“Yes, sir.”
Cass reached into his briefcase and pulled out a copy of the contract Briony had taken with her last night. He set it on the table and laid a pen on top.
“What is that?”
“The contract stating that you will enter into an engagement with me and that we’ll be married within eight weeks.”
He watched as she sucked in a deep breath and ran a hand through her hair.
“What if something changes?”
“Like if you change your mind?”
“Yes.”
He shrugged. “There is a clause in there stipulating the agreement can be nullified if both parties agree and sign an addendum. Then I return you to Nowhere and your life goes back to the way it was.”
Those green eyes narrowed, hardened. “But Trey gets kicked out of the facility and the girls lose their trust funds?”
“Why you would want anything good for them after the way they’ve treated you is beyond me,” he retorted with an edge to his voice. Did she truly think him so callous that he would pull a grieving alcoholic out of his treatment program? “But no. Regardless of how things progress between us, Trey’s stay will be paid for and your stepsisters will have trust funds established.”
She blinked in surprise. “Really?”
He gritted his teeth as he stretched his lips into a small, benevolent smile. “Really.”
Some of the worry eased from her face. But he still detected a couple tense lines about her eyes as she glanced down at the contract again.
“Briony...”
Slowly, she looked up at him. The uncertainty in her gaze tugged at him once more.
“This is your choice.”
Her eyes gleamed for a moment before she blinked rapidly and looked down.
“I know it is.”
Pain roughened her voice. He hadn’t missed the look she’d cast her hometown before she’d climbed on the plane. What thoughts had gone through her mind? What dreams had she had before they’d been snatched away by death and loss?
Before he could respond, she grabbed the pen. The nib dashed across the paper with a ferocious swirl. She tossed the pen down and brushed past him.
He stared down at her signature. He’d expected to feel pride, excitement, something. One more hurdle had been cleared in the goal he’d been working toward for as long as he could remember.
Yet all he felt as he turned to see Briony sit toward the back of the plane and stare out the window was a hollow sensation in his chest.
When the clock had hit nine forty-five this morning, he’d felt an unexpected wave of disappointment. He’d anticipated a last show of resistance. But a flat-out refusal? The tightness around his lungs had eased a minute later when he’d seen the tangle of red curls and that faded green coat against the stark white of a winter prairie landscape moving toward the plane. It had confirmed one of his talents, that of reading people and sometimes knowing them better than they knew themselves.
However, he conceded, as he took a seat farther down the plane to give her space, in this case he’d only been partially right. Judging by the tense set of her shoulders and the fierce line of her jaw, Briony wasn’t completely confident in her decision. Just signing the contract wasn’t enough to ensure she’d follow through. Technically he could hold her to the terms all the way until they said “I do.”
But he wasn’t a monster. If she truly changed her mind, he wouldn’t carry her kicking and screaming down the aisle.
His eyes drifted down her body, lingering on the swells of her breasts beneath her sweater and her long legs encased in blue jeans. He steepled his fingers as a slight smile tugged at his lips. Between the luxury he had to offer her, taking care of her family and the chance to be reunited with her father and brother, he had plenty of weapons at his disposal. He knew, too, judging by the way she’d reacted to him on the steps, that her attraction to him hadn’t been completely destroyed by last night’s revelations. No, it simmered just below the surface. Something he could use if necessary.
The door to the plane was shut as the engines hummed. His smile grew as the plane taxied down the runway and took off, soaring above the snow-dusted fields. He had Briony exactly where he needed her. In eight weeks, she would be his wife.
And he would finally have his revenge on the Van Ambrose royals.
CHAPTER FIVE