And Scottie—this earnest, open man standing here still offering to marry me—has no idea that Luka simply reverted to the part of him that learned survival through games.
I can see in Scottie’s eyes that he means it. That he would’ve helped me, regardless.
Bet or no bet. Trick or no trick.
“I think I already know that,” I say quietly.
His smirk softens into something warm. Something real. “Good. Then I’ll see you tomorrow.” He backs toward the door. “I’m in apartment 511B when you need anything.”
He doesn’t sayif, he says when.
And I don’t know which is more terrifying—that he said it… or that some part of me already believes him.
And then he’s gone too, and I’m left to stare around this gorgeous penthouse that I barely even know what to do with all this space.
The words echo back in my head when Scottie said he’d cover the penthouse expenses.
I’ve got you.
But something tells me he means more than just the penthouse.
Chapter Five
SCOTTIE
I wake up to someone pounding on my door like they're trying to break it down.
"What the hell—" I stumble out of bed, nearly tripping over my discarded jeans, and yank open the door.
Luka stands there, looking far too awake for whatever ungodly hour this is, holding two cups of coffee.
"Morning," he says cheerfully.
I squint at him. "What time is it?"
"Seven-thirty."
"Luka, it's my day off—"
"Not anymore." He pushes past me into the apartment, setting one of the coffees on my kitchen counter. "We've got fittings at nine. You need to shower and look presentable."
"Fittings for what?"
He gives me a look. "Your wedding. Which is tomorrow, in case you forgot."
Right.
The wedding.
My fake wedding to Luka's sister, who's currently asleep in the penthouse I left her in last night, looking so small in such a large space. I was debating staying, but I needed a minute to wrap my mind around everything that I had just learned. How fast life just changed for me, and I suspected she could have used the space to figure it out herself, too.
I wipe my hand down my face, trying to wake up. "I thought we were just going to the courthouse."
"Hell no. My sister deserves better. I talked to Juliet Haynes. She’s throwing together a quickie wedding as she did for Aleksi and Kendall. Nothing crazy, just a rooftop wedding and a reception at Oakley’s. He’s closing down for us, and Juliet is having it catered at a place she uses often. She already has the menu figured out.”
“Oh, right… A quickie wedding, sounds like it.” I say sarcastically, before taking a drink of the coffee Luka brought me.
“But you still need a suit, and Katerina needs her dress altered, and we need legitimate pictures to send to our grandmother. You need groomsmen, she needs bridesmaids, so the WAGS are jumping in, and I’m flying her friend Irina in for one day.”
