“Congratulations!” Emika Ito cried, holding up a champagne toast toward them. Stopping in the doorway, Antonio looked around in astonishment. Had everyone already heard about their wedding? But how?
The young woman continued, “The deal was lost, then it was struck. To the couple of the hour!”
Everyone applauded wildly, the entire Japan lead team, and the New York lawyers who’d been staying here the last few weeks to prep for the Iyokan deal. Emika had not been referring to their wedding, but the deal he’d actually forgotten about in all the excitement of marrying Hana.
He really was losing his mind...
Nestling close, Hana looked up at him with a blushing, intimate smile that he felt all over his body. Looking back at his employees, Antonio held up his hand for silence.
“Thank you to everyone who made this deal possible today. You will take CrossWorld Airways into not just Asia, but the future!” He paused to allow for applause, taking champagne from the tray of a passing waiter. Hana held her flute, but did not drink it. “But I have other news, even more important to me personally.”
“What could be more important than business?” one of his lawyers hollered. Antonio smiled, then looked down at Hana in his arms.
“This wonderful woman, whom most of you know as my executive assistant, just became more. She’s become, this very hour, my wife.”
There was a gasp.
Hana looked up at him, biting her lip nervously. Antonio hesitated, wondering if he should hide the baby news for a few weeks more. But why? Half the people in the room had probably already guessed it, just based on the quickness of the marriage. Best to get all the juicy scandal out at once, and be done with it. “There’s more.” He paused. “We’re expecting a baby.”
The gasp became a roar, followed by more applause, as people surged forward to congratulate them, their faces all various degrees of shock and delight.
Hana was immediately circled by a group of women exclaiming over her and asking questions about the sudden wedding, and about her pregnancy. Antonio had a brief glimpse of her shy, happy smile as she was led away, before his view was blocked by one of his sharpest New York lawyers, coming forward with a well-cut suit and a big grin.
“I can’t believe it, Mr. Delacruz! Here I thought you were immune!” The man shook his head, rolling his eyes heavenward as he held up his martini glass. “A toast to love! It gets the best of all of us, sooner or later!”
“We should toast marriage,” a female lawyer chirped behind him. “Half our firm’s billable hours come from divorce!” At the head lawyer’s harsh glare, she blanched and mumbled, “Er, not that that will ever happen to you, Mr. Delacruz.”
“Of course not.” The head lawyer, a corporate shark whose going rate was three thousand dollars an hour, turned back to him with a blinding smile. “We’ve never handled Mr. Delacruz’s personal matters. So tell me,” he leaned forward confidentially, “Who did your prenup? I never heard a whisper. Tokyo’s top firm, I assume.” He gave a jovial laugh. “Obviously. It’s not like you’d want to just give away half your company.”
It hurt to hear those painful words out loud. Antonio flinched, feeling like he’d just been punched in the face, knocked out of his sensual dream into a harsh, cold reality.
Heart pounding, he slowly turned toward Hana. Across the room, she was smiling happily as she showed the other women the sparkling diamond on her finger. Then, suddenly, she looked up at the door, and her face lit up. With a gasp, she ran toward the door, her dark hair and pale pink sundress flying behind her.
Ren Tanaka stood in the doorway, his handsome face blank as he dropped his suitcase to the floor with a bang.
Watching as his wife threw her arms around the other man, Antonio felt suddenly sick inside.
He’d just given away his life, everything he cared about, everything that gave him value, to a woman who could now ruin him with a mere flick of her finger.
If Hana ever wanted to destroy Antonio, she could now. She could burn him to the ground. Leave him desolate and worthless and alone.
What had he just done?
* * *
“You’re here!” Hana cried, throwing her arms around her best friend. “I didn’t think you’d make it!”
“I didn’t,” Ren said grimly, pulling away from her impulsive embrace. “I dropped everything and took the bullet train from Osaka. But I’m still too late.”
She’d texted Ren her current location, after having left a long, rushed message on his phone hours before. She’d hoped and feared in equal parts that Ren would somehow make it to their wedding—hoped, because he was her only family, and feared, because she was afraid he’d try to talk her out of it or make a scene.
The truth was, Hana still couldn’t quite believe she’d done it. She’d married Antonio.
But he’d offered her everything she’d ever wanted.
A home. A real father for their baby. Marriage. Passion.
And half the company. That was most shocking of all. Antonio—offering to share his airline?