She looked at his face, at the hard lines around his mouth. At the worry in his eyes. Ajax Kouros, worried. And the answer hit her. So clear, so simple. This was how things worked in business, and what they were dealing with was a business-related problem. A contract that needed signing.
Or to be specific, two contracts that needed signing.
“What was the extent of your deal? What did the contract say?”
“Ownership of Holt was to pass to me upon signing the wedding agreement, contingent on the fact that the marriage last for five years. Otherwise, ownership returns to your father.”
“And the names on the document?”
“No names. Interchangeable. That’s the issue.”
“Five-year minimum?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll do it,” Leah said.
The words hung in the room, too loud in the emptiness.
For one fleeting moment she felt exposed. Awkward. No. She wasn’t that girl anymore. She was stronger than that. She’d learned. Never expose yourself. Never let them see you cry.
“You will do what?” Ajax asked, dark eyes now trained on her.
“I...” Insecurity rose up and grabbed her by the throat, choking her. Past Leah, the Leah who had idolized Ajax. The girl who had made a fool of herself chasing after his attention, his affection. The idiotic teenager who had nearly declared herself just before he’d declared his love for Rachel.
It’s for Leah’s Lollies. It has nothing to do with those feelings. It’s for Holt.
She wasn’t a slave to those old feelings anymore. Sure, she’d dreamed of Ajax when she was a girl, but then, like everyone else, he’d chosen Rachel. And she’d learned never to expose herself like that again. Had learned how to cover up pain under a layer of armor. Because the alternative was to show it to the world, and damn your pride.
Well, she was quite fond of her pride.
“I’ll marry you. And then the guests and the companies, yours, mine and Holt, and all of that will be fine. And no matter what, no matter if Rachel marries Christofides next month or...tomorrow, it won’t be him that gets his hands on Holt. It will be okay. All of it.”
He laughed, humorless, dark. “It will all be fine, will it? Perfection. Just a slight hiccup.”
“I’m well aware this is more than a hiccup. But it’s better than nothing, right?”
Ajax was not an expressive man. He’d been good to her sister, but not overly affectionate. She’d wondered more than once exactly what sort of relationship they had. If it was more convenience than passion. But just then, she had to acknowledge that Ajax looked very much like a man who’d lost the love of his life.
Ajax put his fingers through his hair again, the look in his eyes so different to what she was used to. Lost. It reminded her of a younger version of him. Of the boy he’d been before coming to the Holt Estate. A boy she’d never known.
She still remembered the moment she’d met him, when they’d come to the estate for the summer. It was like the world had fallen away. Like she’d fallen away.
She’d been so young, but there had been something about him that had pulled her to him. He’d, in an instant, been so many things to her. And he’d listened. He’d made her feel important. Special. And she’d clung to him, followed him around like a lost puppy. Obvious. Just thinking about it made her skin crawl with embarrassment.
He looked at her, that lost look in his eyes fading as suddenly as it had appeared. Now his gaze was unreadable, unexpressive. Like he was looking over a new yacht, or sports car. Well, no, not even that. He got a bit more passionate over sports cars. And dark chocolate. That was one thing they had in common. Or at least something they’d had in common.
Handy, because she was short on sports cars, but she did have a lot of dark chocolate. Occupational hazard. Although, she’d stopped trying to tempt him with treats a while ago. About the time she’d realized she was staring at him like an idiot and he only had eyes for her sister.
“You will have to do.”
The way he said it made her want to melt into a puddle and slither out of the room. She was being compared to Rachel, again, and being found utterly lacking. “Thanks. And you’re welcome.”
“Don’t expect me to be happy about any of this.” He started to pace. “My bride has walked out on me. Chosen my rival over me. And she didn’t even have the courtesy to text me about it. Rather she contacted you.”
“I’m her sister.”
“And I’m the man she was supposed to love,” he bit out.
She put her hand on his arm, a flash of heat racing from her fingertips and through her body. She pulled back as though she’d been burned.
She hadn’t expected that. Hadn’t expected to feel that intense, scorching heat. After all, she’d stopped carrying a torch for Ajax years ago. Though, that didn’t change the fact that he was an incredibly handsome man. The heat was only due to a physical attraction. She was only human. She imagined any woman who touched him would feel the same way.
Thank God she knew how to hide that moment of insanity. She’d spent years cultivating her mask, one that kept the press at a distance. One that kept her from getting hurt. One of indifference. A smooth, cutting smile on hand whenever she needed it. One that said: Oh, you again. Can’t be bothered.
Oh, dear Lord. I proposed to him.
That thought made her smile slip.
But it wasn’t as if she’d done it for herself. Not for herself personally, anyway. Everything was on the line. The future of Holt, of Leah’s Lollies, and Ajax’s dreams and hard work. And that mattered to her. She wasn’t in love with him anymore, hadn’t been for years. But she cared. About Holt. About her own business.
“Why, Leah? What are you getting out of this?”
“Well, jeez, Ajax, Rachel has clearly lost her mind. She’s run off with this man that you and I both know is probably not with her by coincidence. A man who would do this just to hurt you. He would, wouldn’t he?”
“Yes,” he said.
“My father loves Rachel, but he’s frankly blind to her faults.”
“Does she have them?” Ajax asked dryly.
“She’s far too trusting, I think, which you and I know full well is a fault. Alexios would take advantage of that to get to you and to get his hands on Holt to keep you from expanding your business. He’ll hurt her. And I can’t allow that. I doubt you can, either.”
“Of course not.”
“So then it’s settled. We have to marry before she does. You can still graft yourself into my family tree, which we both know you want. Otherwise we both lose Holt. You especially lose. You lose Rachel, and Holt, to Christofides.”
“I didn’t know Holt mattered to you so much, Leah.”
“In terms of it being my family legacy, it does. I can’t just let it pass into some stranger’s control. But more than legacy, my father owns half the stock in my business, and it’s all rolled into the Holt corporate umbrella. Suddenly a stranger has control over me and my business.”
“And if Rachel wants Holt?”
“She doesn’t. It doesn’t mean to her what it means to you and me—you know