“And how many would that be?” I was disgusted and also intrigued. I hadn’t expected him to reply, much less be so honest about it all.
“Eighty-nine, I was almost to ninety when I got the phone call that my grandfather was sick, and I was being cut off.”
Something wasn’t adding up. “Cut off?”
“Yes, I am as good as broke, mybride-to-be.”
It really wasn’t adding up, but I pretended to be stupid and play along. How he managed to pay for his security, this party, all of our dates, and the various other things was beyond me. I needed to find a copy of the contract. I needed to know how he was paying for all of this. Was he an employee through my brothers’ company?
“So,” he continued as his eyes skipped along the room, probably looking for his family that wouldn’t show up. “When they cut me off, they said I could find my own way in the world, and until I did that, I was as good as dead to them.”
“I guess you and I have a lot more in common than I originally thought. Your family doesn’t want anything to do with you because of money, and my family wants nothing to do with me because of money.”
“Do you think your mother had your brothers and your father killed?”
I knew Ivan wouldn’t work for my mother, so that was out. They were unrelated, though I didn’t know why. Ivan said it was all because my father was a bad man. I knew it was also because my brothers were bad men.
My thoughts were cut off, and there was no time to reply as a beautiful couple swept into the room. Beautiful wasn’t even the right word. They wereregal.
They entered like the party had been waiting for them—like the lighting shifted to accommodate their presence. Conversations stuttered. The musicians faltered for half a beat before correcting.
Donovan inhaled sharply beside me, posture snapping straight.
“Shit,” he muttered under his breath. “They actually came.”
The man was tall, silver at his temples, wearing a tailored onyx suit that probably cost more than the car that drove me here. His eyes were a polished steel. The woman on his arm wore emerald silk that draped off her bones like it had been designed solely for her. A string of diamonds glimmered at her throat. They looked every bit old money, but I knew they weren’t. I’d never considered looking up their net worth, but now I was curious if I had more money than they did. Not because I cared, but because I wanted to know if that was why they finally showed up.
A slow smile curled across the woman’s face as her gaze drifted over the room and landed squarely on me. It wasn’t a kind smile.
It was acuriousone.
An interested one.
A calculating one.
“Donovan,” she said as she reached us—her voice soft velvet with razor blades underneath. “You didn’t tell us your fiancée was… stunning.”
Her eyes dragged over my dress, my red heels, my slicked hair, my crimson lips. Everything she saw was measured and catalogued. I had the distinct sense she was adding up numbers in her head—not of worth, but ofutility.
Donovan swallowed, nervousness flickering in his expression. “Mother,Father… this is Poppy.”
His father nodded once. A precise, clipped gesture. “Poppy.” His voice was low, unimpressed but watchful. “We’ve heard very little about you.”
“Then I suppose you aren’t listening very carefully,” I replied, smiling softly.
Donovan stiffened. His mother’s brows shot up in delighted surprise. And his father? His father’s lips twitched a fraction—as if he hadn’t expected me to bite back.
Now I’d wished I’d done more research. I wanted to know if I had more than them because I couldn’t handle a pissing contest like this. When it came to these people, my dick had to be bigger.
“Walk with me, dear,” Donovan’s mother said, slipping her arm through mine before Donovan could respond. “We have much to discuss.”
I nodded as she swept me away from the men. She leaned in close and whispered so only I could hear. “You are aware that he has peculiar tastes, yes?”
I needed to be careful around this woman. “Yes, Donovan and I have a mutual understanding of each other’s needs.”
There was no way I was going to be on Donovan’s side. I would never make him look good for anyone, but I knew if I wasn’t careful with this woman, she would destroy me when I killed her son. She could act nonchalant all she wanted to, but that didn’t mean she didn’t have some kind of maternal love for her child, right?
“I’m aware that your arrangement with my son is only an arrangement.”
