Sean reached for his wine and took a sip without once taking his eyes off of Lawson. It was a simple business tactic his father had taught him—silence always made people uncomfortable. After just a few minutes of cold, uninterrupted silence, most people were willing to offer almost anything. He fought the urge to smile as Lawson shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

As far as he understood it, Lawson's company was on the verge of a massive financial crisis. There had been issues with the supplier, and several investors had pulled out with a little warning. Though Lawson had tried to keep the company's instability a secret, the news had spread fast. No one with half a brain was willing to invest in the company.

​​

Sean had been surprised when Lawson called him—not many people had the guts to ask him to invest in a collapsing business. He'd wanted to hang up the phone, but he'd paused. His mother had left one of her glossy society magazines lying on the coffee table, and a picture from a recent gala caught his eye. A beautiful girl with dark hair and dazzling eyes stared out at him from a photograph. Lawson's arm was wrapped paternally around her shoulder. The caption of the photo read, "Lawson Stewart and his niece Catherine Stewart."

A strange desire seized him as he looked at the picture. There was something about the girl that was completely irresistible. She wore way too much makeup, and her dress was far too tight and tacky, but there was an innocence in her eyes that compelled him. Warring urges seized him—he wanted to protect that innocence, and he wanted to destroy it and take it for himself.

He clutched the phone and told Lawson he'd invest on one condition—he wanted to marry Catherine. Lawson hesitated but only for a second. Sean found himself disgusted by the man's calm trade of his niece and relieved, too. He didn't have to feel bad about taking her away from an uncle like that. In the following days, he'd reassured himself that if he hadn't acted, some other businessman would. At least his intentions were honorable—marriage was better than becoming some man's mistress.

"You remember our deal, don't you?" Lawson asked, dragging Sean back into the present.

"I do," Sean said. "But as far as I'm concerned, you didn't uphold your end of it."

"How's that?" Lawson asked, dabbing at the sweat on his brow. "You're married to the girl, aren't you?"

Sean nodded, "I am, but she says you tried to help her run away."

"Of course, I didn't," Lawson spluttered. "That was something she cooked up with my daughter."

"Oh, and I suppose they just got the money on their own, did they?" Sean asked.

"Madison has an allowance," Lawson said. "Besides, I'm not a stupid man. What would I gain by breaking our deal?"

"You have a daughter of your own," Sean said. "A daughter who does everything you ask. I can only imagine how much money you thought you'd get out of me if it was your daughter I married instead of your niece."

"That's crazy," Lawson said, but the sweat shone even brighter on his forehead.

Sean took another sip of wine and raised his eyebrows. The man really was stupid and pathetic. "Crazy?" he asked.

"I don't mean that," Lawson stammered. "Listen, what do you want?"

"I want to withdraw my investment," Sean said.

Lawson's face flushed bright red and then purple, and then all the blood drained entirely. His mouth worked, and he gasped at the air like a dying fish, "Withdraw it?"

"Yes," Sean said. "The full billion."

"Please," Lawson begged, half-standing from his chair. "Don't do that. I've broken my back for this company, and I'm going to keep working until it's profitable again. Without your investment, we can't weather this crisis—we'll go under completely."

"Why do I care?" Sean asked.

"Come on, you're a businessman," Lawson said. "You have to recognize that the company has potential. With the right investment, I can turn it around and get you the profits you deserve."

Sean took another sip of wine and asked, "Are you living in Catherine's house?"

"What?" Lawson asked.

"You heard the question," Sean said.

"The home belongs to the family," Lawson said.

Hoard swallowed the wine. He knew Lawson was lying.

***

Catherine shut the door to her childhood room and looked around. Everything was exactly as she'd remembered it—arranged by her father and Maria. She crossed to the dresser and ran her fingers over the tarnished silver music box her father had given to her as a child. A sharp rap sounded from the door.

"Let us in," Melanie hissed. "We can't keep Sean waiting."

With a sigh, Catherine opened the door. Her aunt and cousin pushed past her into the room and began looking around.

"Well, why aren't you packing?" Melanie asked.

Catherine shrugged, "I'm not that concerned about bringing back my clothes and stuff. Sean already bought me a new wardrobe, and it's much nicer than these old rags."

Melanie's lips pressed into a tight smile, "What a generous husband he is. I'm sure you're right—the clothing he buys for you is much better than these trampy outfits."

"Trampy?" Catherine asked with false innocence. "If you found them so trampy, why did you buy them for me?"

"Oh, stop trying to make us villains," Melanie sniffed. "Clearly, you don't need any help here, I'm going to go check on Sean and your uncle."

"No, wait a minute," Catherine said. "I didn't mean it, Auntie. I'm just very stressed, you know."

"What's the matter?" Melanie asked, her eyes filling with hope. "Are you and Sean having marital problems already?"

"No," she said. "It's about his family."

"Oh, they don't like you?" Madison asked.

"It's not that," Catherine said. She took a deep breath and forced herself to smile. "It's about gifts. As you know, it's proper to send a gift to the parents of the groom, but I don't know what to do. It'd be insulting to send a cheap gift, but I have a very tight budget."

Madison sneered, "Why don't you ask Sean?"

"It wouldn't be right," she said.

"Well, dear, you did just brag about the new wardrobe he bought you," Melanie said. "If he's actually willing to buy you whatever you want, it shouldn't be a problem."

"I can't ask him to do that," she said. "It would look bad for all of us."

"What do you mean?" Melanie asked.

"They know that Dad passed away a few years ago, and they know that your family has been taking care of me," she said. "I mean Uncle just basically called himself Sean's father-in-law. If I can't give them a nice gift, it'll reflect badly on the whole family. They'll think we're all just social climbers."

"That's ridiculous," Madison said.

Melanie frowned, "No, she has a point. We'd look really stingy if her gift is bad, but what can you buy for a family that has everything?"

"I don't know," Catherine said with mock concern. "And he has such a large family—there are his parents, and his grandmother and his brother and sister-in-law, plus his nephew."

Melanie's eyes narrowed as Catherine listed Sean's family members, and she held her hands in front of her face as if doing a complicated calculation. Her face fell, and she shook her head.

"Why don't you just deliver the presents you were going to give us to them?" Madison said. "They never have to know."

"Sean's family sent us the presents," Catherine lied. "I think they'd notice if we sent them back. Listen, if you're going to be stingy, I'll go explain the situation to Uncle."

"You can't do that," Melanie said. "He's with Sean right now."

"Well, if this family is going to act so selfishly, Sean might as well learn it now," Catherine said. She crossed the room to the door and hovered her hand above the doorknob.

"Wait," Melanie said. "How much do you need?"

"About four hundred million to be safe," Catherine said, putting her hand on the knob.

"What?" Melanie sounded choked.

Catherine glanced over her shoulder and saw that her aunt's face had gone a sickly green. She twisted the silver knob in her hand and pulled the heavy door open.

"Wait," Melanie said. "I can't give you four hundred million pounds."

"Why not?" she asked innocently. "Surely the company is doing very well."