Everdeen and volunteered as tribute. What the fuck was I thinking?

  I narrowly avoided a puddle as I passed a gelato shop on the corner just as my phone rang. "Hey, Lance."

  "What the fuck, Gwen?"

  Leave it to my bestie to get to the point. "I fucking know."

  "Your father has lost it. There is no way you can marry this guy. I think your best bet is finding another relationship to be in, posthaste."

  I jumped back to avoid a drunk guy who was clamoring out of a restaurant and then only narrowly avoided the spray from a yellow cab splashing brown water onto the sidewalk as I crossed.

  "You heard him. I don't think that's possible. Besides, if I were in another relationship, that would mean Morgan was back on the table. She can't do this. Not with a guy like that."

  "And you can? I mean, what's wrong with the guy that he needs a setup anyway?"

  "You know how it is better than most. New York social life. Families do business together for so long that it's completely normal for them to try and set each other up.”

  “Uh, yeah. A century ago maybe," he scoffed.

  "Given how all this has happened, it makes me really wonder about my father and my mother. They were complete opposites."

  "It doesn't matter. And I think you don't give Morgan enough credit. She can give that man a run for his money. Your sister is mean. She's tougher than she looks. She finds a way to take a piece of me every time she sees me."

  "Honestly, how the two people I love most in my life cannot get along is beyond me. The two of you are like oil and water.”

  "Your sister hates me. The feeling is mutual. She's not my favorite person. But that's okay, because I love you. And let's get back to the more important thing; you are falling on your sword right now. And you can't do that. You can't marry him. He's cold. Clearly ruthless. And I wasn't going to say anything about it in front of him, but there are rumors. Some say Pendragon is unethical. There have been rumblings and murmurs about Pendragon Tech for years. And his father… Well, he most certainly is a shady fucker. His own board ousted him, but no one has been able to pin anything specific on him while he was CEO."

  God, I was so screwed. Lance was right. But I needed options, not more problems. "What am I supposed to do? If I wiggle out of this, everyone suffers. My sister, my team, everyone."

  Lance was quiet for a beat. "There has to be a way to avoid a marriage."

  I could almost see him tugging at his hair. He was probably at home in Soho, pacing back and forth over the parquet floors, attempting to wear a path in them.

  "Look, Lance, I'm going to stall as best I can. With any luck, we wouldn't even be able to do a proper New York society wedding for months. I may have a solution by then. And that will give me time to get Morgan somewhere far away. Grad school in London for example. And it buys me time to come up with a different deal. Right now, however, Atticus Price is the devil we know, and I have to play along with this plan. At least it's not Jacobson."

  Lance was silent for a long breath, but then he finally spoke. "Maybe if your Dad knew⁠—"

  My stomach cramped painfully, and I had to stop and use a post on the corner for support as a knot of anxiety and quick flash of fear dissipated. Lance and Morgan only knew some of what had happened with Jacobson. Lance would have jumped off the deep end and ruined his whole career if I’d told him everything. But Bronson Jacobson was the devil. That one stupid date. I had never regretted anything more. I walked away unscathed, but God knows Morgan wouldn't have.

  "Unlike my sister, I don't need saving, Lance. I've got this."

  Lance sighed. "But what about love? He's not going to make you happy."

  I chewed on my bottom lip. "It doesn't matter. My sister and my team are what matters. For them, I can do this. People agree to arranged marriages all the time. Besides, it’s unlikely that I'll see him very much in advance of the nuptials, and like I said, it will buy me some time to figure a way out of this. In the meantime, I guess I'm engaged to the coldest man in New York. The saving grace is that I know he works nonstop. I'll never see him. We'll be like ships in the night. It'll probably be a month before he realizes that he's got a fiancée in the city somewhere."

  "How are you going to take this guy touching you? I mean, you don't even know him."

  Lance's question was soft, and there was a gentle tone to his voice, which clued me in to just how worried he was. I passed a gaggle of tipsy bridesmaids peeling out of a bar and winced as one held her friend’s hair back as she vomited on the sidewalk.

  “Lance, you need to stop worrying about me. I'll figure this out. And like I said, I'm never going to see the guy. I'll be in my apartment, and he'll be in his. This will all be very civilized. In the meantime, I'm just going to find a different solution to the money issue."

  He was silent again. "I'm just saying, you haven't had a serious relationship since Michael. And then that shit with Bronson Jacobson went down, and I worry."

  "Have a little faith, would you? I can handle Price."

  "Can you? When was your last date?"

  "I might not date a lot, but I do things. I have hobbies. Interests. Besides, I don't need love."

  "Name one interest. Just one. From the last year."

  Low blow. "I don't know… I-I…" Fuck. I had things that I liked to do. And I used to do them all the time. And then everything changed. "I dance."

  He laughed. "When was the last time you went to a class? If you tell me it was this week, I will leave you alone. Hell, if you tell me it was anytime this month, I'll stop harassing you right now."

  When the hell was it? Maybe it was six months ago. I’d told myself I'd feel better if I just went. But then instead, I just felt worse because my body didn't work the same way, so I didn’t go back again. "Don't be a dick, Lance."

  "I'm just saying, you're going to need help with Price. You need to convince him to go slow, or wait, or something."

  "I love you, Lance. But I'm not discussing my theoretical sex life with you. Besides, it's not going to be like that. This is an arranged marriage. He'll have his affairs, and I'll do whatever I normally do."

  Lance sighed. "Look, I'm just saying this guy might have a red room of pain or something. I've heard rumors."

  “Rumors that he’s into pain?”

  “Rumors that he’s into sex. Kinky sex. No holds barred sex. Make women line up at his door sex. You’re out of your depth.”

  Maybe he had a point. "Look, I'm not planning to sleep with him. And honestly, it might not even come to that. You need to trust me."

  "I'm just looking out for you."

  "I know, and I appreciate it. It's going to be fine." I really hoped it would be. But I didn't have a choice. I’d made this bed, and now it was time to lie on it.

  "I hope you know what you're doing," he said with more than a little doubt in his voice.

  "Me too, but it's me or Morgan, so I will figure it out."

  "Would it be so bad if Morgan had to be the one to fall on the sword for once?"

  Something bitter twisted on my tongue. "Yes, it would."

  Chapter 8

  Atticus

  "So, you're getting married."

  I eyed Micah over the rim of my scotch glass as he leaned against the window in the living room overlooking Central Park.

  "Do you have any advice to offer?"

  "Other than this is madness?” he laughed. “No. I'm good."

  I shrugged. "Ever helpful."

  His chuckle was soft. "Do you have a plan? Because last I checked, you walked into Becks Incorporated with a plan, and then you disregarded it. Which again, is fine. But tell me you know what you're doing."

  I nodded. "Yes, I'm in control here."

  That was a lie.

  Tonight's dinner had been a shit show. Becker had thought I would marry his younger daughter. Which was horrifying enough. But what I’d expected even less was for Gwen to offer herself up instead.

  Which you're not upset about.

  I pushed to my feet to pour myself another drink, because if drinking wasn't on the table, then I had a bleak outlook indeed.

  "How the fuck was I supposed to know she would volunteer? How was I supposed to know Becker would bargain one sister for the other?"

  "I did try to warn you he wouldn't let it go,” Micah reminded me. “When you told me what happened in his office, I tried to tell you to be careful with that. So now we're stuck. If you say no, he goes to Jacobson."

  "You think I don't fucking know that?"

  All this was made worse by the fact that Micah had tried to warn me. I didn't usually miscalculate. I'd been going for the tidiest deal possible. And if it meant Becker wanted to tie his daughter to me, I would do that. And I would bury his legal team in so much paperwork they’d never find the loopholes I'd slide in there. Like a one-year marriage, leaving her with enough money that she would go away quietly afterward.

  Liar. You want her.

  Fucking hell. I did want her. But that was not the point.

  I needed to be married before my thirtieth birthday thanks to a little clause in my grandfather’s will. It had been buried under a mountain of legalese. And our family lawyer had neglected to highlight that little point. If I didn’t, my voting shares would be distributed amongst voting members of the board.

  "I got the job done, didn't I? We have what we want."

  Micah stared at me. "And you’re telling me this has nothing to do with the sparks between you and Gwen Becker on the balcony at the Hearts and Hope benefit?"

  I shrugged. "I admire her fire." The lie tumbled easily off my tongue.

  "Her fire. Is that what we're calling it?” he asked with a smirk.

  I turned to scowl at him before taking a large sip of my drink. "Don't be a dick."

  Micah just shrugged. "I'm a Price. Dick is an explicit part of the job description. You're not supposed to make this shit more complicated."

  I drained my glass, letting the amber liquid burn all the way down. "You think I don't know that?"

  My brother frowned at me, watching me closely. "If you’re sure you know what you're doing, then I'll follow your lead. But if you don't, you will burn and we'll all go down with you. Everything you built and everyone you love. That includes your Mum."

  I glared at him. "That's a low blow."

  He shrugged.

  “You know exactly what would happen if I didn't make a deal."

  "Yes, I do. But is this marriage worth the fight with Jacobson and Dad? You were supposed to be laying low. This is going to be like waving a giant red flag in front of their faces."

  Just thinking about the way Gwen had pressed her lips together and refused to let me have her sister… I still didn't understand why it made me want to grin. She had basically called me a thieving monkey dick, and I’d actually found it damn hilarious. "I have it under control, Micah. This way, I can keep her close. Keep her off Dad's radar. Simple."

  "Um-hm." He didn't look like he believed me. "It doesn't hurt that she's completely bangable though, right?” he asked with a sly grin.

  My lips twitched. "Don't talk about your sister-in-law that way."

  Micah rolled his eyes. "It’s actually relevant that she’s bangable. You know this has to look real. That pesky little provision from Grandad. The board has no choice but to uphold it. If the board gets one whiff things are fake, we’ll have problems. You will lose your voting shares to Dad. And there are those who sided with him who are still on the board. They’d love any reason to bring him back. So they'll be looking for any whiff of impropriety. You have to make it look real."

  And that was the kicker. As far as I was concerned, this was going to be real. It was going to be more difficult reminding her that her future depended on this. "It will be real."

  My brother lifted his brow. "Okay, if you say so. As long as you keep the goal in mind, we won't have problems. I'll do my best to keep the board off your ass."

  "That would be appreciated."

  "What is it about her, anyway?" he asked.

  I drained my third glass of scotch and slammed it back down. "I have no fucking idea. She's a fighter. She absolutely will not say die even when it's in her own goddamn best interest. She's the most mule-headedly stubborn woman I have ever met. It doesn't make any sense."

  He watched me closely, his green eyes narrowing. "But keep your wits about you. Don't fall for her. We don’t need complicated."

  "That’s never going to happen," I denied firmly.

  "If you say so."

  "I do say so."

  He nodded slowly. "I'll get the paperwork to you. Get her to sign the contract and the NDA. We have secrets to protect."

  “I already have Pierce working on that and a full brief.”

  “At least you haven’t completely lost it.” He paused and rubbed his chin. “Are you going to tell her about the clause.”

  The invisible elephant.

  I could feel my throat closing. “No. It won’t matter to her anyway.”

  “Everything matters. Watch yourself, Atticus.”

  I watched my brother stroll out of my living room down the hall toward his room. And I could feel the tethers of control start to roughen around the edges, like someone was gently pulling the strings that kept it all together. I dragged in a deep breath. I knew what I was doing. I was in control. Total fucking control of the situation. This would be easy. All I had to do was get her to follow the fucking script.

  Chapter 9

  Gwen

  You agreed to marry a perfect stranger. One you're not even sure you like.

  After I arrived home last night, I'd really sat with the weight of what I had agreed to. I was going to marry Atticus Price, and I didn't even know the man.

  I woke to a text from him, or at least I assumed it was him.

 

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