My phone rings.
So does hers.
What a coincidence.
“It’s Keira,” she says, her eyes moving from her screen to mine.
“It’s Slate.”
“I’ll go up to the bedroom.”
I nod. “I’ll be on the balcony.”
“Hey, Keira,” she says, answering the call.
It’s a great effort to peel my eyes away from her delicious ass to answer my brother’s call. “We just left Dad’s place. You miss me already, little brother?”
“You wish.”
I open the glass door to the balcony, step outside and close the door behind me.
An illuminated LA stretches out under a dark sky.
I never get tired of this spectacular view.
“What’s up, Slate?”
“That’s why I called. I want to know what’s up with you.”
I frown at the phone. “You lost me.”
“Granted I’m no expert on fake relationships, and maybe you two are great actors, but you and your wife seem… more real than fake.”
I pace around, buying myself some time.
“You still there?”
“I am.”
“If you’re not answering, I’m guessing I hit the nail on the head.”
I let out a long sigh. “I’m not sure it was fake on our wedding day. Not for me, anyway.”
“Whoa.”
My words shock him as much as they shock me.
“I’m not going to lie. When a desperate Niels showed me Michaela’s photos, I was instantly smitten. When she came barging into my office, she had me by the balls. Then, there was that first kiss…” I let my words trail. “We only kissed twice before we got married, but it could’ve been a thousand times and it would’ve been as effortless.”
“Let me guess. The marriage isn’t platonic.”
There’s no point in lying. “It’s not.”
Slate sighs. “I hate to be the voice of reason, but what in the actual fuck?” His sharp tone cuts through the night’s quietude. He continues before I can answer. “Mixing business with pleasure is always a recipe for disaster, big brother. It’s a textbook CEO 101 case.”
“It’s—”
“You said this was a business deal. Now, you’re thinking with your dick? What if you piss her off? What if she walks out on you? If this blows up in your face before the board appoints another CEO, for the first time in history, we’re going to have to answer to an outsider. Do you really want to be the König who loses the throne?”
