Insidious (16 page)

Miss Conway? What happened to Tori?

Summoning my most sincere smile, I laid the tablet with my questions beside my place setting, accepted the chair he offered, and replied, “Good morning, Mr. Harrington.”

Just then, Lisa entered the office with a covered dish and set it before me. Raising the lid, she smiled and said, “I hope you like eggs and bacon.” Before I could answer, she asked, “What can I get you to drink?”

“Um, I’m fine with water.”

“Come, dear, we have many other options: coffee, tea, juice?”

Her endearment made me smile. “Thank you, orange juice would be wonderful.”

After she left, Stewart asked, “So you’re not a coffee or tea drinker?”

“Not really. I drink coffee sometimes when I’m studying late.” I glanced toward the cup near his plate. “But you are a coffee drinker, I see.”

“I am.” He smirked.

“What?”

“It seems as though we’re learning more and more about one another.”

I lowered my eyes to my plate. “I also don’t eat meat. I don’t mind that other people do. I just don’t.”

He reached across the table and scooped up the bacon and deposited it on his plate. “We didn’t know. What about eggs?”

Lifting my fork, I grinned. “I eat eggs, and scrambled is my favorite.”

Stewart leaned back and watched as I ate. Truthfully, the few grapes I’d eaten last night did little to suppress my hunger. With pink filling my cheeks, I remembered what had taken my mind away from food.

Looking toward my tablet, Stewart said, “I’m going to interpret your wanting clarification as a good sign. At least that means you weren’t prepared to come down here and just tell me no.”

Swallowing, I shook my head. “I believe it’s best to explore my options.”

Lifting his brow, he replied, “Hmmm, I like to explore as well.”

Shifting slightly in my seat, I asked, “What if I said yes right now? What would happen?”

“We’d wed on Thursday.”

“No, not that. What would happen with Randall and Marilyn, Marcus, Lyle, and Val?”

Stewart cleared his throat. “
If
you said yes, you and I would immediately leave here and go to my attorney’s office to sign the contract. We need witnesses, and Parker wants to go over some finer points with both of us present.”

“Parker?” I asked, feeling very intimidated. What attorney in his right mind would write up such an elaborate agreement, much less want to sit and discuss it?

“Parker Craven, of Craven and Knowles. He’s been my lead attorney for years.”

“I-I don’t know. Some of the things in the contract are pretty personal. I mean it spells out specifics about things like…”

“Sex.” Stewart volunteered. “Yes, Miss Conway.”
Again with the Miss Conway?
“If we are to wed and you’re to share my name and money, I expect sex. I expect birth control. I have many expectations centering on the way I want things. From our limited experience, I don’t foresee any of that being a problem; however, if you were to decide to withhold my desires from me, it would be grounds for termination of our contract. The only way to make that legal is to spell it out.”

“But I don’t know him. I don’t want to discuss my sex life with him.”

Stewart smirked. “You will know him. Though your parents believe that they live among the elite in Miami, they aren’t even close. This is a whole new world. Sometimes there’ll be instances that make you uncomfortable. When that happens, tell me. I’ll do what I can to help you. In this instance, I’ll be there with you. However, to make this all legal, the conversation with Parker is unavoidable.”

“Speaking of my parents, after we sign the contract,
if
we do, what happens to Randall?”

“I’ll give the go-ahead for the withdrawal of funds. Travis will take the funds to where they need to be, and Randall’s life will be spared.”

“Are you going to call him, let him know my decision?”

Stewart studied my face before answering. “Perhaps you’d prefer to make that call?”

My cheeks rose. “I haven’t made a decision. However, if I do, I think I’d like to wait until he calls me. After all, he and my mother put me in this situation, and other than a package with clothes and a note, I’ve yet to hear from them.”

He nodded approvingly. “Damn, sexy and bitchy. You, Miss Conway, get better by the minute. That is the perfect combination for success in my world.”

“And if I decide
no
, I also believe he can call me.”

“Yes, you, my darling, could make this work. So
if
…” he emphasized the word, “…you say yes, I’m assuming I won’t be burdened with my mother- and father-in-law’s presence?”

I shook my head. “It would probably be the first time in my life that they wanted to be around me. So, no fucking way. They want to sell me off to save their asses—that’s their business. But if they think I’m going to welcome them with open arms into this new crazy-assed life, they’re dumber than I imagined.”

Reaching across the table, Stewart secured my hand as his expression morphed. No longer did I see the business tycoon in a designer suit. His countenance softened, eyes widened, and he leaned toward me. “Tori, I’ve decided to make a change to the
no
file.”

My heart raced and body tensed as I awaited his explanation.

“I’ve changed my mind. If you chose to walk away today, I’ll double the amount of the check. You’re right: your parents have put you in an incredibly unfair position. One hundred thousand dollars should help you and your sister. As a matter of fact, if you keep your word, maintain your silence about what occurred here yesterday and today, and you ever need more money, don’t hesitate to contact me. I’ll give you my private cell number.”

The immediate excitement over the increase in money quickly faded. “I-Is that what you want me to do? Do you want me to leave? Is that why you keep calling me Miss Conway?”

He exhaled, leaned back, and resumed his businesslike tone. “I’m calling you by your name. Until the time that you choose to marry, Miss Conway is your name. This is a business deal. Formalities work best in business. Emotion clouds the real issues.”

I pulled my hand away. “So what was that last night? Was
that
clouding the issue? Because, to be honest, I was pretty
clouded
when I made my way back to my room.”

“No, Miss Conway, you were not clouded. For the first time in your life you were satiated. And if you make the right decision, it won’t be the last.”

“You just said to walk away.”

“I said it’s an option, one that just doubled in appeal.”

I squared my shoulders and straightened my neck. “Are both offers still on the table, or have you removed the second offer?”

His jaw clenched as he eyed me suspiciously. “Is it your intention to make me beg? Do you intend to hear me specify that I want you to take the offer of marriage so that you can turn it down?” His arms crossed his chest. “Miss Conway, let me make myself clear: I don’t beg.”

My façade of a smile remained unwavering yet inside, I wanted to scream.
What the hell was this guy’s problem?
If there were an award for sending mixed signals, he’d definitely be in the running. Hell, I’d nominate him myself. Finally, prying my pursed lips apart, I said, “Well, Mr. Harrington, neither do I.”

Stewart looked at his watch. “Your time is ticking. You have almost twenty minutes before it’s time for your decision. Do you want to ask any of those questions?” He tilted his head toward my paper.

Did I? Or was I ready to tell him to fuck it?
I looked down at my writing, scanned the questions—those that last night seemed of monumental importance—and replied, “No.”

“No?”

“No,” I repeated with confidence.

Stewart uncrossed his arms and leaned forward. “Interesting. That’s all it took?”

“What do you mean?”

“It only took an extra fifty thousand dollars for you to walk away and stand up to your stepfather?”

My mind spun. “I haven’t said I’m walking away, although you seem to be pushing me in that direction.”

“You just said no.”

“I said no, I don’t want to ask any of those questions. Instead, I want clarification.”

Stewart exhaled.

It may not have been begging, but it was the closest sign of his desire I’d seen during our morning discussion.

“Clarification on what?” he asked.

I fought the urge to pace, instead busying myself by smoothing nonexistent wrinkles from my jeans. Summoning courage from some unknown source, I began. “I’m eighteen years old. I don’t want to be held prisoner in your home. You have a lot of shit in that contract about my obligation to sex. What are my other obligations? If I marry you, will I have a life? What about my contact with my sister and brothers? What about school? What about work? I want to know what I’m signing up for today. Tell me there will be more to my life than sex.”

He grinned. “Oh… if only my time permitted me to say no, but alas, I too have work and obligations. Therefore, you’ll have plenty of time for other activities. As long as you present yourself in all situations in the decorum I know you’ve been taught to maintain, there’ll be no restrictions on your activities. I have no intention of monitoring you or your communications. School is done; your graduation is this Saturday. Work is unnecessary, and Lisa will help you integrate into the world of the elite. She’ll help you find proper activities. Who knows, you may become friends with some of the uptight bitches who grace the arms and beds of my associates.”

“Are we arranging playdates now?”

His hands slapped the table. “Miss Conway. That bitchiness is not welcome when it’s directed toward me.”

Ignoring his rapidly disintegrating demeanor, I concentrated on his earlier answers. “
If
I marry you, I won’t be at my graduation?”

“No. We’ll be on our honeymoon. That doesn’t make the graduation any less valid.”

“Honeymoon? Do you have this all planned?”

“Yes and no,” he said. “We’ll have a clandestine destination wedding.”

“I feel there’s more to it than that.”

“Of course, it’ll be leaked to the press. It’ll appear as though we’ve had this secretly planned for a while. You’ll have everything a bride dreams of for her wedding.”

“Unless, of course, I dreamt of a long engagement and maybe love.”

Stewart’s eyes narrowed: his agitation was showing. It didn’t take a genius to recognize that he didn’t appreciate my comebacks. Too damn bad. I wasn’t the one who made him the marriage offer.

“Miss Conway…” he elongated my name, his tenor lower.

Hearing his tone of admonishment, I sat straighter and said, “Listen, Mr. Harrington, I’ve done pretty damn well without parental support for eighteen years. I don’t need it now.”

“Obviously, your parental provision has been stellar.” He leaned forward, his blue eyes simmered with a combination of annoyance and lust. “Let me assure you, there’s nothing remotely close to parenting in my plans for you, or in our contract.”

The way he looked at me made my mind stop arguing while my insides twisted. He was right: everything in the contract was a much more direct discussion of a sexual relationship, made legal and binding through the act of marriage. Nevertheless, the sultry sheen to his icy blue eyes returned my sense of power.

I looked at my phone, 7:26 AM. “If you’ll give me a minute to brush my teeth, I believe we have an appointment with your friend Parker.”

“And at this meeting… which contract will we be signing?”

“My stepfather will live to see another day.”

Stewart’s cheeks rose revealing a pearly white smile. “I’ll phone Parker to alert him to our arrival.”

“But not Randall.”

“No, not Randall.”

THOUGH I WAS uncomfortable about visiting his attorney, Stewart remained true to his word. He stayed with me every step of the way. When we arrived, I did my best to appear to be a woman about to marry one of the wealthiest men in Miami—hell, maybe the country. Yet the entire time I feared that my pounding heart or sweaty palms would give away my secret. I wasn’t worthy of this offer.

I’d been reminded of that all of my life. My presence contaminated and infected those closest to me. It would take some time, but one day Stewart would realize that this was a deal he shouldn’t have made.

As soon as we entered the prestigious leaded-glass doors to the cavernous foyer of Craven and Knowles, a tall, slender woman with a black pencil skirt greeted Stewart warmly. “Mr. Harrington, it’s our pleasure to have you visit today. Mr. Craven will be right with you.” The entire time she spoke, she purposely avoided looking in my direction as her peasant-style blouse teased with the promise of her barely hidden breasts.

“Trish,” Stewart began, focusing her attention my way. “Let me introduce my companion, Miss Conway. In the future, I expect you’ll be as happy to see her as you are me.”

A crimson hue settled on her cheeks as she shamefully lowered her chin, and for the first time, looked in my direction. “Hello, Miss Conway, I apologize if I was rude. It’s nice to meet you. Let me show you to the conference room. Mr. Craven will be with you in a moment.”