Page 51 of The Bargain

“Stop!” I barked so she couldn’t continue. “Yes, I know up close and very personally what a manipulative gold digger looks like, and Bryon Graham is not it. The idea of anyone thinking that about Byron makes me sick to my stomach. If you don’t trust my judgment, call Declan right now. He knows Byron. He will vouch for him.”

Thomas Cook was a very ugly part of our past and something I didn’t ever want any of us to go through again, but I would go to war with anyone who dared to put Byron in the same class as that monster.

My mother continued to frown at me. She opened her mouth, but I interrupted her.

“Stop! Don’t say another word, or I swear I’ll cut you out of my life.”

“Sebastian! Don’t be ridiculous.” She made another dismissive noise but paused when I refused to budge. She held my gaze until some of the derisiveness finally faded from her expression.

“Mom, I love him. I plan to do everything in my power to convince him to spend the rest of his life with me. If Byron wakes up one day and decides he wants my entire fortune, he can have it. All I want is him.”

“Oh, my sweet baby.” She sighed and walked over to me. She rubbed the spot on my arm she’d hit repeatedly. “I just don’t want to see you get hurt.”

“Byron won’t hurt me. Not intentionally. But he’s got way more to lose than me, so we’re taking it slowly.”

She still looked skeptical. “Who hit on who?”

“I was the instigator from the start. He’s fought me and raised objections the entire way. I’ve worn him down.”

“Yes, that sounds like you. I don’t know if that makes me feel better or worse.”

With a smirk, I wrapped my arms around my mom’s shoulders and pulled her in for a hug. “I want you to give him a chance. The sweet guy you spent the last ten minutes chatting with is who he really is, and I think you’re going to like him.”

“Oh, I know I’m going to like him.” She paused and looked up at me. “Declan approves of him?”

It was a struggle not to clench my teeth and growl at her, but I got it. Declan wasn’t the type to get swept away by his emotions. Unlike me.

“Yes, Declan approves of him. He thinks Byron is incredibly smart, efficient, honest, and loyal.”

My sweet, loving mother huffed. “Then he’s definitely too good for you.”

“Whatever. So long as you learn to like him, because a year from now, I plan to make him your new son-in-law.”

Mom pushed away from me so she could meet my gaze. “And how long have you been dating?”

“This is our fifth date, but we’ve known each other for three years.”

She pinched the bridge of her nose and let out a groan. “You exhaust me, child.”

“Whatever. Dad brags he knew he was going to propose to you by the third date.”

“Yes, and we were young, poor, and stupid. Right now, you can claim only one of those things.”

“Thanks, Mom. Can you give him a fair shot? Be nice?”

“Yes, yes. Of course. I’m sure he’s a wonderful boy.” She waved me off as she stepped out of my arms, but her stern expression returned a second later. “But I want you to promise that you’ll figure something out about the job. Move him to an entirely different division. Better yet, help him get a new job outside of Courtland Enterprises.Now.”

“I don’t want to force him out of the company. He likes working for Courtland. I have a plan. Don’t worry. I want to go slowly. Otherwise, I risk scaring him off completely.”

“Now, Sebastian. None of your usual feet dragging. I won’t tell your father…yet. But it’s coming. He needs to know you’re putting all of Courtland Enterprises in danger.”

“I’m not. I’ve got everything under control.”

She didn’t look convinced, but I wasn’t worried. My hope was that by the end of July, Byron would be working under Declan and dating me openly. Another option would be to see if Justine was serious about taking him to her department. She answered directly to the chairman, rather than me. That would put even more distance between Byron and me. This was the best I could do and keep him at Courtland, and Byron knew it. If I were lucky, I’d be proposing to my man with snowy Swiss mountains in the background. Or maybe a slow winding river cruise in China.

We returned to join the rest of the volunteers. The afternoon passed easily with a light lunch and talking about the efforts my mom’s charity was planning to pursue. I gave up worrying about whether my mom was going to like Byron when I caught them off together in an intense, hour-long discussion about event planning and new outreach efforts the charity should consider.

Oh, yeah. Byron fit in perfectly, and I couldn’t wait to make him mine.

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