Chapter Twenty-four

My father had called me in for a meeting.

Of course, he hadn’t told me what the meeting was about or why he needed me to come down to his temporary office. I was honestly surprised that he was still in town from the wedding that he didn’t even attend, assuming that he would’ve flown back to his main building in the city by now.

As I made my way down the long hallway, my mind filled with the possibilities for today’s meeting.

Maybe he wanted to talk about bringing me on at Easton’s Exchange. Or worse, he wanted to tell me that the business was floundering, and he needed me to marry Irene to shore things up for the future. Unfortunately for my father, I wasn’t interested in committing myself to a life of unhappiness, solely for the benefit of the bottom line.

Besides, I couldn’t do that to Raven.

I couldn’t do that to myself.

“Hi!” A secretary with a classic bob greeted me as I stepped into the lobby. “Can I get your name, please?”

“Sky Easton,” I continued. “I have a meeting with my father. At two?”

“Sky Easton!” she gasped. “What an honor it is to meet you, sir! I’ve heard all about you, but I never thought--” She stopped herself mid-sentence. “Sorry. I just get so flustered around celebrities.”

“I wouldn’t say that I’m a celebrity.” I offered her a warm smile.

“Well, no celebrity can say that they are, can they?” She laughed. “Trying to label yourself as famous makes you sound arrogant. But you should know that in the finance sector, you are very, very well-known. And rumor has it that your days of being an eligible bachelor are almost through…” She leaned against her desk, looking up at me from behind her pink-framed glasses. “Is that true?”

“Yes.” I smiled again as I thought about how beautiful Raven looked when he first woke up in the morning.

“I knew it!” The secretary excitedly clapped. “I always knew that the Eastons and the Marseilles were going to end up as one, big happy family.”

Eastons and the Marseilles?

Oh. Right.

It’d slipped my mind that my father was still trying to get me to agree to an arranged marriage, my thoughts so momentarily consumed by Raven.

“Sky! There you are!” My father’s voice boomed throughout the lobby as he called over to me. “Come on in, son. We’re just about ready to get started.”

“Wish me luck,” I whispered to the secretary. I took in a deep breath and began to walk toward my father’s office door.

* * *

“You need to give up on Raven.” It was all my father said as he sat behind his desk.

“What?” I shook my head in confusion. “Dad, I thought we already went over this--”

“We did.” He sighed. “But I’m afraid that the conversation didn’t take like I thought it would. Listen, son, it’s fine to pretend like you have something special with this Raven, but you and I both know that you don’t. He’s just another way for you to avoid growing up and getting a real job.”

“I have a real job.” My tone was biting. “I had to get a real job, remember? After you basically cut me off for not doing what you wanted me to do?”

“I never cut you off, son. I just told you that if you were interested in your inheritance and taking over the company, then you needed to do what was best for the company.” My father sighed yet again. “I don’t understand why these conversations always happen in circles like this. You act like I’m asking you to give up the world.”

“You are asking me to give up the world, Dad. You’re asking me to give up my world.”

You’re asking me to give up Raven.

I kept that last part to myself as I stared back at him. “How could you be okay with something like this, anyway? Don’t you think Irene deserves to be with someone who loves her?”

“Irene deserves to be one of the few female CEOs in this country,” my father continued. “And she deserves to keep all the respect that’s come with her family building their company from the ground up, after all these decades.”

“And what about love?”

“What about love?” My dad scoffed. “As long as there’s an understanding between you both, you can find love with other people on your own time. This isn’t about love, son. This is about legacy.”

“But you and Mom loved each other.” I kept my voice low. “Didn’t you? Or did you two just marry each other because it was beneficial for both parties?”

“Yes, we did love each other,” my father admitted. “We loved each other very much.”

“But you don’t care if I get to have someone who loves me, too?”

“Son, you’re still misunderstanding me. I’m not trying to deny you love. I’m trying to give you something worth more than love--”

“Knock, knock!” James Marseille, Irene’s father, walked into my dad’s office. “Sorry about running a little late. Irene was taking her time getting ready. You know how women can be, especially around their future fiancés.”

“Oh, it’s no problem at all, James.” My father beamed over at him. “We’re just lucky you could make time for us with your busy schedule.”

“Are you serious?” James chuckled. “I can always make time for you, future in-law. It’s like we always say in our household, there’s nothing more important than family.” Then he turned toward me, giving me a rough pat on the shoulder. “Sky! Lady killer! How have you been enjoying the single life?”

“It’s been fine…”

I wasn’t sure how to answer James’ question. I didn’t know if he wanted me to confess to the number of people that I’d hooked up with who weren’t his daughter, or if he was just trying to make conversation.

“Well, that’s all about to come to an end!” He chuckled again. “And I could not be more excited. I always wanted Irene to end up with a man like you, from a good family, with a good head on his shoulders. You know, she went through a phase where she only dated men on motorcycles with the greasiest hair? Shameful, shameful stuff.”

“Sky recently went through a phase, too,” my father spoke. “Except he apparently had a thing for small business owners. Introduced me to one of them. Nice person--”

“But not as nice as Irene,” James suggested an end to my father’s thoughts.

I narrowed my eyes over at my dad, pissed off that he’d bring Raven up like that, just as a way to dismiss him right out of the conversation, as if he meant nothing to me.

What an asshole move.

“Well, either way, everything’s fixed now.” James smirked before he squinted over my shoulder. “And here she comes now, Mrs. Fix-It!”

I turned to see Irene coming through the doorway. She was wearing a black, knee-length dress that shone with crystals each time the light of the office caught the fabric. Her makeup, as always, was impeccable, and the way her hair effortlessly fell in perfect curls at the nape of her neck was another one of her trademarks.

Irene Marseille was gorgeous, but that was something I’d known about her ever since we were children.

And yet, she couldn’t hold a candle to Raven, even on his worst day.

“Sky,” she greeted me with a smile.

“Irene.” I returned her expression. “How have you been?”

“Inconvenienced,” she answered. “I had plans to visit the Louvre today. Little did I know that I was going to be called in for a family meeting.”

“The Louvre can wait, my love,” James said. “But a meeting with the Eastons is a meeting that we cannot miss.”

“Yes, especially not today’s meeting,” my father chimed in. “Sky. Irene. I think it’s high time that we set a wedding date for you two.”

“What?” Irene seemed blindsided. “A wedding date?” She looked over at me, her eyes wide. “But Sky, I thought you were still sowing your wild oats. Are you really tired of all the women you must have at your disposal?”

“Ah, every man eventually gets tired of living like that,” James replied on my behalf. “And it makes sense at Sky’s age that what he wants now is a sensible wife, not someone who has no idea how to be a partner and a mother.”

“And a mother…” Irene’s voice shook. “Sky, are you certain?”

“I don’t know if I’m--” I started, but I was interrupted by my father.

“How do you feel about a summer wedding, Irene? You can pick the venue, anywhere you’d like. How about Paris?” Dad asked.

“I... Paris would be lovely.” Irene’s words sounded so distant.

“Calm down, Edward.” James laughed. “While I’m with you when it comes to our children getting married, I don’t think it’s fair to ask my daughter to pick out a venue when your son hasn’t even proposed to her yet.”

“Right.” My dad nodded as he pulled open a drawer at his desk. He placed a ring box on top of its wooden surface, looking over at me. “Sky, this is for you.”

“What is it?” I asked, even though I already knew the answer.

“Your grandmother’s wedding ring,” my father continued. “She gave it to me to give to your mother, and now I’m giving it to you, so you can give it to your future wife.”

“How romantic,” Irene commented, her tone still disconnected from the moment.

I glanced over at her, her face as white as a ghost.

I wondered if James knew about her girlfriend, the same way that my dad knew about Raven. I wondered if her father’s cheerful act was coming from a place of blissful ignorance, or if he was being malicious, wanting his daughter to end her relationship just like my father wanted me to end my own.

“Irene, would you like to go for a walk?” I asked, pocketing the ring box.

I wanted both our fathers to at least think that I was considering asking Irene to marry me, if only to get them off my back for a little while.

“Yes.” She nodded. “I think… I think I could use some fresh air.”

“After you,” I said. I motioned toward my dad’s office door.