Page 50 of Forgotten Desires

“No, I’m not kidding, it’s why we’re all having brunch today, so you can meet Brynlee.”

He’s silent and I remain the same. The name is not foreign to him. Which is why this will work in my favor. My family will have no problem understanding exactly why I’m marrying her.

“Brynlee?”

“Yes.”

“You found her?”

If I hadn’t been such a fucking asshole, I would’ve looked for her sooner. “I did, by chance.”

“So, you’re going to marry her?”

“Yes, and Iappreciate”—I emphasize the word strongly—“your support and welcoming of her into the Knight family.”

“Crew.” He huffs my name.

Sometimes I think my parents think we’re all still kids. That we are awaiting our inheritance and will play by their ridiculous rules. My grandfather signed over my inheritance when I married Jacqueline. I built my own fortune, making sure I never needed to be a part of this game anymore.

“I’m not fucking around. I don’t need your money. I don’t need your support. I don’t need this company, I have my own. I’m not a child. I know what I’m doing, and I love her. So, you’ll support me, or you can fuck off.”

“Jesus, calm down,” my father says with a half laugh.

It’s not often any of us go against him. We’ve been trained to be obedient. The Knight name is more valuable than any amount of money we have in our accounts.

I stay quiet, letting him sweat for a moment.

He speaks again. “It just feels sudden, Crew.”

“It’s not. It’s ten years too late. If I wasn’t forced into the bullshit marriage with Jacqueline, then I wouldn’t be suddenly doing anything.”

His deep sigh fills the silence again. He regrets everything about pushing me to marry Jacqueline. He disliked her but would never go against his father’s wishes. Jacqueline was like chimera. We hoped she’d be this perfect idea of a wife. She came from a good family, wasn’t as rich as us, but wasn’t poor, and she knew what her job was. However, she ended up being none of those things. Her family reputation detonated a month after our wedding when her father was arrested for embezzlement and her brother was accused of assault.

“Well, congratulations then. When is the wedding?” my father asks.

“In seven days, in North Carolina. If you come today, we’ll have more details.”

In the heaviness of the moment, I know he wants to say more. However, for maybe the first time in his life, he doesn’t. “I look forward to meeting her.”

“I’ll see you in a few hours.”

I hang up and look at my phone; there are text messages and emails piling in.

“Everything okay?” Brynn’s sleepy voice calls.

When I look up, she’s standing at the door, head resting on the jamb, long, lean legs crossed at her ankles, and I want to lift her, toss her on the bed, and fuck her until neither of us can walk, but I force myself to stay put.

“My father found out through the article this morning.”

“I take it he wasn’t happy for us?”

I grin. “He’s fine now.”

“Maybe there’s another way, Crew. Maybe we don’t have to do this to win Layla.”

“I wish there was. I analyzed it all day before coming to you. The issue was the photos of us, I couldn’t find a way around them. Even if I explained that we were old friends, the way they were going to spin it would have just solidified her case. I need to give the courts every reason to believe that I’m a family man. Being photographed with women and letting the papers spew whatever bullshit they want isn’t going to help.”

Brynn walks toward me. “I never saw you in the papers. In all these years.”

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