Total pages in book: 64
Estimated words: 64979 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 325(@200wpm)___ 260(@250wpm)___ 217(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64979 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 325(@200wpm)___ 260(@250wpm)___ 217(@300wpm)
“For the deal of a lifetime.”
“What deal?”
“The one where you carry my last name.”
“Enough, Tristian! You’ve truly lost your mind if you think that’s ever going to happen.”
“I’ve never been more sound of mind, kitten.”
“Tristian,” she stressed through a tight jaw. “Stop calling me that. I hated it back then, and nothing has changed. If anything, I despise it more than I used to.”
“That’s not how I remember it.”
“Your time is up.” With that, she snapped around, angrily rushing toward her desk. “You can see yourself out.”
I didn’t move an inch. Instead, I added, “What we want isn’t far from reach, Belle.”
Now that she was sitting behind her desk, her gaze connected with mine.
“Oh, that got your attention, did it?”
She didn’t hesitate in asking, “How do you know what I want?”
“Because it’s the same thing I’ve always wanted and didn’t think I could have until now.”
“Until now, what?”
“Marry me, kitten.”
“We’re back to that?”
“We never left.”
“What exactly do you think you’re preparing me for?”
I glanced down at my watch. “In about five minutes, I’m going to escort you into the conference room where your grandfather and mine are sitting at the table waiting for us.”
She listened intently, absorbing my every word. “And?”
“They’re going to present you with a contract they want us both to sign.”
“A contract for what?”
“Our arranged marriage.”
“What is this the eighteen hundreds? Our families loathe one another. Why would they want—”
I saw it clear as day. Belle had always been sharp, smart as all hell. It didn’t surprise me in the least that she caught on before I had to share the rest.
“They want us to merge enterprises, don’t they?”
I nodded.
She thought about it for a second. “We don’t need to get married for that to happen.”
“There’s more.”
She rolled her eyes at me. “Then out with it! What else could they possibly want?”
I abruptly stood and leaned over her desk. In one swift movement, I was in her face, catching her off guard. She faintly gasped close to my mouth, only triggering all the times I’d evoked this same response out of her. It simply reminded me what her lips felt like against mine.
Soft.
Smooth.
Filled with inexperience and lust.
The last thing I wanted was to miss this opportunity where her defenses were down against me, so I spoke with conviction…
“They want you pregnant with my baby.”
Chapter 2
—Belle—
Instead of shoving him away, I pushed my chair back. I hit the bay window that overlooked all of downtown behind me, needing a moment to collect myself.
Especially, my thoughts.
“Oh my God.” It all came crashing down around me like a ton of bricks. “They want a bloodline heir, don’t they?”
He nodded.
“This can’t be happening.”
“It is. And the sooner you realize that, the easier this next part will be.”
I said the only thing that came to mind, “I can’t go in there.”
“Whether you want to or not, you’re going in there. There’s no escaping this. There’s no running away from me, kitten.”
My eyebrows pinched together. “Why on earth would they think I’d agree to this?”
“Because we’ll be partners in this merger. Inheriting everything.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. It was like I was suddenly dragged back to that young girl who had no say in her life.
Her future.
I’d spent years proving myself to my grandfather that I could work for him. Graduating from high school and college with honors, making the dean’s list every semester. Sacrificing my personal life for the reward that someday I’d inherit Montgomery Enterprises.
Not because I was bribed into receiving what was rightfully mine, but because I’d earned that title of CEO.
As if reading my mind, he observed, “I know how you feel, kitten.”
“Do you? Because from where I’m sitting, you look content as ever.”
“I’m not the enemy anymore.”
“Really?” I mocked. “I don’t know about you, but I sure as hell don’t know how to see you as anything other than my rival. It’s been ingrained in me since birth.”
“That didn’t stop you from ending up in my bed, now did it?”
“You pompous bastard!” I shot up, pitifully governing my emotions.
“Kitten,” he coaxed, cocking his head to the side. “You should be thanking me, not insulting me. I came here to warn you, so that you wouldn’t feel the ambush I did.”
“That’s funny, considering it still feels like a trap. One set up by all of you.”
“I know what you’re thinking.”
“You don’t know anything.”
“I know that you’re seething from the inside out right now.”
“That’s obvious! Come to think of it, why aren’t you?”
“Trust me, I was.”
“Trust you?” I spewed. “Those are fighting words, Tristian.”
“Kitten, I—”
“You were?” I interrupted, not wanting to hear his excuses. “How long have you known about this?”
When he confessed, “For the last five months,” I almost fell back in my chair.
“And you’re just now telling me?”
“I couldn’t confront you until I wrapped my mind around everything they’re demanding.”