“He doesn’t have to be,” Larry said.
“What?”
Her dad leaned closer. “Listen carefully, Paige. There’s another condition on the family trust that we haven’t told you about.”
She frowned at her father.
“While your grandparents had always wanted the beneficiaries to learn how to work for themselves before being rewarded with the trust money, they’d also wanted to support their heirs if they happened to start a family. So you can get five million dollars out of the fund before you turn forty if… you get pregnant and married.”
Her mouth hung open.
“And we don’t mean we want you to marry Tristan Grant,” Debbie said hastily. “That’s the last thing we want you to do. But we have someone who’s willing to help us out, and the most important thing is that he cares a lot about you already. It’s Curtis.”
Paige glared at her parents in disbelief. “You want me to marry Curtis so the trust will hand me five million dollars?”
“We’re so sorry about this, but, yes,” Larry said pleadingly. “I already got all the money due to me from the trust fund ages ago. It’s already been spent. With the banks not wanting to lend any more until we reduce our debt levels further, we have no other choice. Only you can get your hands on the amount of cash we need in the short time that we have. And we’ll be paying you back. That’s a guarantee.”
“Paige,” Debbie said, “you only need stay married to Curtis until the money is released by the trustees. The trustees don’t have any recourse to take it back once they give it to you. So it’s mere months that you have to pretend—a relatively short time in exchange for saving our company. And Curtis is aware that it will only be a fake marriage, so you don’t have to worry about not wanting to be intimate with him if you don’t want to. He’s promised he won’t pressure you. But, who knows, you and Curtis might decide to stay together.”
Paige shook her head in disbelief. Were they crazy?
“There’s something else,” Larry said, clearing his throat, “it’s the trustees’ job to ensure that no one tries to game this particular condition. So, first, they’ll need to be convinced that it’s a true love match before they’ll release the cash.”
“But I’m not in love with Curtis!”
“That’s why it’s important to start acting like you are. Because you’re already pregnant, the trustees should have no reason to think you’re faking your feelings for Curtis, and they shouldn’t be so surprised that there will be a quick wedding.”
“I don’t know what to say,” Paige murmured, still in shock.
“We wouldn’t even have brought this up if there were another way to save the company,” Debbie said. “And, by the way, you also have to pretend that you’re totally oblivious to this condition. You’re not supposed to know to ensure you don’t fake anything.”
“And, yet, you’re asking me to totally fake it,” she said dryly and with a tinge of hurt. She couldn’t believe her parents were asking this of her.
Larry sighed deeply. “I’m ashamed to admit I made poor decisions regarding our company. We need to steer Shipton Enterprise back to healthy profitability, and we need to do it soon. It’ll be too late, otherwise. Then we’ll lose the business that you, your mother and I have worked so hard in. I hate asking you this, Paige. Believe me, I wouldn’t have if there was any other way. But I just don’t know who else to turn to for help.”
To Paige’s horror, her father started to sob. It was so heart-wrenching that she placed a comforting hand on his hunched shoulders. “Dad…”
“Please, Paige,” Larry begged. “You only need to pretend for a few months. Not only will this plan save our company, but it will also protect your reputation. No one will ever guess that the father of your baby is some conman.”
“Tristan’s not a conman.”
“You don’t know that,” Larry said forcefully. “And I’m not losing to a conman.”
Argh!
“You’re not planning on dating anyone anyway while you’re pregnant, are you?” Debbie asked. “I don’t think asking you to be married to Curtis for two, maybe three, months will impact on your love life much—if you don’t end up falling for Curtis, that is.”
Paige crossed her arms. Well, she supposed her mother was right. If she took Tristan out of the picture, then she had absolutely no desire to date anyone right now. All she wanted was to enjoy her pregnancy, then look after her baby.
But she just couldn’t stomach the thought of Curtis—or someone other than Tristan—being known as Tanner’s father!
Her mind desperately tried to search for an alternative solution. “So I need to be married to the man I supposedly love and also be pregnant, right? But does the wording of the condition state that the baby’s father has to be the guy I’m married to? What if we tell the truth that Curtis is not the father—that it was an accident from a one-night stand? Then we could lie that Curtis and I love each other so much that he’s willing to marry me despite my pregnancy with someone else’s baby. I’m happy to consider that plan.”
Larry scowled as if she’d lost her mind. “That’s not foolproofing the story against Tristan putting two and two together and guessing he’s the father. No, Paige. Curtis has to be the daddy of this baby in everyone’s eyes. Besides, can you imagine the trustees believing you and Curtis are in love when you’re having someone else’s baby? They won’t buy it.”
“Why would Curtis even want to take this on, anyway?” she spat out in frustration.
“He really wants to help since our two families are very close—and because he cares about you. Besides, there will be a prenup which will state that he doesn’t have to pay child support in the event of a divorce. He’s fine with all this, Paige. And I trust him and his parents implicitly. I know this secret will be safe with them.”
“I don’t think Tristan will agree to have another man be known as the father of his baby.” And she wouldn’t like that either.
“But he doesn’t have to know anything. You’ve already decided you won’t ever tell him, haven’t you?”
“He already knows,” Paige said quietly.
“What?” Her parents looked at her with utter shock.
“I went to see him to ask him to consider not suing you. I thought I might sway him because of my pregnancy. Well, he’s open to a discussion, as long as you guys are.”
“Oh, Paige,” Larry cried. “You need to tell him there was a mistake—that he’s not the father. Curtis is.”
“What? Why?” Hadn’t her father heard what she’d just said?
“Tristan will always be at war with us,” Debbie interjected. “He’s our main competitor. If he learns about our company’s cash flow problems, he will stop at nothing to bring us to our knees. The only way is for you to tell him that you originally thought he was the father, but in fact, it’s Curtis.”
“Why can’t you just talk to Tristan? You’re the ones being so unreasonable here.”
“You don’t understand, Paige,” Larry said insistently. “You marrying Tristan is not an option. We want to save our company, and involving him will simply not work. Please, listen to us.”
Paige covered her face with her hands. She was so very angry.
But her heart also went out to her father. She’d never seen him this broken, desperate and helpless. Despite his pride, she knew that he was only trying to do what he believed was the right thing for their company right now.
Could she really turn her back on her parents when they were practically begging her for help? How could she live with the guilt if they lost Shipton Enterprise when she could have done something to save it?
But… to make Tristan believe the baby wasn’t his…
And to let Tanner grow up believing someone else other than Tristan was his father…
Larry’s blew his nose with a tissue. “If Tristan gets involved, we might as well say goodbye to Shipton Enterprise. It’ll be totally unworkable,” he murmured.
Chapter 7
Tristan stared at his phone, then put it down on the side table beside him, picking up the remote control instead. He reclined the chair he was sitting on and settled himself in to watch some TV.
He tuned in to a sports channel and picked up his phone again. He might as well check his email, or the stock market app, or read the news. But he opened up his text messages—and there was still nothing from Paige.
He rolled his eyes at himself. It had only been half a day since he’d sent a text to Paige to see how she was doing and to ask if she’d received the baby gender test result. So what if she hadn’t responded yet? She was probably busy with friends, or even resting at home, away from her devices. It was Sunday night, after all, and she must have been tired from her return from Canberra.
Paige’s name suddenly flashed on the screen as his device vibrated in his hand. His heart skipped.
“Hey, Paige. I was just thinking about you.”
“Hi, Tristan. Do you mind if we meet tonight, please?”
He frowned at her nervous tone. “Sure. Everything okay?”
“Um, yeah. Can we meet somewhere private?”
“Where? Do you want me to go to your place?” He wouldn’t mind knowing where Paige lived since he’d be visiting her a lot in the future—to pick up and drop off his kid.
“No. Perhaps we could meet in one of your clubs? In a private room?”
“Unfortunately, they’re all booked out for tonight. I know because I just logged in to my management portal a few minutes ago. What about in a restaurant? Have you had dinner?”
“I’d prefer somewhere more private than that. Can I… go to your place?”
“Of course!”
“Thanks. What’s your address?”
He gave it to her, feeling buoyant that she’d be around. “Do you know the baby’s sex already?”
Paige’s long silence had his heart racing with concern. “What’s wrong, Paige?”
“I’ll be there soon, okay?”
“How far away are you?”
“Less than twenty minutes.”
“Okay. Drive safely.”
“I will. Bye.”
“See ya,” he said, stopping himself from prying further. Paige would be arriving soon enough. But, damn it, he was scared that something wasn’t right.
Please let the baby be okay.
Fear threatened to take over, so he took a long, deep breath.
Maybe the anxiety he’d heard in Paige’s voice was due to Larry talking to her, not because there was something wrong with the baby.
Yeah, it had to be that. After his altercation with Larry a couple of days ago, that was the most obvious reason.
Phew. At least Paige was coming to have a conversation with him. They could compromise—the two of them, not him and her parents.
He rang his apartment building’s concierge and informed him of Paige Shipton’s arrival, then he went to the kitchen. He opened the refrigerator, drumming his fingers on the door as he checked the contents for what he could offer Paige. There were the pre-made gourmet meals cooked by his favourite employee chef. Or some yoghurt or cheese. He also had chocolates and crisps in the pantry, and fruits sitting in a bowl on the countertop. He’d let her decide.
He walked over to the wine fridge—
Oops, nope. Paige couldn’t have alcohol.
Hm. He could only offer her water, then. Or herbal tea. She could have some herbal tea, right? Did he actually have some of those left? Only his female friends drank them, and he wasn’t sure if his housekeeper had replenished the supply.
He snickered loudly. What was he doing? Preparing for a date?
Well, there was nothing wrong with wanting to be hospitable to the woman carrying his baby, was there?
And, yeah, okay, he was looking forward to seeing Paige again.
He rubbed his jaw and went back to the living room. He couldn’t find a TV program that interested him, so he settled on a replay of a rugby league game between two teams he didn’t care about. Argh, he couldn’t stand this mixture of worry and excitement. He wished now that he’d pressed Paige for her news before he’d hung up the phone.
Finally, his elevator pinged and he was before it in a flash.
Tristan’s breath hitched at the sight of Paige, looking her usual gorgeous self even with the barest of makeup. She had a smile on her face, but the strain around her eyes betrayed her.
“Hi,” he said, leaning in to give her a kiss on the cheek.
“Hi. Thanks for agreeing to see me at such short notice. I’m sorry if I interrupted something.”
“Don’t be silly. You can bug me any time.” He let her in and escorted her to the living room. “Are you hungry? I have some yummy meals that I can heat up.”
“I’m fine, thanks. Maybe just water?”
“Sure. How about some hot tea? I think I have some of those caffeine-free herbal ones.”
“Oh, that’ll be nice. Do you have something fruity?”
“Come with me to the kitchen and you can choose.” Surprising even himself, he took her hand.
Heck, it was too easy to forget himself around Paige. He had to literally be conscious of being wary, or he simply wouldn’t be. How could he maintain such a focus when simply being with her made his barriers retract?
But Paige’s hand was cold and clammy, and his concern notched up another level. “You okay?”
Paige smiled, but her eyes started to moisten.
He stopped and faced her, his heart pounding hard in his chest. “Paige… what’s wrong?” Please don’t let it be bad news about the baby.
Paige bit her lip and blinked rapidly. Then she walked towards a bar stool and sat down, taking deep breaths to control her emotions.
Tristan stared at her, trying to keep fear at bay. One thing came into sharp focus.
He already loved his baby with his whole being and he’d be utterly devastated if something had happened to it.
“Tristan…” Paige said, sitting up straight and gazing at him with a brave look.
His breathing shallowed and he willed her with his eyes to say that everything was fine with their child.
Paige’s face crumpled and she covered it with her hands. “I can’t do this,” she breathed.
Tristan hastened to her. With fierce protectiveness he hadn’t seen coming, he pulled Paige to him and held her tight.
Paige shivered and sniffed softly.
“Did we lose the baby?” he asked gently, rubbing her back comfortingly even as his chest constricted.
Paige sighed and looked at him with a watery smile. “No. We didn’t.”
Relief flowed through him like a tidal wave and he cupped her face, kissing her mouth. “God, you scared me,” he said against her lips.
Paige let out a chuckle, and the sudden lightness in her demeanour made him ridiculously happy. He pulled back to gaze at her. “What’s wrong then? Is it your dad?”
Paige’s smile instantly vanished.
“What did he tell you?” he asked in a low voice.
“I don’t know what to do, Tristan,” she said helplessly.
Her tone tugged at his heart. “Tell me. We’ll work something out.”
She gave him a dubious look.
He planted himself on the stool next to her and squeezed her hand. “This has to do with your parents, right? I can’t promise you that I’ll forget about launching a legal action against them, but I give you my word that I’ll at least try to negotiate—see how we can resolve things.”
“Thank you,” Paige said, chocked. “But it’s something else. Something… worse. Will you promise not to get angry and help me work it out?”
His brows furrowed. “Okay.”
“And will you promise to keep what I’m about to tell you within the walls of this place?”
Whoa, he was highly intrigued now.
“Promise me, Tristan. Promise me, for Tanner’s sake, th
at you will keep what I tell you to yourself.”
“Tanner? Who’s Tanner?”
Paige blushed. “It’s, uh, the name I want our baby to have.”
A huge grin split Tristan’s face. “It’s a boy?”
Paige’s lips tugged up. “Yes, it’s a boy.”
Tristan’s chest expanded as Paige’s news sank in. “It’s a boy,” he repeated with wonder.
“Do you like the name Tanner?”
“Yes, I love it,” he said, overwhelmingly touched.
Paige chuckled with relief. “You should thank Julian. It was his ‘Kel Tan’ that gave me the idea.”
He laughed, then sobered. “Okay, getting back to what we were talking about…”
Paige’s features clouded once again. “So will you promise to keep what I’m about to tell you a secret? You’re the last person I should be trusting with this right now. But because of our baby, and because I trust you, I’ll tell you. And I need you to be helpful and fair and understanding. Please?”
“Yes, I promise.” Most of all, he just found himself wanting to take away Paige’s anxiety and stress.
“I already mentioned to you that Shipton Enterprise is having some cash flow problems. But it seems that the problem is much bigger than I imagined. We need a big cash injection to ensure the day-to-day operation of the business, and to keep the creditors from taking unwanted action.”
“Let me guess,” Tristan said dryly. “Your parents want me to stop threatening to sue them so the other interested buyers of the club won’t get scared off.”
“No. They’ve already sold another club very recently.”
“Really? I didn’t even know they were selling another venue. Goes to show how much they don’t want me getting my hands on a Shipton property.”
“And they don’t want me talking to you at all. But your threatened legal action is not their main worry. The cash flow problem is. The recent sale wasn’t enough to get the company out of trouble. Now, they want me to help out by lending them a few million dollars so they can pay off some creditors and steer Shipton back to profitability.”
The Unexpected Husband (Captured by Love Book 8) Page 6
