Page 28 of A Bossy Proposal

West

“How do we play this at work?” Amelia asks as we sit in the back of my town car on the journey.

I adjust my tie, glancing sideways at Amelia. She’s fiddling with the buttons of her top; an anxious habit I notice more these days.

Her eyes dart to me. “I mean, do we tell people or keep it a secret?”

I chuckle. “Just tell them we met at Henry’s party, and we’ve been in a secret relationship for six months. And now I’m happy to take our relationship to the next step. And you’ve moved in with me.”

Her brow furrows. “And if anyone mentions Felix?”

“He was your roommate, nothing more,” I reply. The name sits heavy between us, but we can’t afford to linger on that.

“That should work.” She exhales, relief washing over her features. “I’ve kept him under wraps pretty well at work.”

I smile at her confidence and check the time on my watch. Ten minutes until we hit the office.

“You remember you have an appointment with your father at ten?” she reminds me, shifting gears back to business mode.

“Be careful because once he knows, he’ll be relentless.”

“Yeah,” she replies, her smile fading slightly as she looks away again. “He’s probably going to grill me about you. And I don’t know that much about you, not really.”

I lean back in the leather seat, studying Amelia’s perfect profile. “Well, let us fix that. What do you want to know?”

She turns to face me, her eyes brightening with curiosity. “Tell me about your family. I know you have got a brother, East, but are there others?”

“Yeah, there’s East. Then there’s my younger brother, Dash. He’s nineteen and studying at the Omerta Academy, and so is my younger sister.”

Amelia’s brow furrows. “Omerta Academy?”

I hesitate, weighing how much to reveal. “It’s an elite college. Caters to children of high net worth individuals. Some mafia and secret society families send their kids there too.”

Her eyes widen. “Mafia? Secret societies? That sounds intense.”

I shrug, trying to play it off. “It’s just a fancy school with some interesting clientele. Nothing too crazy.”

“Tell me about your sister?” Amelia prompts, clearly eager for more information.

“Arabella. She’ll be twenty-two soon. She finishes college this year. She’s training to become a lawyer.”

Amelia nods, processing the information. “So, four of you in total. That must have been fun growing up.”

I snort. “Fun isn’t exactly the word I’d use. East and I are close in age, but Dash and Arabella are much younger.”

A wistful look crosses her face. “I’ve always wondered what it would be like to have siblings.”

The car slows as we approach the office building. I glance at Amelia, noticing the slight tension on her shoulders. “Are you ready for this?”

She takes a deep breath, squaring her shoulders. “As I’ll ever be. Let’s give them a show, shall we?”

I straighten in my seat. “If my father questions anything, let me handle it.”

She bites her lip, contemplating something deeper than our fabricated story.

“You think he will believe us?”

“Doesn’t matter if he does or doesn’t.” I shrug. “What matters is how convincing we are in front of everyone else, because hewillstart asking around.”

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