Total pages in book: 16
Estimated words: 15283 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 76(@200wpm)___ 61(@250wpm)___ 51(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 15283 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 76(@200wpm)___ 61(@250wpm)___ 51(@300wpm)
I think about Alex’s blue eyes and how everything else fell away when I looked at them.
I sigh and roll my eyes. Even if my dad is right, there’s no way he understands how I feel, and there’s even less chance of me admitting he’s right.
“You’re romanticizing things, Dad. He’s a stranger, and I love someone else.”
“My dear daughter, you only think you love someone else. Call it fate or kismet, but Alex Winterbourne is the one for you. I’m sure of it.”
“And how are you so sure?”
He flips his phone around to face me, showing me a text.
“Because he’s going to be your husband.”
Alex
The chapel is quiet. I’m in the groom’s room, off to the side of the altar, pinning my boutonniere to my black tux, when there’s a knock at the door before it opens.
“You ready?” Emil asks as he enters. Worry crinkles his forehead.
“Is that your way of asking if I’m bailing? Because I’m not changing my mind.”
“Good. Good,” he says with a distracted nod. “I know she hasn’t been very receptive to your calls.”
“It’s understandable. I know this isn’t something she wants,” I say, thinking about her saying she was taken. It would’ve been nice to talk to her and get to know her a little before today, but it doesn’t change my mind.”
Emil rubs his hands together, then looks out the door. He paces the room, checks his watch, and lets out a quiet grumble.
“You going to tell me what’s going on? I can see something’s bothering you. We’re almost family, you know. You can talk to me.”
Emil tilts his head as he considers my words. He nods before he starts talking.
“Extending our families isn’t something I considered,” he says. But it’ll be nice having you as part of the family if this wedding happens. I was hoping I wouldn’t have to tell you, but she’s not here yet. She left this morning to get her hair done but was supposed to come here to finish getting ready. She doesn’t drive, and usually, she asks me or one of my drivers for a ride, but she didn’t. So I have no idea who picked her up or where she went.”
“You think she ran away?”
“Maybe not run away. I think she might’ve…”
“Run to him?” Just thinking about him made me jealous, even though I had no reason to be. I know she’ll be here. I used my secret weapon to make sure of it.
“You know about him?” he asks.
“The day we met, she told me she was taken and that she wasn’t going to let you choose who she was going to marry.”
“And from that you decided you wanted to marry her? Are you a glutton for punishment?”
“Maybe,” I say with a laugh. “I guess I trusted you. I figured you had your reasons for arranging a marriage for her.”
“This guy she’s involved with is bad news, and she doesn’t see it. It may seem outrageous, but this is the only way I can think of to protect her from him.” He checks his watch again, looks outside the window, and shakes his head. “Are you sure you’re not going to back out?”
“Let me tell you something,” I say. “When they first told me that Emil Wagner was looking to arrange his daughter’s marriage, the reason I said I would meet you is because we have similar families. My brother and I lost our mom at a young age, and when our father passed away several years ago, that was it for our family. That left just my brother and I, just like it’s you and your daughter. Small families are different. I thought we could relate to each other that way.”
Emil nods before I continue.
“So when I saw her that day, and she said she was taken, it reminded me of how many times I’ve convinced myself that I was in love with someone, not because I cared about that person, but because I was looking for someone that wasn’t part of my small family to connect with.”
“Do you think you’re doing that now with my daughter? Is that why you said you’d marry her?”
“No. I want to marry her because something burst to life inside of me the moment I met her. We barely spoke, but I felt a connection with her. I felt like I had been searching for her my entire life. We were meant to meet for a reason.” I try to gauge what Emil is thinking.
Is he thinking I’ve lost my mind? Is he wishing he had chosen someone else?
The worry eases from Emil’s face.
“You have no idea how happy that makes me,” he says. “She wouldn’t want me to tell you this, but she feels the same way. She hasn’t admitted it to me, but I saw how you affected her that day. I recognized it as what happened when I met her mother. It’s a special thing when you feel that.”