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My bride ventured into the kitchen the night we got home with a box tucked beneath her arm, looking a bit sheepish.
She broke the silence with an offer. “You strike me as the kind of man that would enjoy a littleRisk.”
“An inevitability of being in business,” I agreed, smirking as she rolled her eyes, closing the distance to where I was reviewing a high-profile client’s quarterly plan on the couch. She plunked down beside me and set the box on the cured driftwood coffee table with enough enthusiasm that Cap raised his head from where he rested in my lap. He wasn’t a tremendous fan of being apart and had been even more glued to my hip than usual. She unfolded the board and began counting out players. While every inch of my brain urged me to finish looking through our strategy, some corner of my being demanded I humor her. Acknowledge a gesture that felt like…an offering of sorts. “You play a lot?”
“In a family our size on an island that’s almost always rainy, cheap home entertainment is a necessary commodity.”
“I take that as a yes?”
“Definea lot,” she challenged, smiling as she emphasized the phrase. Cap smashed his cold, wet nose into my palm the instant I stopped petting him, my focus on her as she added, “I will warn you; don’t ever play Elora. She eviscerates the best of us.”
“We’ll have to see about that.”
“Feeling cocky, Greyson?” Greyson. I loved the way this woman said my name like a challenge.
“Confident,” I corrected.
“Isn’t that just a euphemism for the same thing?” she asked, narrowing her eyes…playfully? There was definitely some level of amusement staring back at me. I liked it more than I strictly should’ve. As it was, it was day one of nine hundred and eighty-five before we would stage our inevitable split. Perhaps a way to kill time was precisely what we needed.
“Cocky men can’t walk their talk.”
“Oh,” she scoffed. “And you can?”
“I’m not in the habit of gambling unless I know I can win.”
“So,you knewI’d say yes and not report you to HR?” Judging by the satisfaction in her subtle smile, she’d been dying to bring that up for a while now. “Logic would lend to the idea that I could’ve turned around and added another headache to your heartbreak.”
“Okay,” I allowed. “I don’t gamble unless it’s worth the risk.”
That glorious pink colored her cheeks as her gaze dropped to the board. “Then let’s play, Mr. Hart.”
“I’m also not prone to showing mercy,” I teased flatly.
“Like I’d ever request it.” She arched one lone brow before demanding, “So? Prove it.”
It turned out that Alice was a far more calculating opponent than my brother or cousins had ever been. She could’ve given my dad a run for his abundance of money, which was why it was absolutely no surprise when she knocked on my home office door Thursday morning.
“You got a second, boss?”
“For my wife? Always. Come in, beautiful.” I’d say about anything to earn that blush, I realized. She quirked a brow, smirking like she knew exactly what I was doing…and didn’t seem to mind. Stepping inside, she quietly shut the door behind her and sighed as she eased into the chair across from me. “That sounds good,” I drawled sarcastically.
Her eyes shot skyward as she sighed, “The article is live.”
“Now would be a great time to specify.”
“The allegationswent live this morning,” she explained, glancing to her phone and reading aloud, “From Wedded Bliss to Financial Crisis:Hart InvestmentsCEO Greyson Hart Accused of Foul Play.”
“Ahh, that.” I echoed her sigh as I leaned into my chair, lacing my fingers behind my head. No doubt our surprise engagement had delayed their game plan. “Are we changing our strategy?”
“Nope, I already messaged our journalists.” It had been Alice’s idea, after all. It made sense that she would get to pull the trigger. “The first leak will hit blogs tonight, and the next three will launch over the next few days.”
“Counter articles?”
“Through editing and ready to cause a buzz.”
“Follow-ups?”
“Exclusive interviews will stagger out over the next four weeks. We have pregnancy speculations and trouble in paradise on standby.” Like a commander reporting to their captain, she stated the facts without much in the way of inflection. No one would look at the sinfully sexy vixen in front of me and ever expect such a calculating, cunning mind to accompany it. I’d just married my best weapon, and the world had no idea she’d already been unleashed. “Your investigators now have names and sources?”