“He can’t have justvanished?—”
“I’ve had people looking for him all morning,” Harry says, cutting my father off. “One of my drivers saw him get into his car at five this morning with a duffel bag. We just found his car about twenty minutes ago. He’s gone.”
I blink.
My ears ring.
Gone.
For a second, everything in me stills, like the eye of the hurricane is hitting — quiet, calm, clear skies.
Then I feel it.
Relief.
Sharp and overwhelming.
It floods me like alcohol on an empty stomach.
I don’t have to do it.
I don’t have to go through with this.
He’ssavingme.
“We can delay,” Harry offers. “I’ve already called my attorney. He’s happy to handle the change in paperwork for the deal.”
“What, so you can give more time for your son to run somewhere no one can follow?” Mom barks, a hint of incredulous laughter underneath.
“You realize this sounds like you’re trying to pull the plug on the deal, right?” Dad adds, stepping a little too close to Harry for comfort, forcing him to step back.
“I’m not, Ralph.”
“Then we don’t delay,” Dad says. “A delay looks embarrassing to the press. She’s getting married today, no questions about it.”
I swallow uncomfortably, my palms growing damp again. “Dad?—”
“You want her to marry aghost?” Sarah balks, standing up from her seat. It’s the first real sentence I’ve heard from her all morning.
Dad ignores her, his attention focused wholly on Harry. “If you’d just kept a closer leash on your son?—”
“I didn’t come here to be insulted,” Harry interrupts, his jaw flexing in agitation I’ve rarely seen displayed so evidently on him. “I don’t have anything else to offer you.”
“We built this alliance together,” Dad says, jabbing a finger into Harry’s chest. “Your son and my daughter. Our businesses. If you still want it, thenyoustep up.”
Silence descends for all of two seconds, the dead quiet of the room ringing in my ears like a gunshot.
My heart skips a beat.
My breath dies in my lungs.
I force myself to stand. “What?”
“You’re single,” Dad continues, staring directly up at Harry. “You care about both of our families’ reputations, correct? Am Iwrong?”
Harry blinks, slow and long, like maybe he didn’t hear him correctly.
Dad just doubles down. “You marry her.”
