Our marriage would consist of appearances, pictures taken of us together as we fulfilled our obligations in the public eye. But if I wasn’t going to be having any kids anyway, I might as well provide for Kate to get more money than usual for every year she managed to tolerate seeing me every few months.
Eventually, the final draft slid toward me across the table and I picked up a pen, paging through the document one last time to make sure they’d included everything I’d just said. One of the lawyers stopped me as soon as I uncapped the pen.
“Are you certain about this, Mr. Westwood? That’s an astonishing amount of?—”
I didn’t answer or even wait for him to finish. Instead, I just signed, the ink carving my name onto a future that was absolutely nothing like what I’d hoped my life might look like someday.
As soon as it was done, I slid the document back across the table, feeling like even just having it in front of me was somehow yet another betrayal of the woman who’d spent the last five years listening to my every thought, hope, and dream.
Alex stood just as I did, the scrape of his chair sharp against the hardwood. “Nate, hang back a second.”
I capped the pen and slid it into my inside pocket. “I have a lunch meeting to get to.”
His eyes narrowed slightly, his brow furrowed with concern. I’d known he’d be worried after this, which was why I’d made sure I had someplace to be. Alex might’ve recently decided to sacrifice himself to save Thayer Steelworks, but he was also deeply in love with his wife.
Hell, she even lived in the same fucking city and was always going to. My situation, although born from a similar kind of corporate need, was entirely different. I couldn’t talk to him about that right now.
There he was, literally living the life I imagined even though he’d never wanted it—and I was marrying a woman who only talked to me when she needed wine opened or calculations done.
“This isn’t just paperwork,” he said quietly as he followed me out of the boardroom. “She’s seriously going to be living in New York? Nate, are you even listening to me?”
“Yep, but I really do have a meeting to get to.”
It wasn’t technically a lie. It just wasn’t nearly important enough to justify the urgency I’d used to escape the room. Lunch with Colin Thayer. Casual. But effective since Alex didn’t know that.
He kept stride with me for another beat but nodded when I turned toward the elevator. “We’ll talk later.”
“Sure.”
I didn’t wait for him to respond. I just took off and walked the couple blocks to the restaurant where I was meeting his brother-in-law. It was halfway between our office buildings, a quiet, understated kind of place that wasn’t fancy or trendy enough to draw reporters or curious ears.
Colin was already seated when I arrived, scanning the menu intently until I joined him. He looked up at me and grinned.“You look like someone who was just forced to sell his favorite baseball team.”
I slid into the chair across from him. “That would depend on who bought them. This might be better or worse than that.”
He set the menu down. “Are you okay?”
I shrugged. “I spent the morning with the lawyers. What do you think?”
A server appeared, took our drink order, and vanished again. Colin leaned back, folding his arms loosely across his chest. “I had dinner with Jane and my mom last night. Alex wasn’t there. Apparently, he was buried in the legal hell of trying to finalize your prenup.”
“Oops,” I said, but I wasn’t really sorry at all. “I suppose I shouldn’t have made them change and add so many things this morning, then.”
He chuckled. “I’m sure he’ll survive. Outside of my sister, the thing your brother loves most in the world is that moment when the plan starts coming together. You signing that document brings him one step closer to that.”
“And he got to miss a dinner with his mother-in-law. I’m sure that helped.”
Colin laughed. “They’re actually getting along much better these days. I’m not sure he’ll ever totally forgive her, but he generally doesn’t seem to mind coming over anymore.”
“That’s just because he likes to spend time with you and Wyatt,” I joked, but I was also half-serious. “How are they? Your family, I mean.”
“All good,” he said, then suddenly tilted his head. “Jane mentioned she ran into Kate at the hair salon this week.”
My stomach dropped straight through the floor, but somehow, I managed to keep my voice neutral. “She did?”
Fuck. If she told Jane I’m seeing someone, I’m about to face the Westwood inquisition and not even the Spanish have anything on my family.
Colin didn’t seem to notice my quiet panic, though. “Yeah, she said they had an odd conversation.”
