“All I’m hearing is the wordmarriage.”
Ronan closes his eyes for a moment and takes a deep breath.
I know I’m being an ass, but surely, he can’t expect me to just agree to this?
Fake or not, a marriage is still something I never planned on taking part in. Ever.
“By marrying you, it not only gets Riley out of the arrangement with Sean, but it also signals to him that we’re onto him. It’ll rattle him and give us the upper hand in taking him down.”
I’m completely dumbstruck by this plan.
“What about Brennan? They’re closer in age.”
“I don’t want Brennan; I want you.”
“Why don’t you ask Riley? I’m sure she’d choose Mr. Charming Smile over me anyway.”
“I’m not giving her the choice.”
“Ronan, this is insane. You seriously want me to marry this girl?”
“Yes.”
“Like...with a ring and vows and?—”
“It doesn’t have to be real.”
“It’s already real enough that I want to punch you.”
He doesn’t even smirk. That’s how serious he is. “You want to help take Sean down, right? Well, this is how. He doesn’t know how much Riley told us, but this sends a message that we’ve got her, and that we’re willing to protect her.”
I shake my head. “This is too risky. I mean, you just took out the head of their family, and all of a sudden, I’m marrying Riley?”
“It’s not much different than my situation with Ciara.”
“Yes, it is.”
“How? Our father killed Ciara’s father, and now she’s my wife.”
He’s got me there, so I let out a low, bitter laugh as I realize that I have no choice but to agree to Ronan’s ridiculous plan.
“You’re really not going to listen to me, are you?”
“Iamlistening.” His expression softens just a little. “But I’m also looking at the bigger picture. This is what’s best for our family.”
I exhale slowly, trying to keep myself from exploding.
Ronan always has a way of getting people to agree to his plans, but still. Is a fake marriage seriously all he could come up with?
“There’s only one teeny tiny flaw here, brother.”
Ronan quirks an eyebrow. “What’s that?”
“What are you going to do when Riley says no? Which she will, by the way. Every time she looks at me, I swear I can see her mentally plotting my demise, so I know she won’t be willing to agree to us tying the knot.”
I try to picture the look on Riley’s face when I tell her she’s going to be my blushing bride, and I have to swallow my laughter.
“She won’t say no.”
