by Holly Jaymes
I nodded, and even mustered a smile, even though something inside had me feeling unsettled by what he might need to discuss.
Thirty minutes later, we were at his dining table eating broccoli beef and pan-fried dumplings.
“I’ve added you to the electric and internet bills,” he said, as he scooped rice from the white Chinese container onto his plate.
“What do I owe you?”
“Nothing. It’s just to make Bigalow happy.”
“Will, I know I’m not a billionaire, but I can contribute. I don’t spend a lot, so I do have some savings and I make a good salary.” I took a bite of a dumpling.
“I don’t need your money, Adalyn.” He seemed a little perturbed by my statement.
“I know you don’t need it, but I don’t need to be kept, either.”
His eyes flashed with irritation. “You think I’m keeping you?”
“No.” I blew out a breath. “I would like to contribute. I’d like to feel like I’m doing my part.”
He rolled his shoulders, a move I came to recognize as a way to help him relax when he was feeling tense. “Whatever you want to contribute, you can. But it’s not necessary.”
“Good.” I stirred my rice with my broccoli beef, and then took a bite.
“I considered setting up a prenup, but there’s no way to do it and back date it.”
“I should do one anyway, don’t you think?” I said.
He stared at me. “Why?”
“To protect your assets.”
“Are you planning on taking me to the cleaners when we divorce? You just said you don’t want to be kept, but you want my money when it’s all over?”
The word divorce had my heart sinking, which was a bad sign. “No. I don’t want or need anything from you.” My voice was calm and even. Maybe a little sad.
“We’re talking about getting past this investigation, Adalyn. Right? We’re on the same page here?”
I nodded, understanding that his question went to his concern about blurring the lines. “Yes. Of course. What else do we need to do to cover our tracks?” I sipped my wine, wishing he’d poured me a bigger glass.
He reached out and took my hand. “I think you’re right about how we were in the office today. I don’t think he expected us to come out swinging like that. And if he’s seeking phone and text records, he’ll likely find our exchange from this morning. So, we’re doing good.”
I wanted to point out that our phone exchange wasn’t a lie in a fake marriage, but a genuine conversation between two people who enjoyed each other. But he’d released my hand and was onto the next topic.
“I’ve put a call into my lawyer about putting your name on the title of this place and changing my will.”
My gaze snapped to his. “Will, that’s too risky.”
“I’d rather risk you taking my home and money than going to jail. I’m pretty sure I can trust you. I know I can’t trust Bigalow.”
I closed my eyes, hating that he had to sacrifice and risk so much for me.
“Hey, what’s wrong?”
I shook my head. “It’s too much. I can’t ask you —”
“It’s too late to back out now, Adalyn.” His voice was back to the edge of annoyance. “Can’t you see that?”
I nodded.
“Have you done anything about adding my name to yours?”
“Not yet. I’ll research it tonight.” I poked at my food, not feeling hungry anymore.
“Listen, Adalyn.”
I looked up when his voice went soft, almost hesitant. “I trust you, but I need your word that if something happens to me before this is done, and you end up inheriting —”
“Will, stop. Nothing is going to happen.”
His jaw tightened. “I need you to look after my mom. My brothers don’t need anything, and they’ll look after her, but she’s my responsibility first. The company will be divided between my brothers, all who have experience, and you. You know this industry, so I have no worries about your working with them.”
I bit my lip, hating that he was having to do all this. For what? So that I could finish a project that was going to be done by the end of the year anyway?
“I’m leaving you this place, and it’s yours to do what you want. My money and other assets were all going to my mom. Now they’ll go to you, and I need you to promise me —”
“Don’t do that, Will. The company and home is fine. I’ll give my share to your brothers, and sign the place over to your mom.”
He sat back. “This needs to look legit, Adalyn. It makes more sense that I’d will everything to you.”
He was right.
“Divide it. I just can’t have you do all this. It’s too much for me to bear.”
“We’re trying to stay out of jail.” His voice, for once, didn’t sound annoyed. “We can change it later, but for now, I think we need to look as legit as possible.” He gave me wan smile. “Bigalow will be hard pressed to say the marriage isn’t real if I’m willing a billion dollars in assets to you.”
A billion dollars. Good God.
I gave a tiny nod, only because I knew he was right. “I’ll give it all to your mom if something happens. I promise.”
What had started out as an interesting adventure, made more exciting by the criminal element, was now heavy, deep, and real.
“Why are you doing this?” I asked.
He looked at me quizzically. “To stay out of jail.”
Right.
“We’re in too deep to back out now, Adalyn. We might suck at gambling in Vegas, but this is one gamble we need to win.”
I inhaled a breath, willing myself to buck up and be strong. “We will win.” We had to win.
After dinner, Will returned to his office. I tried to read, but unable to stay focused, turned on the TV. That proved difficult as well, so I decided to go to bed.
I went to my room, washed up, and put on my pajamas. I wasn’t sure where Will and I stood in terms of the blurred lines, so I climbed into the bed in the guest room instead of going to his room as I wanted to do. I was taking up too much of his life. Risking too much of his success. He was right in that we needed to keep an emotional distance. I needed to stay focused on the goal, and not get caught up in being Mrs. Will Sloane. There was too much at stake.
Or, I needed to find a way out. A way out that didn’t hurt him. I pulled out my laptop, signed into a VPN to try and hide my efforts, and logged in incognito, all to avoid Mr. Bigalow’s ability to track my research. Then I asked Google for ways to get us out of this jam.
The next morning, I found Will in the kitchen sipping his coffee as he stood at the counter looking at his tablet. He was in his suit, looking so handsome my heart ached with wanting him. He turned and leaned back against the counter, watching me as I poured a cup of coffee from the carafe he’d made.
“How’d you sleep?”
I wouldn’t say his voice was cool, but it wasn’t warm either.
“Okay.” I slept horribly. All I could think about was how much he was doing and risking for me. I didn’t feel anywhere near worthy.
“Are you mad at me? Did I do something?”
My gaze jerked to his. “No. Not at all. Why?”
He rolled his shoulders. “My bed was empty last night.”
I looked down, not sure what to say.
“It’s all right, Adalyn. This … arrangement … isn’t contingent on your sleeping with me —”
“Yes, I know, I just —”
He held up a hand. “You don’t need to explain to me. As long as you’re comfortable here, that’s all I want.”
“Will, it’s not you.”
He quirked a brow. “It’s not you it’s me, line?” He poured his coffee into the sink. “I need to run. I have a meeting this morning.”
I wasn’t sure what was happening. Yesterday at this time, I was on cloud nine from the mind blowing orgasm he gave me. This morning, I felt like I’d lost my best friend.
I fol
lowed him to the door. “Will?”
He put his coat on. “Hmm?”
“I’m sorry I seemed so cavalier yesterday. I don’t want you to think that I don’t understand the magnitude of what you’re risking or sacrificing, because I do. I’m … I’m being crushed by the weight of it. It’s too much to ask of you.”
“You didn’t ask,” he said, in that same not warm, but not cold either monotone voice.
“Maybe we should stop. Let me take the blame. It’s only a crime if you knowingly married me to help me stay in the country, but we could say I tricked you. You thought it was love, but instead I married you to stay. And maybe for your money. Everyone would buy that and then you’d be off the hook.” At least this was what I hoped, based on the marriage fraud information I’d read online.
“You’d go to jail,” he said.
“I’ll leave the country. You can tell Mr. Bigalow you found out and confronted me and I ran off because you were going to turn me in.”
His jaw tightened. “So, I’d need to admit to Mr. Bigalow I was duped by love.”
It was hard to imagine a man like Will being duped. Harder still to imagine him admitting to being duped. But this was his company and freedom I was trying to protect.
“It’s a plan that could work.”
He sniffed. “I have a meeting. Let me know what you decide.” Then he was gone. Just like that. No discussion. No let’s keep with our original plan. No ‘good idea, Adalyn. Thanks for finding me a way out of this problem.’
I stood in his foyer, wondering what had happened. I wanted to run after him and fix whatever the problem was, and at the same time, I knew that this was for the best. I needed to set him free, not just of this legal burden, but from my desperate need to want to stay with him. It was clear the universe was sending messages that we weren’t meant to be. It was time to make a new plan and a new life. One that wasn’t in the United States. One that didn’t include Will.
Book 4: Chapter 24—At Risk
At Risk
Will
What the fuck! I slammed my hand on the steering wheel as I made my way through traffic toward the city. After all I’d done and been willing to do, she just wanted to scrap it and go home. At first, I thought she was being ungrateful, but after some reflection, I understood that she was crumbling under the strain. I couldn’t blame her for that. It was definitely a change from yesterday when she was laughing at how we pushed Bigalow’s buttons.
I was glad now that she understood just what was at risk, but I was pissed at how easily she was ready to toss herself under the bus and give up. I’m not sure why it was so upsetting. The truth was, she had a good plan. If she left, returning to Canada, it wasn’t likely Bigalow would pursue her prosecution. The plan required that he believe I could be duped into marrying her, but it could be argued that she was beautiful and alluring, and we’d been drunk in Vegas. I might be smart, but I was a man in the end. Adalyn had already proven that when it came to her, I had very little resistance.
So, this plan could work. My company would be safe. I’d be free. She’d be in Canada, and probably not allowed back in the States after trying to commit immigration fraud. A weight settled on my chest at the idea that she and I wouldn’t see each other again. Was that why I was so mad? That she was willing to toss away our … friendship? I was the one risking everything, trusting her with everything, but she was the one willing to walk away.
Turns out I was able to be duped, I realized. Look at how much I was willing to do. When push came to shove, she wasn’t willing to do the same. Too bad she hadn’t told me sooner. I’d already arranged for all the changes we’d discussed last night. She was walking away, and yet I was now completely vulnerable to her.
I showed up at work and stalked to my office with a curt ‘don’t-bother-me’ order to my secretary. I locked the door, and buried myself in my work until the meeting I had regarding a new government contract.
When it was time for the meeting, I tried to pull my attitude together, straightened my tie, and headed to the conference room, where’d I asked my secretary to set up for the meeting the day before.
“Everything is set, Mr. Sloane.”
“Thank you,” I said, trying to make sure I wasn’t being abrupt or rude to her in my tone.
The three men from the government arrived, taking a seat at the table while I did my presentation for them on how my company, and I personally, could help them achieve their security goals.
“This is great, Will, really,” Dan Dennings, a fed employee I’d worked with before said.
“Good. When do you want us to start?” At least one thing in my life was going well.
“There’s one little issue.”
“Oh?”
Dan looked to the two other men.
One of them, Bob Lasker, who I’d just met, tapped his pen on his notepad. “We’ve been warned that maybe we should pass on you this time around.”
“Warned?” I resisted crossing my arms over my chest, knowing that might look defensive.
“We’ve been told that you’re under investigation for immigration fraud.”
That fucking Bigalow. How would these guys know that unless Bigalow had sent the word out? It was probably my fault for suggesting I had friends in high places. He was about to show me that it didn’t matter.
Feigning ignorance, I said, “All my foreign staff are documented and meet all immigration requirements.”
Dan gave me a look suggesting he knew about my marriage.
I inhaled sharply. “My personal life has nothing to do with my business.”
“Look, if it were up to me, I wouldn’t care. I know you, Will. You wouldn’t risk getting a speeding ticket. No way you’d try to cheat the immigration system. Congratulations on the marriage, by the way.”
“Thank you,” I said through gritted teeth, because I knew Dan wasn’t finished with his little speech.
“But we need to be accountable to taxpayers.”
“It just wouldn’t look right for us to be working with a company in which the CEO was under investigation of any type,” Bob said. “But especially a federal investigation.”
I nodded. There wasn’t anything I could do about that. “Well then, I guess I better get the immigration officer to sign my wife’s green card ASAP.”
“That would be best,” Dan said. “Look, we all know it’s a bunch of bullshit hoops. It’s a damn shame you have to start your marriage out with that.”
“Or that the government I’ve worked so hard for would threaten my happiness and livelihood,” I said.
“That is fucked,” Dan agreed. “Bureaucracy is a way of life, unfortunately. I know you’ll get this cleared up. Until then, we’ll likely have to go with another contractor. But we’ll be back, Will. You’re respected, and your work is valued.”
“Any chance you’ll let immigration know that?”
Dan laughed. “I already did.” He stood and shook my hand. “I’d like to meet the wife sometime. See the woman that got the man I was sure would be a bachelor for life.”
I smiled, even though I didn’t feel it. “We’ll have to get together for drinks sometime.”
“Let’s do it.”
I walked the men out, and then made a B-line to my office.
“There are some messages on your desk, Mr. Sloane.” My secretary was all business this morning, no doubt because of my surly mood.
I nodded, and shut the door to my office.
I went through the messages. Nearly all of them were the liaisons to current government contracts my company was working on, including the one with CTS and Adalyn. I only needed one guess as to what they’d all wanted to talk about. That fucking Bigalow was going to ruin me now rather than later.
Instead of calling them back, I called Cal at CTS.
“What’s going on, Will?” he said, in a tone that indicated he’d gotten a call too.
“Look, it’s this fucking thing with my marrying Adalyn.”
&nb
sp; “It’s going to ruin this project,” Cal said, stress clearly in his tone.
“No.” I hated to do this, but to save the contract, I’d have to let it go. “What you need to do is take on all my staff under you and I’ll withdraw my company from the contract. I know the liaison and I think he’ll go for it. It will just be a CTS contract.”
“What about Adalyn? She does work for me.”
“Did they mention her on the call, or just that I was under investigation and having concerns about my company?”
“Just you. But —”
“Right now, let’s just take me out of the equation. If she becomes an issue, we’ll transfer her to me. We’ve only got a few more weeks on this project anyway.” Or it was possible that when I got home tonight, she’d be gone?
“I can’t afford to take on all your staff.”
“You can with all the contract money. When this is over, I’ll bring them back over to me. You have to see, Cal, that this is the best way to save the contract.”
“You could divorce her.”
“What the fuck, man?”
“Shit.”
“Even if I did, that wouldn’t necessarily stop the investigation. It would likely heighten it because they’d think the marriage wasn’t real. What real husband would divorce his wife to save a government contract?”
“Some would, but not you, Will. I’m sorry. I know you love her. I’m just stressed.”
I ignored the love comment. “So, take all my staff there under CTS. I’ll withdraw from the contract, and you’ll have total control over it, including the money. Just be good to my people until I can transfer them back.”
“Yeah, okay. I’ll work on it now.”
“Also, don’t tell Adalyn about this.”
“You don’t want her to know?’
“I want to tell her myself. This issue involves us, and I should be the one to explain it.”
Adalyn might be bailing on me, but I knew the current situation would justify her decision.
I blew out a breath. “I’m going to call them and let them know. I don’t want them thinking I’m abandoning them. I’ll fax over paperwork to release them from here and withdraw from the project as soon as I can get it done.”
