Page 19

NINETEEN

"How has your week been?" Mother asked over dinner.

Leo growled. "I've sent three emails, and haven't heard a word back from her. Laima is meant to be your friend. Can you talk to her? She's deliberately keeping me from my fated mate and it's driving me mad!"

Mother coughed. "I meant your week at work. How is the new sanctuary project coming along?"

"It isn't. It's still stuck waiting for council approval, among other things, and I caught Uncle Jeremy's secretary printing out copies of a contract for working with Tremotino on his new dodgy development, which even I know will be a colossal failure, but he's been talking it up with other board members as though it'll double their dividends this year, instead of driving the company to bankruptcy. The gossip rags have got hold of this crazy idea that I'm gay, and they've photoshopped my head onto a screenshot that's obviously been stolen from episode sixty-nine of Andy's Anal Adventures. Cat's been fending off a veritable flood of emails from people who want to help me recreate that iconic scene, including the production studio who made the movie in the first place...you wouldn't believe the obscene amount of money they offered me to do it. Maybe we're in the wrong industry, if adult entertainment can pay someone that much for only a few days' work."

Mother's expression looked like her food didn't agree with her. It took her a moment, but she forced a smile onto her face. "So you're giving up on the sanctuary that was your father's dream to become an actor? You'd be handing the company to your uncle on a platter if you do. Is that what you want?"

Trust Mum to ask him the very question that had kept him awake the night of the ball. What did he want? "I could sell my shares. It's not like the company needs me. Not really. I could settle down somewhere with my fated mate and just live a quiet life."

"After you become a porn star."

Leo squirmed. He'd considered it, for one mad moment. How could anyone justify paying him that much money to get naked in front of a camera? But none of those actors would be his mate, and she was the only one she wanted to get naked with.

"What would your mate think?"

"She wouldn't need to know." The moment the words left his lips, he regretted them. He'd meant that his mate didn't need to know he'd offered the starring role in a kinky film. Not that he'd actually do it.

"Your father and I did not raise you to shirk your responsibilities. You're talking about Pride Holdings, the company your father and I built, so that we could pass it on to you. The company you've been learning to run since you were a child, because that's what you wanted. Your father entrusted Pride Holdings to you, not your uncle. It's not just a company with shares you can sell to the highest bidder. Pride Holdings is all about its people. People who will lose their jobs and entitlements if your uncle is left in charge. What about Cat and her boys?"

And there it was. Leo couldn't shirk his responsibilities to go off and become a porn star, or even a stay at home dad. Not unless he found Pride Holdings a better CEO than he could ever be, and no, that wasn't Uncle Jeremy.

"What do I need to do?" he asked.

"You need to get married. Look like you're ready to settle down, and that you plan to take up residence at Hea Sanctuary. That was always your dad's plan. Oh, he talked about retiring there, but could you see him in a small cottage, going fishing every day? Your dad didn't even go out hunting any more, unless you were home, and then only if you went with him. The house in the sanctuary was for you and your family, not us. Which is exactly what this is about. Starting a family to prove to the board you're in this for the long haul, to create a legacy to hand over to your children. So what we need is a society wedding, as soon as possible. No press invited, but we'll send out a press release with some photos. Shots that show you at your best, so they'll definitely feature prominently on the news sites. None of this photoshopped pornography nonsense."

Leo slammed down his fork. "Well, if I could just find my mate..."

"Oh, there's no time for that. Meeting and courting and planning a wedding to mark the start of forever...not to mention the honeymoon! Oh, no. What you need is a marriage of convenience. Someone young and pretty and unknown, who'll sign a prenup and accept the arrangement for a small fee, and then divorce you quietly when this is all over and you do find your fated mate."

Leo thought of his overflowing email inbox. Full of offers from women he couldn't stand to look at, let alone live with. He couldn't marry some stranger. Not even for Pride Holdings. "Mother, no one would agree to that."

"Oh, I have just the person. She's perfect. Wait until you meet her," Mother gushed. "Lily, dear, would you come out and meet my son? This is Lily, our new maid while Mrs Parker is off visiting her grandbaby. Lily, this is my son, Leo King."