WIFE WANTED (A Billionaire Bad Boy Romance) (2 page)

His grandfather was dead. The words reverberated over and over in his mind, and he felt like someone had sucker punched him.

“Mr. Marston? Riley,” one of the older men was saying as he held out his hand. Jim, he thought, that one was Jim. “We are so terribly sorry. We know how much he meant to you and vice versa.”

“Yes, if there’s anything you need, son,” Larry said, patting him on the back, “just give us a call. Night or day.” He handed Riley a card, then the two of them headed out of the conference room. The two old ladies could barely speak but hugged Riley close and told him they were also just a phone call away if he needed anything. And they’d send along some of their brother’s things to give Riley some comfort.

He was numb when he finally sat back down—making sure to stay out of hitting range of Ms. Chandler, who was still glaring at him as if hoping he’d drop dead. He was too much in shock about everything that had happened to really care. She could glare at him all she liked. Right now, all he cared about was figuring out why his grandfather had done what he had. He was forcing him to get married? There was no sense to it! And there was no way it was legal. Couldn’t be.

As everyone else left the room, Mr. Benton pulled up a chair at the head of the table and flipped through some files. “Now then, Ms. Chandler. How about we address your concerns first, hmm? So we can get you out of this office and back to your busy schedule.”

“The video is wrong,” she snapped, setting her hands palms down on the table.

“Ma’am, I can assure you, the video has not been doctored at all by anyone at this law firm—or anywhere else for that matter,” he said, interlocking his fingers and staring at her over them. “The amount he has left you should be more than enough to take care of yourself after retirement. That, it would seem, is why he left it to you.” He slid some papers out of the file towards her. “His will, in writing. If you’ll note, that’s his signature at the bottom of the page.”

She grabbed the sheet, and Riley watched her eyes skim the page. Her hands started to shake as she grew angrier. Finally, she slammed the page down and stood, slinging her black leather purse over her shoulder. “This isn’t over,” she hissed at Riley.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” he asked her. “You're going to fight me for my company? My estate?”

“You have two months to marry,” she crooned at the door. “If you do not, guess who inherits everything from him? Good luck finding a woman desperate enough to give up her life for a stranger.” She walked out, slamming the door behind her. They listened to the angry click of her heels down the hall before they finally faded into silence.

Riley leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling, wanting very much to disappear. He reached up to tug his earring but remembered at the last second it still wasn’t there. This was just too much to deal with right now. He wasn’t sure he could handle it.

“Mr. Benton,” he asked, straightening in his chair. “Could I trouble you for a refreshment?”

The old lawyer smiled kindly and nodded before pressing the intercom button on the phone on the table. “Susie? Would you mind bringing the decanter and three glasses from my office?”

She said she’d be right in, and Riley thanked him. He guessed now he had a funeral to plan, to see his grandfather laid to rest.

Then he had to go and plan a wedding?

“I still don’t understand what’s going on here,” he said, standing to unbutton his suit jacket and lay it over the back of his chair. “Is this actually happening? Do I really have to get married?”

Susie knocked on the door before Mr. Benton could answer and came in with a small rolling cart. She left it parked beside the table and headed back out as Mr. Benton stood to pour them all glasses of whiskey.

“This was a good year,” he told Riley and Ben as they took their glasses. “To your grandfather?”

“Cheers,” Riley muttered, clinked their glasses, then shot the whiskey back. The familiar burn trailed down his throat and warmed his stomach. He held the glass up for another and Mr. Benton told him to help himself. “So you’re telling me it’s legal then? What he did?”

“I’m afraid so. There is nothing in his writings that will get you out of this deal. Either you marry or you lose everything and it goes to Ms. Chandler.”

Ben sat down and started to look through the papers after asking Mr. Benton’s permission. “I thought this woman was nice and all. Why is she after your grandfather’s company?”

“The company or the money?” Riley asked.

“From the look on her face, she wanted the company, but why?”

Mr. Benton set down his glass with a raised brow. “Just what are you trying to say, young man?”

“I’m saying that perhaps Ms. Chandler’s motives for getting to know the late Mr. Marston were not just out of the goodness of her heart,” Ben said. “If she truly loved him, she wouldn’t care about what he left her.”

Mr. Benton laughed. “People change when those they love die. Some call it their way of dealing with grief.”

“Or she’s after something else,” Ben said. “Mind if I look over this some more?”

“Please do. That is Riley’s copy, after all.”

Riley tried to think back to anything his grandfather might have said against this woman, but he’d hardly ever spoken of her. Riley hadn’t even met her until today, at least not fully. He knew she was a high-powered attorney, but that was it. Not who she represented or where she went on all her travels. He’d never had time to think about it, but now that she might inherit everything from him—she could take the company! He would lose his position as CEO. That couldn’t happen. He’d built so much since his grandfather handed it over to him.

And now everything was at risk. Unless he tied the knot.

His gut clenched as he tried to think of the women he knew now. None of them were friends—mostly one night stands, there to give him a bit of comfort when he needed it. Could he trust any of them with his life? With his company?

No way in hell. They weren’t honest. They thought he was some shallow billionaire and treated him as such. They’d take his money and not care about him, ever.

“Mr. Benton,” he said, mouth suddenly dry as he realized the seriousness of his predicament. “You wouldn’t happen to know where I could find a wife in two months, would you?”

The old lawyer smiled. “I was hoping you would ask. Since we received the will this morning, I’ve had Susie researching legitimate dating websites where one can find a suitable partner in a short amount of time. Why don’t I walk you to my office and you can speak with her there?”

Riley nodded, downed a second whiskey, then followed Mr. Benton out. Ben followed close behind, the files and his friend’s jacket in hand. Susie was busy typing at her computer when they approached her desk.

“Gentlemen, I think I have some choice sites that you might want to investigate,” she said and turned her monitor for them to see. “All you have to do, Mr. Marston, is create a profile and start looking through them.”

“Online dating. Damn,” Riley muttered, wishing he could feel even a bit excited. All he felt was numb and trapped.

“Never thought you’d be on it, did you?” Ben said, patting him on the back. “Don’t worry, we’ll find someone for you. Can you e-mail these links to me, Susie?”

“Of course.”

Riley shrugged back into his jacket and checked his watch. “Ben, we need to make calls for funeral homes and be sure everything is taken care of.”

“Actually, sir, that has already been taken care of,” Mr. Benton told him. “Your grandfather had all the arrangements ready to go for the day he finally left us. The information is in the back of the file. I believe the wake is tomorrow—here, of course. He wanted to be buried next to his son.”

“Good,” Riley whispered, throat suddenly tight. His parents’ graves. He hadn’t been there in years. Not since he buried someone else so close to his heart. “Good, then. Thank you, Mr. Benton, for everything.”

“Of course. Just do me one favor before you attend his funeral?”

Riley grinned, already knowing what it would be. “Don’t worry, I’ll appear a total gentlemen for him. The hair will get cut.”

Mr. Benton’s lips turned upward in a gentle smile of approval. “Good. Then call me if you have any questions. I will be at the funeral to send him off.”

Riley thanked him and Susie again then headed back to the elevator that would take them to the roof. Ben flipped through the file as they rode up, though Riley wasn’t sure what he was hoping to find in the pages. But his friend was always better at the legal end of things. That was why he’d hired him as his assistant. Ben could’ve gone on to be a lawyer for Fortune 500 companies or even the government, but instead, he’d stayed by his friend’s side through everything. One day, he’d have to do something nice for him.

Maybe after the wedding.

A wedding. Riley was getting married. The clock was ticking on him to find a wife. Where the hell was he going to start?

“So I guess after your meeting this morning with the board members to announce your grandfather’s death, we’ll start the wife hunt,” Ben said as they boarded the helicopter.

Riley cursed. He’d completely forgotten about telling everyone else the news. It was going to be a somber few days at the company. He’d have to make sure everyone took the time they needed to grieve their founder’s loss. Riley Marston the first had touched many lives. He’d been generous in his days as CEO and passed those morals down to his grandson. Now, Riley really had big shoes to fill. He was officially on his own.

“Let’s get this over with,” he said, and they flew back to Cyber Vault, Inc. where he called the staff together and informed them of his grandfather’s death. There were many sad faces and tears, shaking of hands and hugs. Riley had a hard time keeping it together until he made it back to the sanctuary of his office. He told Ben he needed a few minutes, closed the door, then sat down in his chair and cried like a little kid.

Chapter 3

A very well-groomed Riley with short, gelled hair stepped out of the town car at the funeral home in the suburbs of New York. Riley had spent all last night sifting through images of women who were looking for a quick marriage, just as he was. A quick way to get hitched. He’d skimmed through so many profiles that he’d lost track of who was who. Ben had tried to be helpful, but how was he supposed to pick the person he'd spend the rest of his life with? And in one night?

Ben had read through every fine-print detail of the will. It even said that Riley could not get divorced for at least five years or the entire marriage would be null and void. Which meant Ms. Chandler would once again be in line to get everything.

That woman…
She irritated Riley more than she should, but after what Ben had said about her, he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about why she really wanted the company so badly. She had no ties to Cyber Vault, Inc., or at least none Riley could find. Ben had promised to do more digging that night while Riley attended the wake. He’d wanted his friend by his side, but they needed the information more. His great aunts had come, at least, and stayed close as he entered the room and saw his grandfather’s dead body for the first time.

“You just let us speak with everyone, all right, dearie?” Darcie said, squeezing his hand. Her greying hair was done up in a bun, and she patted it to make sure it still looked all right.

“Yes, we’ll take care of everything,” Bethany said.

“I’ll be all right, really.”

“Oh, Riley, we know how much he meant to you. Tonight, you just need to worry about saying goodbye. You don’t need to talk to anyone…Especially that creature,” Darcie snapped, her teeth rattling in her mouth. “The nerve of her to show her face here.”

Riley glanced up and saw Ms. Chandler walk through the door. “Well, she was kind of his girlfriend.”

“No matter. No woman of character smacks the grandson of her dead lover,” Bethany said.

“She should not be here and—who is that? Who did she bring with her?”

“Is that William Yancey?” Riley asked, taking in Ms. Chandler’s short black skirt and tight blouse. Not exactly what one should wear to the funeral of her lover. He turned his eyes to the man beside her and frowned. He recognized the man, but from where? He was dressed just as sharply as she was—coal-black suit, pressed white shirt, and blue silk tie. His hair was slicked back, and he carried a cigar in his jacket pocket. Two cigars. Ms. Chandler had her arm tucked through his, and her eyes were red as if she’d been crying. Riley pulled out his cell phone and casually raised it up as if to check a message, but instead, clicked a picture of the two of them and sent it to Ben.

It only took a few minutes before his friend texted back and said he’d look into it, along with whatever else this Chandler woman might be involved in. Riley looked over the full name in the text. Diane. He remembered now. Her name was Diane Chandler, power-attorney who left others strewn in her wake. She never lost a case or disappointed a client, and grossed at least twenty million last year. She had no business worrying about his grandfather’s money, yet for some reason she did.

“If you’ll excuse me, Aunts,” he said. “I think I’ll go say hello.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Bethany asked, patting the cheek Diane had smacked just yesterday.