“It’s not condescending.” He straightened his cuffs and stood. “I don’t have a lot of time to sit and chat. We can schedule some time to be seen together and then move your belongings into a place near the company over the next week.”
“Week?” I squeaked out. “That’s fast. Let’s just see how it goes.”
“Okay.” He nodded like I was delusional but that he’d appease me for now. “Happy wife, happy life.”
“Please don’t say that.” My stomach flipped in what must have been rebellion and fear.
“Anyway, Dante’s waiting for me in the car.”
“Next time, just have him come in.” I shrugged.
“We need alone time, Morina. We need to appear as a couple.”
The charade seemed ridiculous. “I wish I could understand why you think so. People get around these wills all the time. We just get married but live separately and do what the will says word for word, not vow for vow. This isn’t really death do us part.”
He hummed but straightened his tie and didn’t agree with me. The man didn’t want to concern himself with more conversation and bickering.
Fine by me. “Look, I’ll text you and we can iron out details.”
“You really going to do that this time?”
“Of course.” I put my hand to my stomach to try to contain whatever energy Dante had told me about. I needed to research it more.
“I’m going to do everything in my power to have this go on without a hitch.” He nodded and stroked one fingertip down my cheek. “You’re a good girl, Morina. I want this to work out for both of us.”
Then his touch was gone. And, spinning on his heel, so too was he.
The breath I didn’t know I’d been holding whooshed out of me.
“What the fuck, Grandma?” I said it to no one, or maybe the house, just in case she was there.
Bastian had looked at me like we could do this, like I could be a partner in this with him. I wanted to believe him but there was no actual way I could be that person. He came from that questionable background. Yet, my grandmother trusted something about him or about his father enough to try to place us together.
I sighed as I went back to the bedroom I wasn’t sleeping in. I’d decided the food truck was a much better fit for me after grandma passed. I had never enjoyed staying with her anyway. Now, it just felt wrong. I came here every day to straighten up and get the mail. Then I jetted off to work and to volunteer.
Now, I sat on the corner of the spare bedroom bed and stared at the white envelope. Her chicken scratch wasn’t at all ornate. I didn’t expect any hidden treasure when I opened the envelope.
“Morina,
You’re reading this and so that means I’m haunting you. Or trying my best to do so.
Jesus, I hope I went fast and didn’t make it too gory for you.
Anyway, straight to the point: you’re marrying Bastian because it’ll keep you alive and it’ll keep our town alive too.
Mario and I did a fine job keeping our business under wraps. I had ties to him and to a couple people in Ireland. They won’t keep the partnership thriving, Morina. They don’t care like they used to.
They want the oil and the ports and to expand it into our city. Ronald, that crochety old man is just chopping at the bit to get his hands on these shares. And oil refineries everywhere want in.
Bastian may want that too. I’m not sure. He seems to have other ideas. I want to trust him, but it’s our town, Mo.
We have to be sure.
Six months isn’t that long. See if he cares about that port enough to clean up what his family dirtied, what all the families and syndicates want to dirty.
This was the only thing I could come up with. It protects you and the town for a time.
You’ll have to figure out the rest.