by Avery James
Ethan smiled. "I didn't know that Callie was your sister. I thought she was your secretary. That makes a lot of sense now. No, I'm completely serious. I need you to marry me, and I'm ready to make you the offer of a lifetime."
Amy looked at Ethan again. He wasn't smiling anymore. Was he insane? Amy raised her hand and signaled to the bartender. I'm going to need something stronger than wine, she thought. Then she turned to Ethan. "Explain. Now."
"Have you ever been to Wyoming?" Ethan asked as the bartender came back with a new glass of wine.
***
"This better not be a repeat of Chicago." Amy crossed her arms and stared at Ethan. "I am not in the mood for a repeat of Chicago. Are you being serious right now? I have an aunt's birthday party to get to. I have a company to run. I'm not in the mood for a practical joke by the world-famous Ethan Cole. I suppose you think I should be flattered that you want me to marry you for some reason.
"First off, you and I remember that night in Chicago very differently," Ethan replied.
"You make it sound like something happened between us."
"Like I said," Ethan repeated, "you and I remember that night very differently."
Ethan reached down into his briefcase and pulled out a manila envelope. He placed it on the bar and slid it over to Amy. "It's all right there in the prenup. All you have to do is sign, and the marriage contract is legally binding."
Amy placed her hand over the envelope. "If you think for one second that I'm going to let you buy me."
"Amy, you know that isn't this at all. People have marriages of convenience all the time. You and I just happen to have the added bonus of being able to see opportunities and seize them. I need a wife."
"So go and get one. Who is the latest model you were dating? Miss Russia or Brazil or?"
"Argentina," Ethan replied. "And I called things off. She wasn't really interested in me anyway, and, well, supermodel wife doesn't exactly fit my needs at the moment."
"What you need at the moment is someone to knock you in the side of the head," Amy replied. "This is definitely Chicago all over again."
"Like I said, I think you and I remember that night very differently, and you brought it up, not me. This is nothing like that. That was a moment, and this is a unique opportunity. I think you should consider my offer. A multibillion dollar deal that will help ensure the future of my company and the jobs of tens of thousands of people all depend on you helping me become a family man."
"I need you to be my wife. Not for long, just long enough to convince Hank Harris that I'm a good man, a family man, and someone worthy of taking the reins of Harris Energy."
"You run a tech company," Amy replied. "Why in the world would you want to buy a business you know nothing about?"
"It's a once in a lifetime opportunity. Harris is retiring, and he is looking to sell the company. Almost no one knows, but I do, and I've been in talks with him for months. He likes me, but he doesn't know if he can trust me."
"So you want to lie to him and tell him that I'm your wife?"
"No, I want you to marry me and help me make my case to him. Harris Energy is a relatively minor player in the energy sector. They are a regional supplier of oil and gas, but they also control rights to over half of the neodymium reserves in the western hemisphere."
"Neodymium?" Amy asked. "You want me to pretend to be your wife so you can buy magnets?"
Ethan laughed. "Now you get it. It's an essential component of modern electronics, and a major weakness in my supply chain. My company uses it in everything from cellphones to missiles, and Harris's other assets would help us deploy new technology in fields we've been trying to break into for years."
"Again, I don't see how or why this involves me in any way," Amy replied.
"Hank Harris is a family man," Ethan replied. "And he wants to find someone who shares his values to take over his company. I tried to convince him to sell me just the mineral rights, but he won't break up his company. I told him I understood and assembled a proposal to buy Harris outright. He asked me if I was married, and I told him I was engaged to you."
"You what?"
"I told him we were getting married in a small ceremony in DC, and that I wanted to keep the whole thing very quiet." Ethan placed his hands on his head and ran his fingers through his hair as he took a deep breath. "He thinks we got married last weekend."
"He WHAT?"
Ethan leaned back as he looked over at Amy's expression changing as the disbelief and confusion gave way to indignation. He could see it in her eyes and in the way she scrunched up her nose as she scowled at him. He tried to hide his smile as he watched her sitting there, the blush coming into her cheeks as she got madder at him and formulated her rebuke. This was the thing that he liked best about Amy, the way she didn't take bullshit from anyone, especially from him. That was a rare thing. Almost everyone else he knew, women especially, fell over themselves to appease him. Amy just looked like she wanted to take his head off, especially after they started talking about what had happened in Chicago.
She would have killed him if he said it out loud, but Ethan wanted to tell her how beautiful she was when she was mad like that, not truly angry, but just pissed off. It had been far too long since he had gotten a rise out of her like this, and he tried to enjoy it before she started yelling at him. It was also one of the reasons he had chosen a public place for the meeting. The last thing Amy would have wanted was to end up in a tabloid herself for a fight with the Ethan Cole. Ethan knew he only had a moment or two to make his next move or the whole thing would be ruined.
He reached forward and placed his hand on hers. "Before you say anything," he said, "I want to tell you exactly what I'm prepared to offer." This was the moment of truth. He needed to turn this from an argument into a negotiation, because if it were a negotiation, two things would happen. First, Amy would decide that she needed to win. Second, Amy would win by negotiating the best possible terms for herself. After all, this whole thing was in her best interest, and Ethan knew that deep down part of Amy wanted to see what it would be like to be with him. He was prepared to let her win. All he needed was for her to say yes.
"What's your starting bid?"
"Five."
"Million?"
"Yes, for three to four months of being my wife, a few trips to meet with the potential business partner. I could arrange a honeymoon as well. I know of a few places I think you'd like."
Amy had stopped listening after five. Five million dollars. Amy was successful. She was very successful. She ran her own company. She owned a house in Georgetown. Five million was more than she made over the course of years of hard work, never mind months of on and off vacationing. She looked at Ethan and stayed silent. What was five million dollars to him anyway? He was one of the richest men in the world.
"I wouldn't even consider it for less than ten," she replied.
"Atta girl," Ethan replied. "Aggressive, I like that. How about we split the difference, seven point five mil?"
Amy laughed. "I think you misheard me. I said I wouldn't consider less than ten. ,You could just marry me and let me sue for half your net worth. I happen to know the best divorce lawyer in the country."
Ethan shook his head.
"Ten. That's my final offer. If you need this that badly, ten million is a tiny fraction of what you stand to make. It's a bargain and you know it. That and you need to tell me every last detail of what's going on."
Ethan held out his hand. "I'll take that as a yes. You have a deal."
Amy felt a chill run through her body. Ten million dollars. All she had to do was go through with this, and she'd make more in a summer than she had in her entire career. You're kidding, right? You're not actually considering paying me that kind of money to pretend to be your wife. What's the catch?"
"The catch is that you won't be pretending."
"How is that not illegal?"
"Again, it's called a prenup," Ethan replied. "It would entitle you to a certa
in amount of my net worth in the event of a divorce. As soon as the ink dries on the corporate deal, we can get a quickie divorce. I'll go my way. You go yours."
"You're just going to let me walk away with ten million dollars?"
"Yeah. That's the plan."
"I have money of my own. I have a career and employees who rely on me."
"They'll be there waiting for you. And you can give each of them a hell of a bonus."
"I need time to think about this, Ethan. You don't just drop something like this out of thin air. I need some time. Look, I have to go."
"There's something I want to give you before you leave," Ethan said. He reached down into his briefcase, and wrapped his hand around the ring box and began to pull it out.
"I really can't handle another surprise," Amy said.
Ethan stopped and dropped the box back down to the bottom of the briefcase. "Of course," he replied. "I just want you to have a copy of the prenup as you think things through." He grabbed the thick manila envelope out of the briefcase and pulled it out. "Here you go."
Amy grabbed the envelope. What happens if I actually say yes?
Ethan grinned. It had cost him significantly more than he had anticipated, but he had just gotten exactly what he wanted. "Like I asked you before, have you ever been to Wyoming?"
***
Keep reading The Billionaire's Marriage Contract (Scandal, Inc).
