Total pages in book: 33
Estimated words: 30316 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 152(@200wpm)___ 121(@250wpm)___ 101(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 30316 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 152(@200wpm)___ 121(@250wpm)___ 101(@300wpm)
“Keaton’s mine now, and she’s going to stay that way no matter who I have to go through,” he warned. “Trust me when I tell you that you don’t want to be one of those people.”
“I d-d-don’t,” my dad stuttered, shaking his head.
“I can’t tell you how happy I am to hear that.” Garret released his hold on my father, smoothing down his tuxedo lapels before taking a step back. “And it’ll be a simple thing for you to accomplish. All you need to do is stay away from Keaton, and we won’t have a problem.”
“I can do that.”
I snorted in disbelief. My father’s helicopter parenting was what got us into this situation in the first place. I found it hard to believe that he was going to be able to let go of me so easily, no matter how scared he was of my husband.
Garret’s gaze slid toward me for a moment. He must have thought the reason for my reaction was different, because he turned back to my dad and conceded, “Unless she reaches out to you first. Whatever Keaton wants, she gets. Even if it’s a relationship with you.”
This time, my dad’s nod was stiff. I had a feeling it was probably because his preference was that I didn’t decide to extend an olive branch his way, since he no longer had a way to control me. He didn’t even bother looking my way as he edged around Garret and walked past me to head back to the Four Seasons. If he had, he would have found me covering my belly with my hand as I thought about what he was going to lose if we never spoke again. It made me miss my mom even more, and my eyes misted over with tears.
Garret moved to stand next to me, wrapping an arm around my shoulders.
“Are we ever going to tell him about the baby?” I asked softly as we watched my father walk away.
“That’s up to you, beautiful. If you want him in the baby’s life, we’ll tell him. If you don’t, we won’t.”
I felt him shrug, and the jostling reminded me that I didn’t want to be quite so close to him at the moment. Not until we had a serious conversation about what I’d just overheard. I thought about pulling away from him, but then I noticed the utter desperation in his expression, and my anger ratcheted down a notch or two. “We need to talk.”
“I know you’re pissed at me, but I swear I can explain.”
“You can, huh?” I jammed my elbow in his side and turned to stare up at him. “You can explain to me about how I was just a job for you when we got married? That you were okay with a one-year contract because your deal with my father would be over by then, since the election would be over? How you totally lied to me about your reasons for needing a wife? Because there isn’t an inheritance, is there?”
He shook his head, but I quickly discovered it wasn’t in response to any of the questions I’d just asked when he firmly gripped my arm with one hand and pulled out his phone with the other. “We’re not having this conversation here.”
“We’re not?”
He swiped the screen of his phone and pulled up a number before putting it against his ear. “Meet us at the entrance to the hotel. Now.”
I rolled my eyes and let him lead me along the sidewalk. “It’s like you expect Jack to be a miracle worker or something. It’s Manhattan. There’s no way it’ll only take him a minute or two to drive from wherever he’s parked—”
I broke off when I saw Garret’s car pull up to the curb in front of the Four Seasons. When I glanced up at him, I caught the satisfied tilt of his lips. “It’s Jack,” he said, as though that explained everything.
I scowled and jammed my elbow into his side again. “I wouldn’t be so smug if I were you, because you’re going to need a much bigger miracle to get me to forgive you.”
Chapter Ten
GARRET
I knew I was in trouble, but I couldn’t help grinning when Keaton tried to elbow me in the ribs again. She was so fucking adorable. I barely felt it, but I let out a quick little exhale to give her the impression that it had stung. I knew it would ease some of her wrath if she felt like she’d hurt me back in some way, and I would take any advantage I could get. It wasn’t that I didn’t have guilt for keeping things from her, but I’d had a damn good reason in the beginning. I should have told her sooner, but I didn’t want to risk her trying to end things before I could get her fall for me. She glanced up at me, and I quickly schooled my features so that she didn’t see my smile.