Page 58 of Fragile Twisted Vows

His eyes stay narrowed and I don’t back down.

“It’d be a shame for this to become public before the end of the year. Really might steer the opinions of some of your younger voters, huh?” I say, and he swallows tightly, eyeing my phone for ages.

Yeah so, marrying his youngest daughter might not stop him from launching the feds at me, but it might be a little difficult to launch an investigation on the husband of his love child. People won’t really want to believe a man who impregnated his underage secretary and then paid her to lie about it.

Then again, he doesn’t know I’m going to take this a step further anyway. I’ll save that surprise for later. I’m still going to oust the bastard, just after Lucille is legally my wife. And definitely after he signs a check right now.

The thirty grand he owes me is just a little bonus.

A fund for his little girl’s wedding day.

“What do you say, Michael?” I grin as he sighs and leans back in his chair, his eyes locked on the ceiling as his hand moves to the drawer of his desk.

“You know, Reed,” he starts as he opens the drawer and pulls out his checkbook.

“I really thought you would make a great son in law,” he says as he writes the check and rips it out, slapping it on his desk with a sour expression on his face.

Oh, trust me, I will.

Again.

I grab the check and put it in the pocket of my suit jacket before straightening and standing tall.

I offer him a smile and a quick nod before I turn on my heel to leave his office.

“It was a pleasure doing business with you, Senator,” I say as I leave.

“Burn in hell,” I hear him mutter as I close his door.

What he doesn’t seem to get is that I’ve been burning for a very long time.

“Bruno,” I bark into the phone as I step into my Audi.

“Tell my event planner to meet me at Terrace in Queens by three. I’ve got some details to smooth out.” I end the call and make my way towards Queens, ready to get this wedding planning shit out of the way.

* * *

When I arrive later that evening, my head is pounding from the day’s events. I cashed the check and immediately gave it to Terrace on The Park, a wedding venue near the East side. With the amount of money that I’m paying both the venue and my event planner, I have no reason to worry about the wedding at all.

Lucille will be married to me in front of all of my friends and employees by the end of this month. She’ll get the dress, the pretty little marriage in the park, the big party in the massive reception area, all of it. Everything that a girl could dream of in my opinion.

Then again, this is not the ideal scenario. But I try not to think about it. Megan planned every single detail of our wedding in Connecticut and it was filled with socialites and politicians. The thought of having that again is enough to make me hurl, but I know it’s impossible. Lucille Fairchild has no one to attend her wedding. No father, or mother, no maid of honor. Then again, I could talk to her little friend she lived with, but I have bigger things to focus on.

Her contentment shouldn’t be my priority, even though a stupid part of my brain wants to please her.

I look to my chef who’s already preparing dinner. The house smells of roast chicken and he hands me a glass of white wine that I try not to swallow in one large gulp.

Jesus, my head.

“Where is she?” I ask as I set the wine glass down on the marble countertop.

He shrugs as he chops carrots on the cutting board, his towel draped over his shoulder. I’ve noticed he and Lucy have taken a liking to each other, and a part of me would be jealous since we’re fucking and she’s mine, but the man is engaged to another man. She’s not really his type.

She shouldn’t even be my type.

“In her room. She didn’t eat lunch when she got back. Just went there and mumbled that she had some studying to brush up on.” He mentions it casually, but I grow suspicious.

It’s unlike her to skip a meal, something I’ve grown fond of. I’ve been around her sister and supermodels for so long, I forgot how sexy it is for a woman to have a normal appetite.

---