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My shoulders dropped. This was it. No wedding meant no shares. And the board might be able to push through the merger. The idea of letting Moretti gut my family’s company was devastating.

“But why would you do that? Why would you ask me to marry you and go through the trouble to arrange everything, only to pull out at the last minute?”

“Because it’s not only dishonest, but it’s disrespectful to my grandparents and the legacy they built.”

She frowned. “No. There’s something more to it. Something about this has never added up. What aren’t you telling me?”

Damn.How did she see through me so clearly? Was I truly that obvious, or was she just that observant?

She waited silently, giving me the time and space to organize my thoughts. That was something I’d often appreciated about Lily. She didn’t push me to answer. She didn’t get impatient. She waited, allowing me the time I needed.

“I’m motivated to marry for all the reasons I mentioned previously. But there’s another, even more compelling reason.” I took a deep breath. “My grandfather’s will contains a provision that I receive an additional ten percent of the board’s shares if I marry by the age of forty-five.”

She jerked her head back. “Is that even legal?”

“Unfortunately, yes.” I’d had a team of lawyers comb over the documents, to no avail. “My grandparents could’ve made my accession to CEO conditional on marriage, and it still would’ve been enforceable.”

“Wow.” She grimaced. “Yeah. I guess it could be worse.”

“True. And I get why they did it. But I also know that they wouldn’t have wanted me to marry solely for the sake of the shares. My grandparents wanted me to marry so I’d have a life partner like they’d found in each other.”

“That’s sweet,” she said, flipping her hand so that ours were clasped together. “And I can see why they’d want that for you. Why any grandparent would want that for their grandchild. They loved you a lot.”

I nodded. I’d loved them. Respected them. Was this really how I wanted to repay them for everything they’d done for me?

“Marrying to secure the shares feels underhanded and deceitful, and I’m sorry I let it get this far.” Yes, I might cross some lines with my hacking, but it was always for the greater good. It was for justice.

I didn’t want to disappoint my grandparents. I didn’t want to hurt Lily. And if we went through with this, Iwouldhurt Lily. She was too kind. Too good.

“Why didn’t you tell me about this before?”

“I didn’t want you roped into this mess. I wanted you to have plausible deniability if anyone asked. There’s more than just control of the board riding on this. We’ve had a merger offer.”

“Really? Who wants to merge?” She gave my hand a reassuring squeeze. “I mean…I understand if you can’t—or don’t want to—tell me.”

“Jacob Moretti,” I seethed.

Her jaw dropped. “Did you see what he did to the Loft chain? He’ll gut the Huxley brand.”

“Exactly.” And why the board couldn’t see that, I’d never know. Probably because they had their heads too far up their asses. Or they were more focused on filling their pockets than what was best for the company as a whole.

“So that’s the real reason you wanted to get married,” she said.

I nodded, and she seemed to mull it over. I had no idea what she was thinking, but I was glad I’d told her.

“From the stories I’ve heard of your grandfather, he was a trailblazer,” Lily said. “He took risks. He didn’t always do what was expected, and it brought him great success.”

I’d never mentioned it, but that was one of the things I’d admired most about Pops. His willingness to shake things up—the industry, guest expectations, you name it.

“I’m guessing that’s a big reason why he chose you as his successor. Because of your ability to take risks and think outside the box. To think for yourself.”

It was easily one of the nicest things anyone had ever said to me. And she wasn’t wrong. When my grandparents had sat me down to tell me they wanted to leave the hotel empire to me, they’d said something along those lines.

“So, while I understand that this—” she gestured between us “—probably wasn’t their intent when writing that clause, I can’t imagine they’d be happy with the idea of a merger either. Especially if they knew how Moretti operates.”

“They wouldn’t,” I said darkly.

“We may not be in love, but that doesn’t mean we can’t form a successful partnership,” she said, my hope rising with every word. “And, ultimately, isn’t that what they wanted for you?”