The Pretend Fiancé (4 page)

"Oh!" she said, snatching it back up in an involuntary reaction of modesty.

"You know that I've seen them before, right?" Aiden said, his smile growing. Every passing moment made him believe that asking her to marry him had been the best decision of his life.

"Yes, well, umm..." Gwen said.

Wanting to help her out, he supplied, "So why is it you want to live here?"

Gwen made a toga out of the enormous sheet, holding it up in front of her feet so as to not trip over the slack as she made her way over to him. She opened up the drapes to reveal the mountains once more. It was the start of a beautiful day, a few clouds high in the sky adding some texture to the blue.

"It's just that nothing bad has happened here. Only good things..." Gwen said, holding her left hand out for emphasis. Immediately, the diamonds caught the light and split it into the spectrum of colors.

Aiden stood behind her, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her back against him with only that sheer sheet between them.

"That's true. Though I think your parents are out to spoil that. And Judith kept trying to get my attention about something..."

"They'll all leave soon enough," Gwen said, letting her head rest on his shoulder. Her hair was just perfectly mussed up from sleep. "But we don't have to."

In the light of the morning sun, with that beautiful, eternal mountain vista staring back at them, Aiden felt the tug of that desire as well. "It would be nice, wouldn't it?"

Gwen must have recognized the tone of his voice. "Nice, but not possible." She let her eyes slide slowly shut as though to take a few moments to live in the fantasy where it could be reality.

"So I guess that means we should spend our time here wisely. Not let a single second go to waste," Gwen said. She let go of the handful of material over her chest, the entire toga falling into a pile around her feet. She pressed her naked body back against his, snaking her hand around to the back of his head to pull him into a kiss.

Aiden's body responded to the call immediately, and he regretted pulling the briefs on.

"That sounds like the best idea I've heard all day," he said, his hands rising up the bare, smooth skin of her stomach.

She chuckled. "It's the only idea you've heard all day. We've only been up a few minutes!"

"Everyone's a critic," Aiden replied. They began shifting back towards the bed.

They'd almost reached it when the ornate, retro-styled phone on the night table began blaring with its old-fashioned ring.

"Don't..." Gwen said, trying to pull him down on the bed.

He wrestled with himself. He wanted to go back to bed with her, but he'd also left very specific instructions with his people back at Carbide Solutions to contact him with anything that they felt they couldn't handle themselves. Which meant emergencies. Which meant he couldn't risk not answering the phone.

The bed will still be there when I finish the call
, he told himself.

"Sorry," Aiden replied, slipping away from her grasp and picking the receiver up off the hook before it could ring again.

Though, from the look Gwen gave him, he realized that while the bed would still be there after, she would no longer be in it.

"Yes?" he said into the phone, chiding himself for answering.

"Aiden? Are you only now waking up?" Judith said.

He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.
I definitely should not have answered.
"Not exactly."

"Good. It doesn't do for a man your age to sleep in so late like some lackadaisical schoolboy. Now, I really must speak with you right away..."

"Can't it wait? I did just get engaged last night. You know, I think you were there to witness that engaging first hand," Aiden said.

"No! It cannot wait any longer. I demand to see you right away, as soon as you're available."

"I'm not sure I have space in our schedule..." Aiden said. He did not want to be alone with his grandmother. Especially not now.

"It has to do with Carbide Solutions, boy," Judith said, "The health of the company is at stake! Am I making myself clear?"

Aiden sat down on the bed. Why did he even bother inviting her? He knew it had been a mistake, yet he'd done it anyway.
And now I'm paying the price
, he thought. Well, if all she wanted was a meeting to discuss the company her son had built, he could do that. And then he could pack her on a plane back to America. "Yes, fine. I'll see you in, say, 45 minutes?"

"That will do. And bring Gwendolyn, too."

Before Aiden could ask why, Judith hung up on him.

***

"W
hat's it about?" Gwen said as they went to the elevator. She'd slipped into a pair of blue jeans and an airy blouse. Not exactly the type of thing that Judith would approve of, but Aiden was past trying to cater to the old woman. Though he had put on a suit and tie, himself.

"I think she just wants to know the company is in good hands," he said.

"They're in the best hands!" Gwen replied, emphasizing the point by grabbing one of Aiden's and giving it a squeeze.

Aiden had booked his grandmother into the suite meant for foreign dignitaries and heads of state. Something that even she couldn't find fault with. It came with its own private butler and valet. Two people Aiden now felt great pity for.

The butler, an older man with a pencil-thin mustache and a stern set to his eyes, answered the door and announced them. They found Judith sitting at an ornately carved table currently set for tea. Curlicues of steam issued from the spout of the ivory teapot on its silver tray, and there were three settings.

Judith examined them for a moment, her eyes lingering on the wear marks on Gwen's jeans, before saying, "Please sit." They did.

Aiden felt grateful that Gwen had accompanied him. She was his rock. His support. With her near, he could do anything.

"I don't like endless filibustering, flirting towards the point, beating around the bush," Judith said, slapping that same manila folder down onto the table, "So I'll get right to it."

"Please do," Aiden said, feeling his irritation rising. Yes, he definitely regretted asking her to come here.

She silenced him with a glance. "I know that Henry didn't approve of you two, and I don't either. You can't get married. You won't get married."

"Excuse me?" Gwen said, starting up from her chair. The butler watched impassively from his corner.

Aiden put his hand on her wrist and she sat back down. He gave his grandmother a polite, if forced, smile. "No, Henry didn't approve. You may not, either. However, that doesn't matter. I'm sorry if you have reservations on this matter, but you also have no authority over either of us."

Judith flipped the folder open, revealing the top page of a document with Carbide Solutions letterhead on it. "You always did take after your mother. Shortsighted, with no head for the real world. I kept telling Henry that, but he would never believe me."

Aiden's knuckles cracked under the table, and the smile became a grimace. "Mother has no place in this conversation, just as you have no place in my affairs."

"What are those?" Gwen asked, trying to defuse the tension.

"I'm sure you'll want to read them yourself," Judith said, "But I will save you the trouble. I am now the controlling shareholder of Carbide Solutions. If you're still feeling groggy from sleeping in, that means that yes, I do have a say in your affairs. A controlling say in them."

Aiden shook his head. "That is ridiculous! Henry left me all of his interest in the company. It said so right in his will. I was there for the reading."

Judith clucked her tongue as though Aiden were a doltish schoolboy who just couldn't grasp the point. "Your father kept another will. One that superseded the one his apparently worthless lawyer read to you. You retain only what shares in the company you had before his death, and whatever options you have purchased since. In the event of his untimely death, his stock in the company reverted to me. Which it has, as you can see detailed here." She gave a sharp look to the butler and pointed to the folder. The man came over and slid it across the table so that Aiden could read it. His eyes quickly scanned the pages.

"This isn't possible..." Aiden breathed. He checked again, looked at the names of the signatories, searched for any sign that the documents sitting in front of him were faked.

"Why?" Gwen broke in.

"Because, my dear," Judith said, "That's the way wills work. When someone dies..."

"No!" Gwen said, "Not the will! Why are you trying to stop us from getting married?"

"Oh, well, that is quite simple," Judith said, planting her elbows on the table and threading her fingers together, "Because I know that you're nothing but a little gold digging tramp from a broken, worthless family who thinks she's hit pay dirt. One look at those parents of yours was all I needed to confirm my suspicions."

"No, you can't do this," Aiden said. He flung the folder across the table, where it flew over the edge and hit the wall, sending the documents within flying. He glanced at Gwen, who'd gone pale and trembly. Aiden couldn't tell if she was going to cry or scream or both.

"Oh, I can. And I have," Judith said, making a
tsk-tsk
sound when she examined Gwen. "It's quite simple. You call off this charade and I will allow you to continue running the company."

Aiden spat his next words through gritted teeth. "And if I don't play your game?"

Judith gave him a bloodless, mirthless smile on her thin lips. "Then you will be removed from your position. And I know just how much you care for the company..."

"I quit. You can have it all," Aiden said. The decision came to him easily, naturally. It hurt to do so, but if he had to choose between his inheritance and Gwen, he would choose Gwen every time.

"Don't be so rash, boy," Judith said, her eyes narrowing into slits, "As I said earlier: you're too much like your mother. Too emotional. I'll give you the day to think it over. Though please keep in mind that if you do choose your gold digger over your family, I will never let you back in."

Aiden pushed back from the table, the chair clattering behind him, and drew up to his full height. "I told you I'm not playing your games. I'm out. Have it all. I don't care."

Gwen stood up beside him, shooting a look of her own at Judith. "Aiden, you need to think about this. You can't just let her win. You can't just give everything away like that..."

"I can and I will," Aiden said. Then he turned to Judith. "You have your answer."

"We'll see," Judith said.

Aiden took Gwen's hand and practically hauled her from the suite.

***

J
udith leaned back in her chair, watching the unhappy couple retreat. A warm sense of satisfaction flooded the old matron's chest. Behind her, the butler noisily cleaned up the papers. "Hurry up with that! The tea should be ready now!"

"Yes, ma'am," the butler said, hastily packing the papers into the folder and then rushing to the table to pour her a cup of Earl Grey.

She took a sip of the scalding liquid without bothering to blow on it. She'd been drinking hot tea since she was a little girl, and the heat had no effect on her anymore.

How could Aiden not see what was right in front of his face? As soon as the prospect of him losing his family fortune loomed up, the girl had protested. Judith had seen the fear in her mousy little features, had seen the glint of greed.

And just the thought of her horrid, bickering parents made Judith sick to her stomach.
Allow a girl with divorce in her family into this one? Not a chance!

Aiden would learn, sooner or later. And better sooner. It pained her to hurt the boy so. After all, he was all that was left of her precious Henry. But the truth always hurt more than the most wicked of lies.

"A
iden, wait!" Gwen said, following him down the hallway. The very air around him seemed to shimmer with the heat of his anger. He kept his shoulders hunched, and his hands clenched at his sides.

Panic, shock, and disbelief took turns coursing their way through Gwen's body, and it took all her effort to keep rational.

This couldn't be happening
, she thought. Just fifteen minutes ago, they were just another happily engaged couple considering their future together. Now it looked like Aiden had just abandoned his life and thrown that future of theirs into disarray.

Aiden marched at speed, and Gwen had to jog in order to keep up.

She couldn't let him do this. Not because of her. Carbide Solutions was so important to him.

Rather than taking the elevator, Aiden checked the door to the stairs with his shoulder, slamming it against the wall. He took the stairs two at a time.

They'd climbed three floors worth of switchback staircases before Gwen caught up to him and snagged him by the shoulder.

"Stop, just stop!" she said between huffing breaths.

Aiden's lips compressed into a thin line, his rage-filled eyes staring off into nothing. For a moment there, Gwen felt a twinge of fear. She'd never seen him angry like this before. Not even during their time in New York.

"What is wrong with my family!" he yelled, his voice echoing up and down the stairs so that it sounded like a dozen Aidens shouted in chorus.

Gwen leaned against the rail while she caught her breath, staring down at the previous landing.

"Maybe she wasn't serious," Gwen said, realizing the foolishness of the words even as she said them.

"She is," Aiden said, "She's just like Henry. Worse, even."

"There's got to be another way through this, though."

"I don't see one," he replied, shaking his head. Another bout of rage boiled up through his veins and he gave the knot of his tie a savage tug. Then he leaned against the rail and looked down, his face flushing hot and red.

"But you can't quit..."

"Between you and my job, I'll always choose you," Aiden said. And Gwen saw how that choice tore him up inside.

"Aiden, you can't..." she said, putting one of her hands over his. He trembled against her.