Billion Dollar Mistake by K.C. Crowne

Chapter 18

SAWYER

Dad regarded me with a skeptical expression as we stood in front of the courthouse in downtown Denver.

“She’s driving here on her own?” he asked. “That’s peculiar.”

The courthouse was a grand building ‒ Greek-style with huge columns that stood behind a massive staircase. The rest of the building curved around us in a big half circle. People streamed out of the tall front doors, a clock tower on top of the building looming over everything. The big, square garden straight ahead was lush and colorful with spring flowers.

All in all, not a bad place to get fake-married.

Dad and I were dressed in sharp, dark suits. The old man was still recovering from when I’d told him a few days ago that not only had I found the one, but that we were getting married in less than a week. His reaction had been hard to read – usually the case with him. He’d seemed happy, but the measured sort of happy that he’d show when he was on the verge of an amazing business deal that he hadn’t quite sealed.

I’d had no idea if he believed me. Then again, if he hadn’t, why would he have let things go this far? Maybe he was planning on waiting until we were right in front of the judge to spring the news that he knew I was full of shit.

That wasn’t really his style, however. Dad was the more straightforward sort of guy – as opposed to his underhanded son who was in the process of pulling a fast one on him. I felt guilty as hell about it, but I kept telling myself it was for the better. The sooner I took control of the company, after all, the sooner Dad could get to Florida and spend his retirement in style. Besides, it was his idea that I needed to be married in such a short amount of time, not mine.

“From what he told us last night at dinner,” Janice said, “she sounds like the independent type.” Janice smiled in my direction, letting me know she was on my side.

Last night, I’d finally gotten the chance to meet the famous and mysterious Janice. I’d had my guard up, ready to be on the lookout for any signs that she was nothing more than a scheming gold digger who cared about nothing other than getting her hands on Dad’s black card.

She hadn’t been like that at all. Forty-something and pretty, with sun-blonde hair and a trim figure, Janice was friendly and warm and eager as hell to get to know me. Over dinner at the Winchester last night, she told me all about the small business that she ran, selling and shipping organic skin care products.

Calling it a “small business”, however, was doing it a disservice. Her company, Sun Glow, had been built from a three women operation between her and a couple of friends into a multimillion-dollar empire in the making. She had no need to be after my father’s fortune.

Ten minutes with Janice was enough to make it clear why he’d made such a connection with her. She was pretty and kind, but also ambitious and smart as hell – a woman after Dad’s own heart, the type who’s warm and charming on the outside, but doesn’t take any crap.

I smiled at Janice. “Most definitely independent. Just one of the many things I love about her.” I followed this up with an even bigger smile, the kind I’d imagine a man would make when talking about the woman he loved.

Since I’d never been in love before, that took a hell of a lot of pretending. I mean, that’s what guys in love did, right? They talked about their women and got all doe-eyed, like she was the prettiest, most wonderful damn woman in the world, and they couldn’t believe they’d gotten her. Then after that came the good-natured jokes about the old ball and chain, if 90s sitcoms had any basis in truth.

“That’s awesome to hear,” Janice said. Her positive attitude was infectious.Everything was “awesome” or “amazing.” It was a nice contrast to Dad’s typically measured enthusiasm. “That’s what you want – a woman who can make her own decisions and doesn’t stand around waiting for people to make them for her.”

Well, that part wasn’t a lie. Jolene was as independent as they came – independent to the point where she was fine having a career that meant she’d be spending most of the working day in a basement with dead bodies. It was cool, really.

Before I said anything else, I spotted a familiar Jeep pulling in the courthouse parking lot.

“And there she is,” I said. “The dark red Jeep with, ah, all the mud on it.”

“Hm,” Dad hummed. “You’ll have to buy her something a little more fitting when you’re married. If the wife of someone in your stature is seen driving around in a car like that people are going to talk.”

“Fat chance of that happening,” I said as the car pulled closer to the courthouse. “She’s in love with that thing.”

Dad chuckled before turning his attention back to the Jeep.

My thoughts lingered on something he’d said.

My stature? Was he perhaps referring to my stature as the CEO of one of the biggest technology firms in the country?

Maybe that meant the plan was working, that Dad was buying it. I did my best to keep a smile from taking hold.

The Jeep pulled in front of the courthouse and as it did, the strangest thing happened – I felt excited. It wasn’t simply excitement about the plan moving forward. It was excitement about something else, about seeing Jolene again, of joining our lives together – even if it was under false pretenses.

I didn’t get much time to think it over. The door of the Jeep opened and a very pretty, middle-aged woman, so sharply resembling Jolene, I knew it couldn’t be anyone other than her mother, stepped out. She let out a wild, happy scream as she laid eyes on us, hurrying around the Jeep and rushing over to Dad, Janice, and me.

“Oh my God!” she shouted, throwing her arms around me before I even had a chance to react. “I can’t believe I’m finally meeting the man my daughter’s going to marry!” I hugged her back, and after she let me out of her surprisingly strong grip, she stepped back and gave me a once over. “And lucky her! Just so you know, if she ends up getting cold feet, I’m most definitely single.”

She winked and laughed, letting me know she was only playing around.

“Mom!” Jolene shouted as she approached, a smile on her face. “Pretty sure it’s a faux pas to flirt with your daughter’s fiancé on her wedding day.”

She swiped her hand through the air. “Oh, just having some fun.” Then she turned her attention to the rest of us. “Now, let’s get some introductions going.”

“Nothing would please me more,” Dad said as he reached out to take her hand. “And one look at you lets me know right away where Jolene and her sister get their good looks.”

Her Mom’s face flashed red as Dad laid on his own brand of charm, smoother and more refined.

“You’ll have to excuse him,” Janice piped up. “He couldn’t turn that off if he wanted to.”

Jolene approached me next and, damn did she look good. She was dressed in a simple off-white cocktail dress, one that hugged her curves and was sexy and classy all at once. Her face was done up with just enough makeup to highlight her sharp, stunning features, her hair done up to frame her face perfectly.

It was strange. The wedding was a sham, but in that moment, I wouldn’t have minded being hitched to her for the rest of my life.

“Hey.” She said the word quietly as she approached. Before I had a chance to respond, she leaned in and kissed me gently but passionately, about as intense as a kiss could be without tongue and without being too risqué for public. It took all the control I had not to allow my cock turn to steel right then and there.

“Yeow!” her sister called out.

“And look at that,” her mother added. “That’s the kind of kiss you only see when two people are crazy about each other.”

Or if they’re both really, really, good at lying, I thought.

Jolene flicked up her eyebrows, as if to say, “how’s that for a fake kiss?”

After she stepped back, introductions were all around. I officially met her mother Kerry and her sister Joann.

“Well,” Dad said when introductions were done. “It took a little doing to get this appointment on such short notice, so we ought to get in there.”

“Not quite yet,” I said, taking my phone out of my pocket and checking for a text – one which hadn’t come. “We’re still waiting for the best man.”

We didn’t have to wait long. A silver Mercedes appeared around the same corner where Jolene’s Jeep had pulled around and was soon gliding up in front of the courthouse. Out stepped Dr. Zander Davis, dressed in a suit so sharp that part of me wanted to scold him for showing me up like that.

“Sorry I’m late,” he said. “Denver traffic, you know?”

My eyes went to Joann, Jolene’s younger, very pretty sister. She watched Zander step out of his car with wide eyes and a jaw slacked open, as if she couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

“No worries!” I said as I stepped down the stairs to greet him with a back-slapping hug. “Just get your ass in here; I’m getting married!”

* * *

The ceremony was quick and simple and, to my surprise, more than a little moving. Dad had pulled some strings to get a courtroom all to ourselves for the fifteen or so minutes it took for the judge to marry us. Stepping into that grand, empty room had quite an effect.

So did saying the words. Sure, it was all fake, but I couldn’t ignore the power and meaning of looking a woman in the eyes and speaking the wedding vows. It was all so moving that part of me wanted to put a stop to it before we went too far.

I didn’t, of course.

I’d left the courthouse in something of a daze, trying to wrap my head around what had just happened.

Thankfully, I hadn’t had much of a chance to dwell on it. Dad had made reservations for the whole group for a late lunch at one of his favorite seafood places in town. Within thirty minutes of getting married, I was seated at a table near a window that looked out onto the Cherry Creek Country Club, a big plate of lobster in front of me, and Jolene to my right.

“It was so beautiful,” Kerry said, shaking her head with tears shimmering in her eyes. “I have to admit – I was worried when Jolene had told me that you were going to do something simple. But sometimes simple can be perfect, right?”

“It was very sweet,” Joann agreed.

“Really moving stuff,” Zander put in, giving a smile and a nod in Joann’s direction, a smile that instantly made her return one of her own.

Dad nodded in agreement. “Simple and tasteful. No need to spend tens of thousands on a wedding when all you need is two people in love.” He followed this up with a nod in our direction. I still wasn’t certain that he bought it, but so far, he’d given me no indication that he thought I was pulling a fast one.

“Why didn’t you want anything more extravagant?” Janice asked. “Don’t get me wrong ‒ it was a lovely ceremony. I’m just surprised that both of you were fine with a quick wedding on a Monday afternoon. Clive and I would’ve loved to have you all down in Florida for a ceremony on the beach, for example. It would’ve been no problem to fly everyone down there.”

I couldn’t tell if she was simply being nice, or if she suspected that something was up with the whole arrangement. In that moment, I realized that this was how I’d have to think from that day until the marriage was annulled; I’d always be wondering if someone had found me out, if they were trying to catch me in a lie.

Jolene’s hand was on the table, and I slipped it into mine, giving it a squeeze.

“I have to be honest – I thought Dad was talking nonsense when he’d told me that when you found your someone, it didn’t take any time at all to know they were the one. But with Jolene, that’s exactly how it felt.”

“Same here,” Jolene said, giving my hand a squeeze back. “Actually, to be totally honest, I kind of thought he was a little bit of an ass at first.”

That got some laughs out of the group, including one from me.

She went on. “But it only lasted a second before I knew there was something special about him.”

“And we didn’t want to waste a second,” I said. “It was like we’d waited so long to find one another that we couldn’t imagine going another day without being together.”

“That’s love,” Dad said, placing his hand on Janice’s. “You know it when you see it.”

“Maybe we’ll have a party down the road,” I said. “But for now, we’re just happy to —”

I didn’t get a chance to finish. Jolene’s phone buzzed on the table, and she quickly grabbed it and put it to her ear. Her eyes went wide, her other hand slipping from mine.

“Everything alright?” Dad asked.

“Sorry,” Jolene answered. “It’s work related. I’ll be just a moment.” She took her phone and got up, a worried expression on her face.

“I’ll go check on her,” I said to the group before getting up and following Jolene out of the restaurant.

Moments later, I was outside. Jolene stood in front of the parking lot, the phone to her ear.

“Right…OK…I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

With that, she hung up and turned.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

Her expression was grim, and there was no doubt it was bad news.

“There’s been another murder.”