Page 24 of My Horrible Arranged Marriage (Bancroft Billionaire Brothers #20)

ISAAC

I woke up with my fingers tingling. My hand was asleep.

It took me a second to realize it was lack of blood flow due to the head on the inside of my upper arm cutting it off.

I moved my arm just enough to allow the blood to start flowing into my fingers.

I moved my arm again, being careful not to wake her.

I rolled onto my side and lay there for a second, watching her.

Hair a mess, one leg kicked out from under the comforter, lips slightly parted.

She looked peaceful. Like last night had drained all the tension from her bones, finally letting her rest. I was actually a little tender.

My poor little Mina had gotten one hell of a workout, which reminded me, I needed to restock my condom supply.

Last night had been incredible. I couldn’t get enough of her.

She was just as horny as I was. I remembered dozing off at some point and waking up to find her riding me.

Insatiable. That was how I felt. Even now, knowing we were both in desperate need of a break, I was thinking about being back inside her.

Mina was a woman that seemed to have been deprived of proper sex for too long. I surmised Sampson was a selfish lover, which wasn’t a surprise to me. I made sure she was a satisfied customer. Always her first.

My phone buzzed on the nightstand.

I grabbed it quickly before it could wake her.

I squinted at the screen and saw it was my dad.

Of course.

I slid out of bed carefully, easing the door shut behind me before answering.

“Morning,” I said, voice still rough with sleep.

“Isaac,” my father said, the way someone might greet a soldier they’ve sent into battle and half expected not to come back. “I need you at the estate. Now.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Seriously? It’s not even eight.”

“It’s important.”

“It always is with you,” I muttered, but I already knew I’d go. I always did. “I’ll be there in an hour.”

I assumed it was about last night. Hectar probably tattled on me. Isaac, the pain-in-the-ass Bancroft, got up to no good once again. I could already imagine the story Hectar told my dad. I had no doubt it would be exaggerated.

I ended the call, then went back into the bedroom just long enough to grab clean clothes. Mina stirred as I pulled on jeans, blinking sleepily at me.

“You okay?” she murmured, voice husky.

“Yeah.” I sat on the edge of the bed, brushing a bit of hair from her forehead. “That was my father. He wants me at the estate for some kind of meeting.”

Her eyes opened a little more. “Everything alright?”

“Probably not.” I smiled, trying to keep things light.

She stretched slowly, then sat up, clutching the sheet to her chest. “Last night?”

“I haven’t done anything else lately,” I said with a shrug.

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” I said. “It’s not like he can ground me and take away my Playstation. I can drop you off at your place on the way.”

The expression on her face said it all. “Okay,” she murmured.

She didn’t want to go back. Not yet. I didn’t blame her.

“You don’t have to,” I said. “If you don’t want to go home, you can stay here.”

Her eyes searched mine. “Are you sure?”

“Positive.” I leaned down and kissed her forehead. “Stay. I’ll be back in a couple hours. Make yourself at home. There’s coffee and food in the fridge—I think.”

That made her smile—small and real.

“Okay,” she said. “Thanks, Isaac.”

“Baby, you don’t have to thank me,” I said. “I’ve got you.”

She smiled up at me. I leaned down and brushed my lips over hers. “When I get back, we can take a long soak in the hot tub, repair all those muscles we strained.”

She laughed. “That sounds like a very good plan.”

“You can stay right here in bed. Sleep.”

She yawned and stretched one arm. The sheet dropped, giving me a glimpse of one beautiful breast. I leaned down and dropped a kiss on the mound before I stood up. If I didn’t leave, I was going to crawl right back in bed with her and neither of us was going to be able to move.

I left my bedroom and grabbed the keys for my Porsche.

As I walked to the parking garage, I felt a little cramp in my thigh.

Instead of wincing, I grinned. My muscles were sore but it was for the best reasons.

I got in the car, pulled on my dark sunglasses, and started the engine.

I probably should have showered, but Dad didn’t give me much of an option.

The drive out to their estate took me just under an hour.

I pulled into the circle drive and spotted a black car in the driveway. That was not one of my brothers’ or cousins’ car. They would never be caught driving that grandpa car.

Shit.

I knew that car.

Hectar Duvall.

I knew he would have called my father and complained, but I didn’t expect him to get up at the crack of dawn and drive out to the estate. He must really be pissed. Well, fuck him. It was his stupid plan in the first place.

I cut the engine and climbed out of the car. The front door opened with one of the staff telling me where to find my father. I wondered if he told them when he summoned one of us. They acted like they knew when one of us was in trouble and had been summoned to the principal’s office.

I walked down the hall and into my father’s study. Dad was sitting behind his massive mahogany desk, looking like he belonged in a GQ spread about legacy wealth. Hectar was sitting in the armchair across from the desk.

“Morning,” I said as I stepped in. “What’s this, a surprise intervention?”

Hectar didn’t respond. Dad just gave me one of those looks.

It was a look that said he was disappointed in me…

again. Not the first time and I doubted it would be the last. Because no matter how many lectures he gave me, it never got better.

He couldn’t lecture the wild out of me. I was the way I was.

To me, it seemed like he would figure that out by now.

This was a waste of time. We both knew it, but he seemed intent on trying to make me listen.

“Sit down,” he said.

I slid into the chair, propping my ankle on my knee and doing my best to appear casual. I folded my arms. “So what’s this about?”

Hectar finally spoke. “Last night was a disaster.”

“I thought it was fun.”

He gave me a sharp look. “You embarrassed Mina. You embarrassed both our families.”

“No offense, but the embarrassment walked in when Sampson showed up, not me. Who invited that loser anyway?”

“You should’ve ignored him,” Hectar snapped.

“You should’ve banned him from the damn property. And maybe stick up for your daughter for a change.”

Dad exhaled, a signal that he was getting ready to referee. “Hectar and I have been discussing whether or not we should pull the plug on this arrangement.”

I stared at him. “So the wedding’s off?”

Hectar leaned forward. “You and Mina—this was a long shot from the start. And now? I don’t think this is working. If anything, you’re making things worse. You seem to encourage her bad behavior.”

I scoffed. “Because we didn’t take your precious summer party seriously enough? Your guests loved it.”

“You turned it into a circus.”

“We made it fun.”

“It wasn’t supposed to be fun,” Hectar said. “It was supposed to signal stability. Repair her image. Yours. This was about alignment.”

That word made my skin crawl. “Yeah, God forbid two adults actually enjoy each other’s company,” I said. “What were you expecting? Some robotic display of cold smiles and choreographed handholding?”

“You need to calm down,” my father warned.

I ignored him. My blood was starting to boil. I didn’t care who saw.

“Let’s talk about image,” I said, turning to Hectar. “You’re worried about Mina’s? Because last I checked, the reason it ever took a hit in the first place was because she took the fall for your golden boy Sampson.”

Hectar’s mouth thinned. “That’s not what happened.”

“Oh, isn’t it? Because I remember Mina telling me you were the one who asked her to keep his affair quiet. To protect him.”

“I was trying to protect her .”

“By making her lie?” I shook my head, fury rising in my chest. “You let her take the blame. The media painted her as unstable, dramatic, too emotional, while he just slipped away with his reputation intact.”

Hectar stood up. “I don’t need to explain myself to you.”

“No, but maybe you should explain yourself to her.”

“I did what I thought was best.”

“Well, you were wrong.”

His face went pale at that. A crack in the armor.

Dad cleared his throat sharply. “That’s enough, Isaac.”

But I wasn’t done.

“Mina deserved someone to stand up for her back then. She didn’t get it.

Not from you. She was humiliated. Alone.

And now you want to come in here and tell me I’m not good enough for her because I didn’t treat your party like a board meeting?

Did you not see the smile on her face all night?

Well, before Sampson took a giant shit on the whole evening. ”

Silence fell between us, tense and electric.

“It was a simple party,” Hectar spat. “She was going to get the chance to prove she was over that idiot. I wanted Mina to show she was fine. Moving on. That party was meant to help her.”

“She didn’t want that kind of party,” I shot back. “She doesn’t care what people think about her. Mina just wants to live her life without everyone judging her.”

“She lives in a world full of judgment,” Hectar shot back. “I’m trying to rehabilitate her image.”

“Well, you suck at it!” I snarled.

Hectar grabbed his coat from the back of the chair and moved toward the door. “I’ll speak to Armand privately,” he said stiffly, and without another word, he left.

The door shut behind him with a quiet click .

I turned toward my father, bracing myself.

“Well?” I said. “Go ahead. Yell at me.”

But Dad didn’t look mad.

He looked... amused. He smiled.

“What?” I asked, narrowing my eyes.

“Nothing,” he said. “Carry on.”

I blinked. “That’s it?”

“I’ll deal with Hectar,” he said simply, standing and straightening the sleeves of his shirt. “Sounds like you and Mina have a good summer ahead of you.”

I stared at him. “What the hell are you talking about?”

Dad just gave me a knowing smile. “You really think I haven’t noticed?”

“Noticed what?”

“That look in your eyes when you talk about her.”

I stiffened. “You want me to marry her. Is it a problem if I enjoy her company in the meantime?”

He shrugged. “Just keep doing what you’re doing. Whatever ends up happening, I appreciate you’ve given this a real shot.”

I walked out of the house in a rush. I had a woman in my bed that I was anxious to get back to.