I’m realizing just how much of a mask it is.
And how delicious it is to make it crack.
Once we’re out of earshot, I lean against the balustrade. “Are you going to yell at me?”
“You auctionedyourself.”
“Sure did.” I give him a sweet smile. “But I’m good at that, don’t you think? I sold myself to you too, for the right price.”
His face turns to stone. “Can you stop embarrassing us every chance you get?”
“Oh no, Montclair. You didn’t win the game this morning. So I didn’t promise to behave.” I’m trying to be his worst nightmare, and I’ve never enjoyed anything more. “But if you really want me to sit quietly at your side when we’re in public… let’s negotiate.”
“Negotiate.” He grinds out the word. “I’ve saved your company from the incompetency and idiocy of your uncle. To do that, I’m forced to stay married toyou.And yet you want to ask for more?”
True anger seeps into my tone. “Yes. Because I wouldn’t have turned to you if you hadn’t been taking us over in secret. So yes. I am going to ask for more.”
His jaw flexes. “What do you want now?”
“I want you to promise you won’t fire a single one of our employees. Not one Mather & Wilde artisan, craftsman, sales associate, or marketing intern. Not a janitor and not a receptionist.” I step closer, only inches separating us now. Anyone watching from within will think we’re all loved up. “Promise me that, and I won’tembarrassyou again.”
“You’re asking for the impossible,” he says. His lawyers said the same when I pushed for this during the marriage negotiations. I didn’t win it then. But I will now.
“I’m asking you to respect the integrity of our company. Which is hard for you, I know. You love tearing heritage brands apart.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.” He says it with disdain and looks past me to the square. “It’s anunreasonable ask, which is why I haven’t responded to your email.”
I rest my arms against the balustrade that’s digging into my back. My heart is thrashing. “Maybe. But how badly do you want me to behave?” I ask.
This is power, I realize. Being able to ask for things from a man as influential as him. And I’ll be damned if I don’t use it to make sure that my company survives.
“I can’t promise no layoffs ever. That’s impossible, and your company is bleeding money. But six months,” he offers, eyes narrowed on mine. “I won’t let a single person go for six months.”
“A year.”
He lifts an eyebrow. “Six months.”
“Ten months.”
“Six months,” he says. “You know just how poorly Mather & Wilde is structured. There’s bloat.”
“Those are people, not bloat.”
“They can be both,” he says. “Six months. Last and final offer. You acting like an idiot in public is annoying, but I can handle it. I’ve handled far worse.”
He means it, too. I can tell.
I look past him to the glittering crowd inside the venue. Half a year isn’t long enough. But it’s something, and during that period, I can try to sell him on the changes that need to happen. And maybe some of those changes can help people keep their jobs.
“Fine,” I say, and hold out my hand.
His lips twitch. “You want to shake my hand, Wilde? In front of everyone in there?”
“Fine. You want the perfect wife?” I put my hands on his chest. A quick glance over his shoulder shows the auction is over. People are mingling about, and more than a few are looking out at us. After the stunt we just jointly pulled, why wouldn’t they?
His hands come to land on my waist. “I do. In public. No more fountains, no more auctions.”
“Everyone’s watching us.”
