Feisty Princess (Sexy Manhattan Fairytale #2) (2 page)

Oh, how the tables have turned.

Since he paints me to be the evil mastermind of this plot, I might as well go along with it.

I lick my lips and peer into the beautiful eyes of the man I love to hate. “I must say, Alexander, this new development changes things drastically between us. Don’t you think?”

“This changes nothing,” he growls. “This marriage is a mistake. No judge in the world will award you shit if you press the issue. Besides, we don’t even know if the marriage is legal.” He snatches the picture of the so-called wedding off the table and panic rolls through his voice. “A minister wearing a fucking Kiss costume can’t be a legitimate man of the cloth capable of marrying people legally, right?”

While I have to agree with him on that, there’s no way I’m about to let Alexander know that I’m having a hard time believing this whole thing is legit.

“Maybe you’re right . . .” I tilt my head. “And maybe you’re wrong. Are you willing to take a chance and find out? If our marriage is legally binding, I won’t let you off easy.”

There’s a long pause of silence between us, and I can tell the wheels are spinning inside that brain of his, He’s trying to figure a way out of this situation.

“What will it take for you to walk away from this quietly?” Alexander’s nostrils flare, and I can’t help smiling. Pissing him off is my new favorite pastime.

I turn on the barstool that I’m occupying and cross my legs in the direction that Alexander is standing. It’s finally nice to feel like the one in control of this situation. For a while there, I felt like trying to save Buchanan Industries was a lost cause, but now things have definitely changed in my favor.

“You know exactly what I want,” I tell him.

He raises his eyebrow. “Forget it. I have too much riding on this Buchanan deal. I’ll take my chances with Jack eating you alive in court.”

“Suit yourself. Everything that went on here this weekend will prove that you were a willing participant. Besides, your college buddy was your best man. Yamada wouldn’t let someone coerce you into something that you weren’t willing to do. I’m sure it won’t be too hard to convince a judge to see things my way.” I shrug and then push myself off the barstool. “I think I’ll go ahead and start with a call to our family attorney. I’ll have to start planning how I want to spend my newfound fortune of half your money.”

“I don’t know what planet you’re living on, Margo, but that isn’t going to happen.” His gray eyes harden. “You can’t afford to take me on.”

“What’s yours is mine, darling. So it seems to me like I can, thanks to your sprawling wealth.”

His nostrils flare. “You are such a bitch. I can’t believe for one moment that I—” He quickly cuts himself off and clenches his hands into fists by his sides. “Pack your shit. We’re going back to New York. Now.”

I fold my arms over my chest. “You can’t tell me what to do.”

Alexander smirks. “Being your husband earns me that right. Now pack.”

I open my mouth to tell him to take his orders and shove them right up his bossy ass, but before I have a chance, he turns and walks toward his room, slamming the door behind him.

The second I’m sure that I’m alone, I drop my head and rub my forehead to try to soothe the pounding headache that’s still raging inside. How the hell could I allow myself to get this out of control last night? I have so much riding on saving the family business. Being married to Alexander might fuck everything up.

Alexander

THE ROAR OF THE JET
has been the only sound I’ve heard for the last hour. Margo hasn’t said a word to me since we left Las Vegas. Hell, she hasn’t even so much as glanced at me either. Whatever little connection we shared this weekend is now long gone. Reality has definitely set in that we are enemies and nothing more.

I allowed myself to forget that this weekend. I gave in to temptation and had her over and over.

It had been a long time since I’d laughed—let loose and just had a good time. The combination of liquor and Yamada tends to put me in a carefree state, but I never let my guard down around women. Margo Buchanan is irresistible, and I’m not exactly in the habit of telling myself no, which is how I landed myself in this situation. I couldn’t get enough of her.

“Another scotch, Mr. King?” Abigail asks, pulling me out of my thoughts.

“Yes, but make it a double this time,” I instruct her before she scampers off to fulfill my order.

I lay my head back against the headrest and close my eyes, only to be instantly alerted to a ringing phone. I answer on the second ring. “King.”

“Madafaka! You left without telling Yamada good-bye?”

I roll my eyes. I knew he’d be pissed at me for taking off like that, but I couldn’t spend one more minute in the penthouse cooped up with Margo’s tempting ass. That woman and her sexy as sin body drives me out of my mind and causes me to lose all control, so I knew I had to get out of there before I did something foolish. I will not break down and give in to her demands, no matter how hard my dick gets.

But Yamada doesn’t need to know that was my reason for taking off so quickly. “I’m sorry, my friend. I had urgent business I had to attend to back in New York.”

He chuckles on the other end of the line. “You left because being alone with Margo scares the shit out of you. You forget how well Yamada knows you.”

The tie around my neck feels too tight, so I pull it away from my skin to relieve the sudden choking sensation. “I assure you, that isn’t the case.”

“Uh-huh. Then you have no problem flying out to see Yamada on his private island on Thursday.”

“A private island? When did you buy a fucking island? That’s not really your scene.”

“Everywhere Yamada chooses to be is Yamada’s scene. Besides, it was a good investment. Everyone loves the British Virgin Islands. This place has a resort on it and a full staff. There are some fly honies that work there. We’ll have a good time. No visitors on the island while Yamada’s there either.”

I rub my temple as I groan. “Now isn’t really a good time. I have to sort out this crazy Vegas wedding you got me wrapped up in.”

“Now is the perfect time,” he chimes in. “We never talked business in Vegas. If you want Yamada Enterprises in on the Buchanan deal, then we sit down before Yamada goes back to Japan. Oh, and bring Dime Piece too or no deal.”

“Yamada . . .”

“No is not an answer Yamada will respond to. You want to talk business, you come Thursday to see my new island. Yamada’s Booty Paradise has a nice ring to it, no?” A female giggle cuts over the line and Yamada chuckles and then shushes her. “Got to go, King. I’ll text you the island coordinates. See you Thursday.”

“No. Wait. Yamada—” Silence is all I’m met with, and I curse as I hang up the phone.

A few seconds later, he sends coordinates to one of the small pieces of land in the British Virgin Islands via text.

I scrub both hands down my face. I’m not blind as to what Yamada is trying to do. His matchmaking between Margo and me isn’t going to work. I’m not interested in a relationship, and Margo hates my guts, so I know she doesn’t want one with me either. Earlier today, she clearly showed her disdain about being married to me. I know she won’t appreciate Yamada’s meddling with our lives any more than I do.

I jerk my gaze over to Margo. She chose to take the seat across the aisle instead of bravely facing me as she did on the way out here. In her current seat, her head faces away from me, causing me to take note of her striking profile. Her dark hair is pulled back in a low-set ponytail and those dark-rimmed glasses that she tends to wear around the office covers her eyes. Even when she doesn’t seem to be trying to attract my attention, she always manages to capture it. She’s really one of the most beautiful creatures I’ve ever seen.

Too bad she’s also one of the biggest bitches on the planet.

“Bad news.” She whips her head in my direction and meets my gaze. “It seems that Yamada has requested my presence at a private island this week.”

Margo clutches her chest in dramatic shock. “That sounds
so
horrible for you. A private island? You
poor
thing. How will you ever survive?”

The sarcasm isn’t missed in her voice, and it only makes me want to burst her little attitude bubble. “Trust me. It will be a complete fucking nightmare, especially since he says that I have to bring you along.”

I fully expect her to get pissed and start shouting about all the reasons that she can’t possibly accompany me to this island, but she doesn’t do that. Instead, a wicked smile crosses her face. Instantly, that irritates me off. I don’t like that she’s pleased about this one damn bit.

“I don’t know why you’re so happy about this,” I grumble.

That only causes her smile to widen. “Just means that Yamada is starting to like me too. I told you that he would be my friend.”

My nostrils flare at that thought, but I know that no matter what Margo Buchanan believes, Yamada would never take her side over mine.

“When do we leave?” she asks.

“Yamada apparently owns one of the islands next to the British Virgin Islands, so it’ll take us about six hours to fly there. Then we’ll need to get a helicopter or boat to take us over to wherever this place is. If I want to make a deal with Yamada, then we have no other choice but to go. Once Yamada gets his mind stuck on something, he tends to get his way.”

“Looks like the game is still on when it comes to Yamada,” Margo muses.

It’s time to remind her that I’m still the boss in this situation. “Don’t get your hopes up, Princess. Yamada will never sign a deal with you over me. He’s
my
friend.”

She lifts her eyebrow. “You’re not the only one who got an invite to chat, King, so it looks like he’s my friend, too.”

Dammit. I hate that she’s right. Yamada does like her or else he would have never been so welcoming once he figured out that he wasn’t getting into her pants. That also means this could be big trouble for me if she can figure out a way to sweet talk him in to doing a deal directly with her father instead of me. It will cost me far too much money and I won’t allow that to happen.

When we land at the airstrip just outside the city, Margo rushes off the plane. She demanded that I order a car to be waiting for her because she refused to be trapped with me any longer than she had to. She doesn’t even glance in my direction as she heads toward it.

Guess the fucking honeymoon’s over.

I shove myself up from the smooth leather seat and button my jacket as I make my way off the plane. The late afternoon sun hits me full force as I step outside, causing me to whip out a pair of sunglasses from my inside pocket and then slide them on my face.

It’s then that I notice Jack leaning against the limo with his arms crossed as he waits for me. Even though his sunglasses shield his eyes, the smirk on his face tells me that I’ve opened myself up to a never-ending line of jokes about my random Vegas nuptials. “Your wife isn’t riding with us?”

I shake my head. “Don’t start your shit.”

“What?” Jack says with a slight chuckle as I slide into the limo first with him following right behind me. “I’m not allowed to ask about your wife?”

“She’s not my wife,” I snap.

This only causes Jack to laugh harder. “Sure, she is. It’s legal and everything.”

“Fuck.” It’s the only word that comes to mind. I’m totally fucked here. “How bad is it?”

Jack raises his eyebrows. “Well, if the two of you didn’t consummate your marriage, I’m sure we could’ve had a quick annulment, but—” I pull my glasses off and give him my best you know me better than that look which cuts him off. “That’s what I thought. We fight it. I’m not exactly a divorce lawyer, but I’m sure we can bring on a few other attorneys who specialize in high-profile cases to help. We might stand a chance.”

“A chance?” There’s a catch in my voice. “You have got to be fucking kidding me! You’re telling me that after being married for one fucking day, it possible Margo Buchanan can take me to the fucking cleaners? This is fucking insane.”

“Buddy, what’s insane is you marrying a woman who’s out for your blood. What possessed you to do it? I mean, I know she’s hot, but was fucking her really worth all this trouble? What the hell were you thinking?”

I pinch the bridge of my nose. “I don’t know.”

I wish I could blame marrying Margo solely on Yamada, but I know that wouldn’t be exactly fair. Being with Margo this weekend was exciting. She didn’t take my shit, and I find that insanely attracted. Hell, maybe Jack can plead a case of temporary insanity because the woman causes me to lose my damn mind. Yamada said it didn’t take much convincing for me to marry Margo, and in my gut, I know that’s probably true. I drank enough liquor to kill a horse, so I know the logical part of my brain was not functioing, and my dick did any major decision-making.

I lift my head and stare out the window as the car cuts through traffic, getting us closer to Manhattan. “How quickly can we get this resolved?”

“Well, that depends,” Jack replies.

“On . . .” I prod as I whip my gaze in his direction.

He sighs. “On whether or not Margo Buchanan cooperates.”