Chapter Twenty-five

“I can’t marry you.” Irene’s words came out quickly as we stood outside on the pavement, in front of the office building. “I’m sorry, but I can’t. I know that we’re supposed to be engaged, someday, but I--”

“How’s Julia?” I asked, keeping my voice calm.

“She’s good,” Irene answered. “She’s a little upset about me having to cancel our trip to Paris last minute. It’s our two-year anniversary, so we wanted to do something nice.”

“Paris is nice.” I smiled. “You should rebook the tickets, if you can.”

“Sky, how am I supposed to rebook the tickets? My father is going to wonder why I’m running off to Paris when I’m supposed to be marrying you.” She grimaced. “God. There’s no way out of this, is there? We’re going to be married to each other and absolutely miserable--”

“Irene, you have to tell your dad that you don’t want to marry me.”

“And how am I supposed to do that?” She chuckled, but there wasn’t any humor in it. “You expect me to just waltz back into that office and tell my dad that I don’t want to be your wife? Do you know how much of my life has been devoted to becoming a future Easton?”

“Didn’t your parents love each other? When they got married?” I asked. “Your dad has to at least understand the difference between a loving marriage and a business transaction--”

“Ha! That’s funny.” Irene sniffled, dabbing a finger below her eye. “You still think there’s a difference between marriage and business.”

“Because there is.”

“Not for us, there’s not.”

“Irene, you just need to be honest with James--”

“If I’m honest with my father, I’m going to lose everything!” Her voice rose. “I’m not like you, Sky. I don’t have a backup plan. I never even had a chance to fend for myself, because my father practically kept me in a gilded cage for most of my life.”

“It’ll be an adjustment, sure. But I know you can make it, if you believe in yourself, Irene.”

“I don’t want to make any adjustments, Sky! I want the Louvre. I want Julia. I want Paris,” she continued. “And if I have to marry you to have all that with her, then I will.”

“Does your dad know?”

“Know what?”

“About Julia.”

“Maybe.” She sighed. “I don’t know. Ever since I brought her around to a few family dinners, he’s been talking nonstop about you and your father. I should’ve known that he had marriage on his mind, but I was too caught up in my own world.”

“Yeah. I know what that’s like.” I let out a heavy breath. “Well, I’m not going to out you. No matter what.”

“I’m not going to out you, either.”

“Wait. You know about Raven?”

“Who’s Raven?” She grinned. “And no, I don’t know about your secret boyfriend. But I do know that you are the only boy in the world who’s never looked at me twice, which must mean that I’m just not your type.”

“You’re everyone’s type but mine, Irene Marseille,” I joked. “I think you’ll survive.”

“Maybe so.” She smiled as she turned back toward the building’s front door. “Now, come on. We need to get back to our parents before they start picking out baby names for us, too.”

* * *

“She’s not wearing the ring,” James spoke, looking between Irene and me. “Sky, why is my daughter’s hand still empty?”

“Because we both didn’t find the setting romantic enough,” Irene lied. “And because Sky said he wanted to get the ring resized, maybe even add a few more diamonds to it.”

“Oh, yes. Diamonds are always good!” James gave me a thumbs up. “So, when should we be expecting this engagement? Hopefully, within the next two weeks. I have clients coming from overseas and I’d love to introduce them to my newly-engaged daughter--”

“We’re not getting engaged.” I decided to be honest, no longer interested in going through with the charade. “Because we’re never getting married to each other. Ever.”

“He’s joking, James!” My father tried to cover for me. “Of course, Irene and Sky are going to get married someday, just like we planned--”

“No. I’m never going to marry Irene,” I emphasized. “And if that’s what it takes to be the next head of Easton’s Exchange, to pretend like I don’t have my own mind or my own heart, then I’m not interested in being involved in the family business, either.”

“Sky!” My dad’s tone was a warning.

But I was already out the door, keeping my footsteps quick as I went back down the hallway.

* * *

“How’d the meeting go with your dad?” Raven asked before he bit into a piece of orange chicken, courtesy of the Chinese restaurant down the street from his apartment.

I was back at Raven’s place and I couldn’t have been happier. While being around my father always felt like work, being around Raven felt like a permanent vacation, one that I was always happy to go on, no matter what.

“It went fine,” I lied, walking over to him, placing my hands against his waist. “That orange chicken looks really good.”

“What did your dad want to talk about?” He dug his fork into another piece of chicken, playfully holding it up to my mouth.

I took the chicken between my teeth before I replied, “Just business stuff.”

“Stuff like what?”

“It was so boring, Raven. Please don’t make me relive it.” I gave him a faux frown before I grinned down at him. “That’s enough about me, anyway. How was your day?”

He started to tell me about a new wedding client who was demanding that everything be blue for her event, from her dress, to the decorations, to the cake.

And as he carried on about his day, I felt something tugging at my chest.

I love you, Raven.

I heard the phrase so clearly in my head, even though I struggled to get it between my lips. I wanted him to know, just in case something came between us, just in case things went wrong.

But instead, I kept the words to myself as I quietly listened to Raven continue on about the blue-obsessed bride.