She lets out a soft chuckle. “Fine. But I meant what I said about nice and respectable. I don’t want you to marry just anybody for the promotion.”
“Seriously? Then you shouldn’t have tied my promotion to having a wife.”
“If you’d quit looking for the girl—”
“I willneverstop looking for her.” I see my brothers at the door. “Gotta go. See you later.”
As soon as I hang up, Bryce and Josh walk in. They’re identical twins with dark eyes and even darker hair, the polar opposite of Mom, which I envy. Although they don’t always have the time to go out and enjoy the sun, their skin is more or less golden all the time. Since it’s a Huxley custom, they’re in three-piece suits, shoes impeccably polished. When they have their hair slicked back the same, it’s almost impossible to tell them apart. Even I have trouble.
Bryce is in a pinstriped charcoal suit, Josh in all black. The latter has a meeting with a client who needs extra care and reassurance, and he likes to look as somber as possible on such occasions. Aunt Jeremiah advised him to smile a lot at the client, as she’s somewhat vapid, but he declined, saying he didn’t want to encourage the woman.
They close the door behind them. Josh takes a seat, but Bryce doesn’t. Instead, he paces like a big cat in a zoo.
Josh and I wait. It’s not a good idea to jump in and start a conversation when Bryce is like this.
“You got married?” he says finally.
I stretch my legs out and cross my ankles. “You heard?”
“Of course we heard. I thought we were going to be your best men.” Josh sounds reproachful. “Don’t you think it was a little fast, even for the promotion?”
Bryce’s eyes fall on my ring. “Jesus. Was the ceremony legit? Did you fake being poor?”
“It was quite proper,” I say. “And no. The situation was a little tense. I didn’t have a lot of cash on me, but still had to get married quickly.” I get puzzled looks from my brothers and hold up a hand to forestall them. “But to answer your real question, yes, my wife knows I have at least two billion to my name.”
Josh stares at me, then covers his face with a hand.
Bryce stops pacing. “Who did your prenup?” He sounds genuinely hurt. Prenups are one of the things he does. He drafted one for our cousin when he got married, and undoubtedly expected to do mine.
“Don’t have one. The officiant allegedly added ‘not take the other person’s shit’ to the vows.”
Bryce looks flabbergasted. “And you went along with it?”
“What the fuck iswrongwith you?” Josh demands, his eyes sharp. “What happened to your common sense and brain?”
“I was drugged, that’s what happened,” I say.
Josh’s jaw drops. “Shedruggedyou?”
“No. Harvey did, using Soledad.”
That stops them. Bryce takes a seat. “What the fuck?”
“Don’t worry. I’ve already contacted the police. She’s going to pay.”
Josh cocks an eyebrow. “How?”
“I’m sure the surveillance cameras at the party caught everything. Barry’s a player, but he’s also a fanatic about covering his bases.” One of his former football teammates got accused of sexual assault. Unfortunately, there wasn’t any video, and it became an ugly he said/she said publicity nightmare for the guy. Even after he managed to clear his name, it was toolate. Every time somebody Googles his name, at least one article about the assault accusation comes up among the top three search results. “Soledad isn’t exactly subtle. Or smart. She thinks her daddy can fix anything for her.” She even threatened me with her dad after our breakup. She doesn’t understand that I don’t work for her father.
“How about Harvey?” Bryce says balefully.
My jaw tightens. “That’s harder. He doesn’t dirty his hands.”
“Why is he messing with you like that?” Josh seethes. He hates our uncle—actually, everyone from our maternal family.
“Aunt Jeremiah tells me Vincent is sick,” I say.
“So?” Bryce’s indifference to Vincent’s condition matches mine.
