It Started with a Bang by Piper James

Chapter Thirty

Ryder

The Parker Industries building was truly impressive. While Jaxson Parker, the man himself, took me on a tour and expounded on the success of his business endeavors, I marveled at the architecture of the structure. With wooden beams and accents you wouldn’t normally find at a corporate headquarters, the place was beautiful and inviting.

Jaxson was testing me along the way, throwing out numbers and statistics and waiting to see what my response would be. I didn’t know if he was trying to make me feel stupid or inadequate, but whatever it was, it didn’t work. While Ethan was the money guy, I handled most of the contract negotiations and paperwork for Perry Brothers’ Construction. While I might not understand everything Jaxson mentioned, I knew enough to convince him I was no meathead.

And I could tell he was impressed, which filled me with relief. If he was impressed by me, he might accept me as Belle’s husband and give her everything she wanted. By the time we got back to his office, I was feeling pretty confident that I’d done my wife proud.

But once we were alone, Jaxson speared me with a gaze that made my skin crawl with revulsion. Cold calculation was written all over his face, and I felt an urge to run before he could open his mouth and tell me what he was thinking. Whatever it was, it couldn’t be good.

“You’re a decent actor,” he said, propping his elbows on his desk and steepling his fingers in front of him.

“Sir?” I asked. “What do you mean?”

“Oh, you can stop the charade,” he assured me. “I am not going to fight this marriage. In fact, I couldn’t be happier about it.”

“I don’t know what you mean,” I hedged, certain he was setting a trap.

Jaxson sighed with impatience. “I employ one of the best private investigators in the state of Texas, son.”

I flinched at his use of the word “son.” While the sentiment should’ve been exactly what I’d hoped for, it somehow only made me feel dirty. When I only stared at him without responding to the statement, he cocked his head and went on.

“Did you think I’d let this marriage continue without having you thoroughly investigated?” he asked, sending a chill rippling through me. “I know you met my daughter when she crashed her car into you a few weeks ago. Eyewitness accounts confirm you two argued. She called you an asshole and you called her princess, and it was obvious to those witnesses you two hadn’t met before.”

I felt the blood drain from my face as I stared at him in silence. I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know how to salvage this and convince him Belle and I were truly in love.

“You’re surprised,” he said when no words came to me. “Red River is a small town, and my thumb is always on the pulse. I know Annabelle later approached you at The Watering Hole, and one of the waitresses heard her asking you all sorts of personal questions, like whether or not you were married. Surely, she would know that if she’d been dating you for six months as you both claim, don’t you think?”

His smile turned downright predatory as the trap cinched around my neck. What was I supposed to say? I could claim we were role-playing, trying to spice up the old sex life, but talking to Jaxson Parker about sex with his daughter would be wrong on every single level.

“Tell me, how much is she paying you? She was smart enough not to use one of the company lawyers, and I can only assume she called one of her brothers. I’ve been unable to get my hands on a copy of the contract, and it has me curious. What’s the going rate for a husband-for-hire?”

“A million dollars,” I sighed, knowing there was no point in denying it any longer.

The jig was up. Belle’s big plan had failed, and I was going to have to be the one to tell her so. Dread filled me at the thought of all this coming to an end so quickly.

“A million dollars?” Jaxson barked. “You’ve got to be joking.”

My eyebrows flew up at his disbelieving tone. “That’s the truth.”

“I’ve seen your financials, Ryder. I know you and your brothers have turned your little construction company into a multi-million dollar business, and that your brother Ethan has a knack for investing and has turned a few million into hundreds of millions. So why would a man of your wealth agree to tie yourself to a stranger for money you obviously don’t need?” He shook his head and harrumphed. “A million dollars.”

This conversation was going downhill, fast, and I felt a strong urge to get out of here and never come back. I was not easily intimidated, but Jaxson Parker knew exactly how to put me on edge and keep me off-balance. I suddenly felt a whole new respect for my wife. She’d had to deal with this man her entire life.

“Here’s what is going to happen,” he said when I didn’t respond to his newest revelations. “You are going to make Annabelle believe you’ve fallen in love with her.”

“What? Why?” I asked, suddenly finding my voice.

“Because women are silly, ridiculous creatures who believe in such notions,” he explained. “And if she believes you’re in love, she’ll agree to anything—including your insistence that you stay married. You’re going to convince her you want to be with her forever.”

His words were filled with venom as he spat them out, particularly the word “forever.” The man obviously thought love and marriage were both shams, delusions of the weak-minded. Maybe for a man like him, they were. But Belle…

“Why would you want me to do that?” I asked, trying to understand where he was going with this.

“Because wives must honor, cherish, and obey their husbands. Once she’s convinced you’re completely devoted to her, and she feels the same for you, she won’t fight me when I make you president and CEO of Parker Industries.”

“Excuse me?”

I actually stumbled back a step, his words hitting me like a freight train. What in the fuck was he talking about? I had no interest in running his corporation, and even if I did, I would never betray Belle like that. Even if I didn’t love—

“This company needs a strong man at the helm,” he said, cutting off my train of thought. “Someone with balls who can lead with a firm hand and get things done.”

“But…Belle has worked her whole life for this,” I said, my heart pounding in my chest. “She deserves the position.”

“While I’m impressed with how far she was willing to go to get what she wants, it doesn’t change the fact that she’s just a girl. I will not hand the reins over to someone who’ll never earn the respect of her peers.”

“You were never going to give her the company,” I said, feeling like I’d had the breath knocked out of me. “All of this was for nothing. And it didn’t matter who she married or when she took the vows. You lied to her.”

“Jesus, man, don’t be such a pussy. If you’re scared to hurt her little feelings, give her a co-CEO title after you take charge. That’ll pacify her.” He stared at me with a knowing gleam in his eyes. “And it’ll also guarantee she won’t stop fucking you, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

My right hand curled into a fist as my blood pressure spiked. I barely kept myself from lunging forward and knocking his God damn lights out for that. I couldn’t care less about the insult to me in his words, but for him to talk about Belle like that…he was lucky I managed to contain myself.

After taking several deep breaths through my nose and forcing my muscles to relax, I said, “Don’t talk about her like that.”

“I’ll talk about my own daughter any way I damn-well please, and you’d do well to remember not to correct me again. You can just un-bristle those feathers right now, son. Take some time to consider my offer.”

I turned to go, not trusting my voice or my body to react calmly at his words. Before I reached the door, though, he called my name. When I spun around to face him again, he gave me an ugly smile.

“If you decide to decline my offer, Annabelle still won’t get what she wants. I’ll sell the company off piece-by-piece before I’ll ever let her run it into the ground and ruin my legacy.”

I turned on a heel and left without responding, and he didn’t call me back again. My heart was pounding against my ribs as I speed-walked through the building. Belle was here, somewhere, but there was no way I could face her right now. I needed to get my shit together and decide what to do.

If I told her the truth, she’d be devastated. Everything she’d done, she’d done for the chance to run this company and make a real change in the world. To know that her dreams were never attainable? That her own father saw her as unfit to do what she’d been working toward for years?

Not to mention the fact that if she knew the truth, she’d also realize there was no point in continuing our marriage. I’d lose her, and just thinking that sent pain streaking through my heart.

My earlier unsolicited thought came charging back to the forefront of my mind as I slammed through the front entrance and out into the bright sunshine. I froze, my chest heaving as I stared at the black asphalt under my feet.

Even if I didn’t love her…

That’s what I’d been thinking before Jaxson started spewing more misogynistic bullshit. Fuck, how had this happened? I was a fake husband. A means to an end. An end that would never happen, if Jaxson Parker had anything to say about it.

And he did. He had everything to say about it, and there was nothing more I could do.

I’d somehow allowed myself to fall in love with Belle, and there was no doubt in my mind she was going to leave me when she found out her father’s plans. Whether I took his offer or not—which I was definitely not going to do—she’d be done with me. We’d be over.

I was so fucked.