And Jesus, that sounds fucking awful. What will people think of me? My friends? Other women in my life? From my past? The rest of the family?
They’ll think it’s just what I do. What I always do. Go along with whatever our mother says, no questions asked.
An aggravated sigh escapes Winston and he leans back in his chair. “Perry, you surprise me.”
“What do you mean?” I retort.
“First off, we know you don’t have a girlfriend, so you can fuck off with that theory,” he says, slowly shaking his head. “You’re impressing me with your flat-out refusal to go along with the idea, though. I figured you’d readily agree because you always say yes when it comes to Mother and her requests.”
Right now, I can’t bask in my brother’s approval. Even though it means the world to me to have it. “Marrying someone I don’t know isn’t something I can readily agree with. Marriage will change the course of my entire life.”
“Only for a little while,” Mother says.
My gaze returns to hers. “What do you mean?”
“You’ll have to go through a very public engagement. A rather public wedding. You’ll need to remain quiet and appear the devoted husband to your new, beautiful wife, but eventually, you may…stray. If necessary. It’s part of the contract.” She offers a delicate shrug.
“What the fuck? Are you serious?” I’m angry on my future wife’s behalf.
Who the hell adds in anit’s okay to cheatclause into a marriage contract?
The same asshole who barters his daughter off for an arranged marriage, that’s who.
“You can worry about all of that shit later,” Winston says, glancing at his watch yet again. “I have to go. Am I still needed here?”
“You may go, Winston,” Mother says, as if he won’t leave until he receives her approval.
He’s already striding away before she can get the words out, the door closing on a soft snick, leaving us alone.
I steel myself, prepared for a barrage of convincing words. I know how this works, and she does too.
She firmly believes she’ll get me to agree to this, but for once…
Pretty sure Mama Constantine is wrong.
Chapter Two
Charlotte
I’m sitting inmy favorite chair, reading a book with my cat in my lap when my bedroom door bangs open, startling me so badly I drop the book.
“We need to talk.”
The booming sound of my father’s voice makes Doja jump off my lap with an irritated meow.
“What do we need to talk about?” I barely make eye contact with my father. Reginald Lancaster is intimidating. Angry. Lately almost all the time. He’s rarely home, thank God, and when he is, my mother makes herself scarce.
Not that I can blame her. I do the same thing. And really, she’s rarely home, so it’s nothing different. Usually, it’s just me and the servants wandering around the monstrosity that is my family’s townhouse in Manhattan.
Oh, and Doja the cat. Can’t forget her.
“I’ve found someone for you.” He shuts the door and moves further into my bedroom, his gaze scanning over every little thing, though I doubt he actually sees anything.
He doesn’t know me. He never really has. I’m the forgotten one—the only daughter when all he wanted was a houseful of sons. Big, strapping Lancasters to carry on the family name. The legacy. A baby girl is useless. Only good for one thing—making babies.
And even there I fail in his eyes. None of my babies will be Lancasters.
“What do you mean, you’ve found someone for me?” I ask warily, bracing myself.