Ford had repeatedly reassured me that it was just how his parents were, with everyone, but I knew it was me personally that they didn’t approve of. They’d always been warm toward Claudia, and I knew they would prefer that Ford break off our engagement and get back together with his ex. She certainly seemed like a more appropriate choice on paper.
Still, I’d hoped that maybe they’d warmed up to me, had accepted that Ford and I were going through with the wedding. His mother, at least, had stopped fighting with him about it and had redirected her energy to helping my sisters-in-law with the wedding plans. And now this.
Standing there in the library, anticipating their possible disappointment, I understood why Ford would rather fake an engagement than confront them about what he really wanted.
They were certainly formidable, and they hadn’t even said a word yet.
“Please sit,” Ford’s father said. It was a command, not a request, and I obeyed.
Mrs. Malone moved to stand beside her husband, and they both looked at me as she said, “We wanted to inform you that we are still very much opposed to this union.”
Any last, lingering hope I’d had about their acceptance crumbled into dust.
“I’m sorry to hear that,” I said, glad that my voice didn’t shake. “But we are still getting married. Were you…expecting us to break it off?”
Ford’s mother smirked at me. “Don’t be ridiculous,” she said. “Calling off the wedding now would be too loud, too much fodder for the gossip columnists.”
I relaxed a little. Even if they didn’t approve of me now, surely after Ford and I were married, they’d see how happy we were together. How much we truly cared for one another. Maybe after some time had passed, they might be able to consider me part of the family.
But that hope quickly died when Ford’s mother went on.
“That being said, of course we can’t allow this to go on forever,” she said. “It’s an utterly unacceptable match. So. You have one year to get this reckless, foolhardy ‘love’ out of your system, and then you and Ford will be done.”
I stared at her. Her plan sounded suspiciously close to the one that Ford and I had agreed upon, but I knew his parents had no idea that this whole arrangement had been strictly that—an arrangement. It just sounded so distasteful and sordid coming from her mouth. As if it was preposterous to think the two of us could possibly have real, enduring feelings for each other.
“What if we don’t want to be done?” I asked, managing to find my tongue.
“Please,” Mrs. Malone said with a sneer. “Your shine will have worn off by then. Besides, we can spin this any way we like when reports of your affair start getting leaked to the press.”
My jaw dropped, my stomach clenching at the implication. “My affair?!”
I would never cheat on Ford. That was absolutely insane.
Ford’s mother crossed her skinny arms over her surgically enhanced chest. “Believe us,” she said, “if you aren’t willing to walk away, we’ll make sure that your name is tarnished forever. Can your family really afford another scandal, after everything your father did?”
“This is really…really…” I trailed off, at a loss for words. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. My eyes darted over to Ford’s father, hoping that he was just as shocked by his wife’s words as I was, but he barely seemed to care that a conversation was happening in the first place. He had his nose buried in theWall Street Journal. Clearly, he was going to let his wife do whatever she wanted.
I felt sick. Was my whole life going to just be one humiliation after another?
Ford’s mother seemed to be enjoying my speechlessness, and even came over to give me a little condescending pat on the arm. I was so stunned that I couldn’t even move.
“Now, now,” she cooed with faux sympathy. “We realize this won’t be easy for you, so we’ll be sure to take good care of you when you go.”
I stared at her, feeling numb. But she wasn’t done.
“A little Russian bird tells us that your family left a few unsettled debts unpaid when the agency changed hands. We can take care of that for you. And just like that, all your problems are solved. Of course, if you should screw this up in any way…”
How had Ford’s family found out about the Bratva and the debt they were holding over our heads? Stefan and Luka had said they had the situation under control, but if the Malones knew about it, maybe it was more precarious than we had originally thought.
I swallowed hard.
I wanted to argue. To fight for what I knew I had with Ford.
But I fully understood the threat Mrs. Malone had just laid out. The offer she’d made to help my family get rid of the Russians. My brothers said they’d handle it, but how could they? They simply didn’t have access to the kinds of funds that the Bratva was after. And even if they did, there was no guarantee that the Bratva wouldn’t just come back six months or a year after they’d received their payment to demand more.
On the other hand, Ford’s parents were obviously in tight with the mob. That was the only way they could have known about the Bratva’s threats. They also had more money than I could wrap my head around. Could they really fix this? Make it all go away for good?
I glanced over at Ford’s dad. He had lowered his newspaper and was looking at me with a searching expression. I didn’t see judgment there, I saw…assessment. As if he was waiting to see if I’d make the smart move.
