Page 17 of Twisted Truth

“The one and only.”

“You’d hit that again?”

“I don’t want to, but she was one of the best options on the list.”

“Who else?”

“Caroline Augustine.”

Declan’s eyes bulge. “No way, man. Stay clear. That girl is batshit. I’ve been to a few parties that she’s been at, and goddamn . . . she’s like gasoline and a blowtorch in one package. You wouldn’t survive one date with her, let alone a relationship.”

My phone pings. I pick it up and see a text from Matthew.

My new favorite work friend, Ella, found something on Caroline.

“Augustine Heiress Sex Scandal”

“Matthew’s ears were burning,”I say to Declan. I hold up my phone toward him. “Look what this says.” I click on the link, but it only goes to a blank page with an error code.

My phone pingsagain with another text.

Ella and I think the Augustine’s managed to kill the story before it got out too far. So, she’s definitely not in the running anymore. Which leaves Lillian. How do you feel about that?

I don’t know. I’m talking to Dec about it; I’ll text you back in a bit.

“So,apparently, I’m stuck with Lillian. Fuck!” I say, hitting the speed button to pick up my pace. I want to punch something. Running is the next best choice.

“Who says?” Declan demands.

“The board.”

“The board gave you a list of names as a suggestion. There are no terms that say youhaveto pick one of those women. Find someone else. I don’t know about you, but I’ve had it with the girls we grew up around. Not all of them are awful, but most of them are a pain in the ass.”

“You say that like we’re saints.”

He barks out a laugh. “Yeah, I know I’m no cup of tea. But I at least own that shit. I don’t pretend to be a perfect gentleman and then fuck you over behind your back. I tell women straight away what I am. If they proceed at that point, at least they’ve been warned.”

Hearing the words out of Declan’s mouth, words I have almost said verbatim on many occasions, I can hear the honesty and bluntness of them, but I also hear the arrogance and entitlement of them, too. Do I always sound like such an ass? Probably. But in one sense he’s right, I don’t pretend to be something I’m not. I am arrogant, and I almost always get what I want, and most people would consider that entitled. But many of the high society women we knowpretendto be otherwise. They pretend to care about the charities they support, they pretend to have demure manners. They act a certain way when certain people or cameras are around, and they act totally different behind closed doors. It’s exhausting. And I don’t have the patience for it.

Declan starts to slow down on his run, and I follow suit. Neither of us really seem to be into our workout tonight. Maybe we’ll drink beer and watch the game instead; we haven’t done that in a while.

“This is a pretty delicate situation, Ash,” Declan says,stepping off the treadmill. “You have to find a girl who’s not only willing to date you and take on the spotlight that that brings, but they have to be willing to fake it, too.” I told him earlier about my intention to keep the relationship as professional as possible, with the end date agreed upon before the “relationship” even begins. “That’s a big ask.”

“I know,” I sigh.

“I can see plenty of girls in our circles being willing to do that, they’re used to living layers of charades like we are, but what I don’t see is it ending well. They’d want more.”

“What about other girls? They’ll want more, too.”

Declan moves his head side to side. “Maybe, but not necessarily. With the heiresses, you and your name are the prize because they already have money and power. And once they have that prize in their grasp, I don’t see them letting go easily. For a more normal woman, your money is the real prize. If you can find a woman who just needs money, it might simplify things.”

“Huh,” I say, mulling over his words. “You might actually be on to something.”

The board may be forcing me into this strategy, but they can’t force me to be with a specific type of woman. I swore off dating high society women years ago. Why should I change that now?

I don’t think I will.

The team will have to come up with some more options tomorrow.