“Ah, jeez. Sorry to hear that.”
I shrug with false nonchalance. “It’s better this way. No false expectations. I would’ve wanted everything.”
“Well, it’s too bad you have to settle like this. I wish you could’ve found and kept the right woman.”
“Didn’t you specifically choose her”—I glance inside—“for shits and giggles?”
He nods. “It started out as something to humiliate Dad, but now it’s more.”
“I can see that.”
“If you’re going to choose Faye, you guys should date a little first.”
“Date? What for?”
“We’ve been trying to convince the world the article about the deal is fake. I think Ryder did a pretty good job—besides, the shallow types can’t believe he would marry a girl like Paige for anything other than love—and I did okay, too. If you marry Faye too abruptly, it’ll look like the article had some truth to it.”
I sigh. The last thing I want to do is waste my time “dating.” Faye already knows what the deal is, and she isn’t the type who wants flowers and sweet words.
“A couple of weeks should do it. You two do have history together, after all.”
Elliot’s advice is sensible, so I nod. I don’t want to cause problems, even for Elizabeth. Being pretty and in the spotlight equates to stalkers galore, and as annoying as she is, I don’t want her to have issues with a bunch of creeps.
“Here’s something I want you to consider, though,” Elliot says. “If you have a chance to undo the damage and get Ava back the way you want…then take it. Even if it means no portraits.”
I stare at my twin. “The whole point of this is to get the portraits.”
“Is it? You were with Ava for a painting?”
I look away. Grandpa’s legacy was n
ever a factor.
“Dad’s making us dance to his tune because he can. That doesn’t mean we should give up a chance for lifelong happiness for this bullshit. We don’t even know what crap he’s going to come up with to renege.”
“You really think he’d do that?”
Elliot laughs. “In a heartbeat. Would you put it past him?”
I shake my head. Dad would love to find a loophole to deny us just out of spite. “For all we know, he might’ve built something sneaky into the deal when he offered it in the first place.”
“I know. That’s why the least we can do is be happy. He hates that more than anything.”
I regard my brother. “When did you figure all this out?”
“When I thought I was going to lose my wife. It’s amazing how pure terror can cut through all the bullshit you’ve been telling yourself.”
I take a longer look toward the penthouse. “Belle must be one of a kind to make you fall so hard.”
“I was damn lucky. But there’s one for you, too.”
I smile. Let Elliot believe that.
Chapter Sixteen
Ava
“Why are you still up?” Bennie’s voice comes loud and clear through the laptop speaker. We’re on Facebook, chatting without the video. I don’t think he’s going to want to see my hideous face with huge, dark circles under my eyes.