Authors: Delilah Fawkes
I squeezed her hand as we rode down, and enjoyed the baffled look on her face.
It had been a long time since someone hadn’t recognized me because of my family’s fame and fortune, and I had to admit… it felt good.
“What’s your name?” I said.
She stood silently next to me, her body stiff, and for a moment, I didn’t think she was going to answer.
“Lilly.”
She spoke so low, I almost couldn’t hear her, but I smiled nonetheless.
“A beautiful name for a beautiful girl.”
She laughed, a sort of short, strangled sound, and fell silent once more.
I wondered what she was thinking as the elevator slid open, and I walked with her through the most extravagant hotel in the city toward my waiting town car.
I liked that for once, I hadn’t a clue.
***
We were ushered by a timid waitress to my father’s usual table—a booth by the far windows, overlooking the golf course. He was there, waiting, looking at his watch with a scowl as Lilly and I sat down.
“Don’t tell me,” he said. “You lost the watch I bought you in another one of your card games.”
“No,” I said. “It’s on my wrist, as usual.”
He glanced up at me with those dark eyes of his, peering out from a furrowed brow, his silver hair making him look like a pissed off bald eagle.
“And when you only give me thirty minutes to meet you, Father, you’re lucky I’m able to be here at all.”
The old man snorted, and looked over at Lilly, giving her a once-over.
“Interrupting you and your little piece, am I? Well, we’ve more important things to talk about than your sex life, Damien.”
Lilly looked like she was about to give him a piece of her mind, but I squeezed her hand under the table, and she bit her lip, a dark expression on her pretty face. I didn’t blame her.
My father was an unrepentant asshole.
“Father, may I introduce Lilly? I’d prefer it if you’d be more polite to my guests…”
“Hrrmmph,” he said. “Who has time to remember all these names? Anyway, my boy, I’d hoped we could speak alone.”
He gave her a pointed you’re-not-welcome glare, but I interrupted it.
“Anything you can say to me, you can say in front of Lilly.”
He sighed, then sat back, crossing his arms over his chest and appraising me in that way he had. That way that made me feel like a schoolboy again, desperate for his approval, and never quite measuring up.
“Very well.”
He motioned for the waitress, who hurried over with his favorite drink, already mixed—a Manhattan.
“Two more for them,” he barked.
“Actually I-“
“You’ll drink what I order, and listen to what I have to say,” he said, fixing me with that stare again. “You, too, Missy.”
Lilly sat back, giving him her own glare, her bottom lip jutting out like she was trying to repress the urge to take a swing at him.
I’m starting to like this girl more and more…
“I asked you here today,” he said. “Because it’s time to discuss your future… and your responsibilities to this family.”
Two more manhattans arrived, and I drained mine in one go, then motioned for another. God, I hated them, but they would certainly help take the edge off whatever fucked up lecture was coming my way.
Lilly sipped hers, then grimaced, and put it back down.
“I’m not as young as I once was,” my father said, and I rolled my eyes.
No kidding.
“And I’d like to know before I go that the family fortune is in good hands. That my legacy will continue. That you are taken care of, son, and that you’re also stepping up to the plate to carry on the family name.”
I’d started crunching on my ice, and sputtered, a cube falling into my lap.
“The family…name?”
“Are you deaf now, Damien, as well as perpetually late?”
My father shook his head.
“What I’m trying to say to you, is that it’s time for you to settle down. I know you’ve enjoyed your little…” He glanced over at Lilly. “Trysts, shall we say. But now, it’s time to buckle down, my boy. Time to get serious.”
I had no words. Was he saying what I thought he was saying?
“It’s time for you to find a wife, Damien. And fast. I want a grandchild before I’m too old to pick one up, for Christ’s sake, and that time is approaching more quickly than I’d like.”
“A grandchild?”
“Clean out your ears, goddamn it,” he said. “Yes, a grandchild! Now, I’ve had the family lawyers draw up some paperwork here which I want you to take a look at.”
He passed me a folder across the table, and I took it, suddenly feeling numb. I flipped it open, but the words swam beneath my gaze.
“I’ll save you some time,” he said. “It says that if you don’t have a wife and grandchild before my 70
th
birthday, you’re cut off.”
“What?!”
“It’s the only way to light a fire under you, son,” he said. “I know you’re used to living the high life, gallivanting around doing God-knows-what. It seems to me, and to your mother, that the only way you’ll listen is if your money is in jeopardy.”
“WHAT?!”
“Goddamit, Damien!”
My father slammed his hand down on the table, causing his Manhattan to slosh onto the white tablecloth.
“It’s all in the packet,” he said, taking a deep breath and straightening his tie. “I don’t need you to sign it. I have witnesses at the next table who saw it being delivered and will notarize the fact that you were served.”
I leaned forward, trying to tamp down the rage building inside of me.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” I hissed. “You can’t control my life like this.”
“Like Hell I can’t,” he said. “And if I didn’t, you’d piss your life away on these whores instead of making something of yourself.”
He gestured at Lilly and took a drink, grimacing at us as he did so.
I’d had just about enough of his bullshit, and was about ready to blow. I took a look beside me and saw Lilly lower her eyes, her cheeks red from my father’s insult. That, more than anything, made me say what I did next.
“How fucking
dare
you?” I spat. “I’ll have you know that Lilly here is my fiancé. I brought her here today to tell you the good news, and this is how you treat her? By spitting insults at her? Honestly, father, I thought you were better bred than that.”
I narrowed my eyes at him, knowing that last part would pour salt in the wound. My parents were old money, and good breeding and manners in public were of the utmost importance to them. Appearances had to be maintained at all costs.
“I… I don’t know what to say,” he said. “My dear, my humblest apologies.”
He leaned across the table and took Lilly’s hand in both of his.
“Honestly, Damien never said he was seeing anyone. I had no idea… but I’m thrilled beyond measure to meet you, Lilly.”
He shook her hand, his wrinkled face cracking into a smile. It was such a rare sight, it was almost frightening to see him happy like this. It just wasn’t
natural
.
To my surprise, she smiled brightly, and shook his hand. It wasn’t until she spoke that I felt her boot heel dig itself into the arch of my foot.
“Thank you, Sir,” she said. “Apology accepted.”
She twisted her ankle, and I suppressed a grunt of pain as she stomped down harder. I squeezed her hand tightly until I felt her finger bones grind together, and she let up, but not before delivering a sharp little kick to my shin for good measure.
I supposed I deserved that, but it still hurt like a bastard.
I grinned at her, trying to communicate telepathically that she’d pay for that later. She just grinned back, then
winked
at me. I shook my head. One thing was certain—I definitely wasn’t bored!
“Well, Damien, this is a surprise,” my father said. “Now, your mother will help plan the Big Day, of course, and the sooner the better! Hell, we can have it right here at the Club, if you’d like. The important thing is we get you two kids tying the knot so you can give me that grandchild.”
He patted Lilly once more on the hand, and waved the waitress back over.
“Order anything you’d like, my dear,” he said. “Lunch is on Damien.”
He and Lilly shared a laugh, and she kicked me under the table once more for good measure.
“Do they have lobster?”
“Best in the city,” he said.
“Perfect,” Lilly said. “I’ll take two.”
***
The car ride back was long and quiet, me lost in thought, pouring over the papers my father had forced on me, and Lilly nodding off beside me, her slim shoulders covered by my suit jacket.
She’d eaten more in one sitting than I’d ever seen a woman eat in my life, packing away lobster like there was no tomorrow, and helping herself to the celebratory bottle of champagne my father ordered as well. No wonder she was having trouble keeping her eyes open.
I looked down at her, at the light dusting of freckles over her nose, at her short, choppy hair, falling down over her eyes, and, I’ll admit, down at those beautiful breasts of hers, her cleavage amply visible from above. I wondered what it might be like to rip that dress off her and kiss those breasts, then make my way down lower…
Would she agree to help me, if I asked her? If I paid her?
It wasn’t that crazy of an idea, was it? To ask her to pose as my fiancé, and maybe… just maybe… give me the baby I needed to keep my inheritance?
God, that sounded insane, even to me.
Hell, could
I
go through with it? Was I ready to be a father, of all things? Then again, was I ready to get a job, like some regular jackoff? To get my hands dirty or work in some dreary office, day-in and day-out? To let the weight of living drag me down, like it did my old man?
Suddenly, the idea of having a baby didn’t seem so bad.
And the thought of what it would take to make that baby sounded like heaven, especially with an unpredictable little spitfire like Lilly.
I’d never met anyone even close to her before. She was totally unspoiled, unlike all those rich bitches I met at the country club, or at society events with my parents. And she wasn’t some up-jumped gold digger hoping to become a socialite. Those women always knew my face the second I walked into a bar or hot spot and did their best to throw themselves at me, hoping I’d take the bait.
More often than not, I enjoyed the sex, then left them wondering where they went wrong. Little did they know, it was just same-old, same-old for me. I needed something different. Something wild. Something
exciting
for once.
Lilly was all that and more. She tried to stab me, for God’s sakes! That took courage, and she was definitely cunning, the way she’d lifted my wallet. I never would have known if she hadn’t accidentally made eye contact with me. The fact that I thought about asking her if I could buy her a drink made me reach for my wallet, and the rest was history. She was
damn
good.
But was she willing to put her life on hold to help me out? Even willing to bear me a child? That remained to be seen.
She murmured in her sleep, then opened her eyes, blinking up at me in a way that made me stiffen once again.
God
, but she had an effect on me… I had to have her. I had to try.
“Lilly?”
“Mmm?”
She sat up and rubbed her eyes, then stiffened, remembering where she was.
“Are you going to turn me in now?”
“No,” I said laughing at her expression. “Relax. I’m not going to involve the cops. However, in return, I need you to promise to consider a business proposition. Deal?”
“Business proposition, hmm?”
She pulled the jacket lower, covering her cleavage.
“I may be a thief, but I’m not a prostitute,” she said.
“Not that kind of proposition.”
She eyed me, then, assessing me for a long while, then nodded.
“I’ll consider whatever you’ve got,” she said. “IF you promise to let me get out of this goddamn dress and
go home
, already.”
“You’re not enjoying my company?”
I pretended to be deeply wounded, my hand on my heart.
“And after all that lobster, and everything…”
She gave me a playful shove, a small smile sneaking onto her lips.
“Alright, alright. It’s not the worst day I’ve ever had.”
“That’s more like it,” I said. “Now, before I tell you what I have in mind, you tell me: How would you like to make a million dollars?”
She stared at me, her eyes wide, that little crinkle above her nose going in full force.