Page 31 of The Revenge Plan

“Is that why you married me? To steal a deed.”

“Your father forced my hand. Besides, there are tons of benefits to keeping your enemy close.”

“Such as?”

“You’ll soon find out.”

The puzzle was piecing itself. No wonder dad had driven a hard bargain. He knew how much Caiden wanted Celeste and he knew the family name was in the mud. What better way to rescue the name, if only temporary, than to have your daughter marry into one on its way to the top.

I gazed up to him, “I don’t think I’m the person for you. Where would I begin to look for something like that?”

“His safe, for starters. The deed itself is easy to find. It’s an old deed, it probably looks old-timey and is yellow. Can’t be hard to miss.”

“Why not go to the island and tell them you own the damn mine.”

“I’ve tried that and it’s difficult. We could win the case in the courts, but it would be too long and too late.”

“Too late for what?”

“Are you going to get me the deed or not?”

My pulse sped up at the prospect of the theft. If my father caught me in the act, I could only guess what he would do with me. “I don’t know if I can do this.”

“It’s that or I’m pulling my funding.”

I glared at him as he kept playing with the pen. It was so infuriating I wanted to slap it away midair. Stealing from dad is not what bothered me. It was tradition after all. My family’s wealth was tainted from the start and father was proud of it. He liked to tell the story about how he had swindled the mine from Shepard and enjoyed watching him seethe for years. He had enjoyed knowing that he had died without the mine. Rumor had it, after he died, Shepard left everything to Caiden and that clearly included the grudge.

What bothered me was going there unannounced. It would raise alarm considering I rarely paid him a visit.

“I would need a reason to be there.”

“You don’t have to. They are throwing a surprise sixty-fifth birthday party for your father tomorrow and we’re both invited.”

???

“I don’t know about this,” I said to Caiden in the car on our way to Dad’s place.

“You’ll be fine.”

I doubted it. What if they caught me? What if the deed isn’t even there? He wouldn’t trust me to tell the truth. He would probably think I was lying. My stomach got more unsettled and as we got closer to the house, I felt nauseated. He took my hand and squeezed it. I was surprised by the gesture and glanced at him. Then I remembered we were around people and it was time to put his mask on. I closed my arm and got out of the car, following Caiden into the house. They had decorated the place with a celebratory theme, that was both modern and chic. I could only guess that Bryce’s party planning girlfriend was the one responsible. The two were the first to greet us.

“Sorry we’re late for the surprise,” I said to Bryce. I wasn’t. We had deliberately arrived late.

“The place looks lovely,” I said to her after exchanging hugs.

“Not as lovely as you,” she said to me, pointing at my dress. It was one of my many purchases during my spendthrift days. It was a timeless golden gown that was backless and dipped low in the front. I knew it looked good. Even Caiden, who’s usually frozen and unresponsive in whatever I did, had done a double take when I had strode out of my room.

We entered the drawing room where the party was. Caiden’s arm never left my back the entire time we strolled around. Now and then it would dip a little lower and cause all sorts of havoc inside me. It did not help my already hyper nerves.

“You’re a bit possessive today,” I said to him after a few of my father’s colleagues left us. We had greeted them, and one had been a little too reluctant to let go of my hand. Caiden immediately took my hand into his as soon as the man had let go.

“That’s because I don’t want you to disappear on me before we do what we came to do.” His talent to douse whatever fire he was able spark within me was legendary, “but I can’t deny how good you look. Every man except for your relatives wants to eat you alive.”

I glanced at him, surprised. He wasn’t lying. His eyes were heavy lidded with passion. That spark lit up again and raged even more this time.

“Let’s congratulate your father first before we disappear into his study.” He was easy to spot. There was a group of men in the middle of the room surrounding him, most of whom were his friends from the yacht club. We made our way there. He was saying something animatedly to the group. His face was bright. His hands waved about energetically as he gesticulated. He looked like ten years had been subtracted from him.

“My father isn’t usually this excited about getting old,” I said.

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