Page 9 of My Horrible Arranged Marriage (Bancroft Billionaire Brothers #20)

MINA

I tilted my face up toward the sun, stretching my legs out on the lounger by the pool. The Duvall estate was quiet for once, no staff rushing around. Just me, Tori, and the endless stretch of blue sky.

“This place is ridiculous,” Tori said, lowering her sunglasses to look at me. “You’re basically living in a five-star resort.”

I snorted. “It’s not as fun when you realize it’s more prison than playground.”

Tori made a dismissive sound and flipped onto her stomach, propping her chin up on her hands. “Please. If I had your problems, I’d be drunk off champagne and getting my money’s worth in pool boys.”

I laughed. She was technically off, but she was hanging out with me. She knew damn well how huge this place was. But I supposed it was a little different when you were running the estate versus enjoying the perks of the place.

It felt good to laugh. I had been in a funk since the Sampson thing.

Laughing while drunk didn’t really count.

And last night I had definitely not been drunk.

Buzzed but not drunk. I remembered every minute.

Isaac Bancroft was not what I thought he was going to be.

Not even a little. The guy was a pleasant surprise. Fun. Wild. Way too attractive.

“So?” Tori prompted, her eyes gleaming with mischief. “Tell me everything.”

I couldn’t help the stupid grin that spread across my face. “He was nice.”

“Girl, no one has ever called a Bancroft nice .” She snorted.

I rolled my eyes. “Fine. He was an asshole who made me laugh. Better?”

“Much,” Tori said. “Did he try anything?”

My cheeks heated, and I quickly adjusted my sunglasses to hide it. “Kind of. Maybe. We kissed.”

Tori sat up so fast she nearly fell off her lounger. “You kissed Isaac Bancroft? On the first date? After swearing off men for all eternity?”

“It was just a kiss,” I lied, conveniently leaving out the part where we’d nearly torn each other’s clothes off in a VIP room. “And I’d had a few drinks.”

“A few drinks usually leads to you swimming in a fountain, not hooking up with eligible bachelors.”

“I wasn’t hooking up,” I protested. “And who says eligible bachelor ? What are you, my grandmother?”

Tori ignored me, leaning in closer. “So, was he good? At kissing, I mean. The tabloids make it seem like he’s had plenty of practice.”

“It was fun,” I said.

Tori’s mouth fell open in exaggerated shock. “Fun? Mina Duvall had fun? Alert the press!”

“Shut up,” I said, laughing. “I’m serious. He’s different than I expected.”

Tori raised an eyebrow. “Different how? Is he secretly a giant nerd? Does he collect Star Wars figurines?”

I snorted again. “No. He’s just not as stuck up as I thought. He’s funny. Like, actually funny.”

“And hot,” Tori added gleefully.

I rolled my eyes. “Obviously hot.” That wasn’t even worth mentioning. Isaac Bancroft looked like sin and summer combined, all messy hair and rough hands and grins that could make a girl forget her own damn name. And he knew it. He was the definition of a panty-dropper.

“So, is he a good kisser?”

I groaned and fanned my face. “Better than good. All that practice definitely paid off.”

Tori screamed. Actually screamed. I slapped a hand over her mouth, looking wildly around, even though no one was close enough to hear.

“You little minx!” she said when I pulled my hand away. “Do not scrimp on details. I need to live vicariously through you. And don’t try to tell me it was a single kiss. I know you. And I know of all the Bancroft men. So a quick kiss is not going to fly. I’ll know you’re lying.”

I couldn’t help but smile.

“One second we were dancing,” I started. “Like bumping and grinding and the next?—”

“Tongue down your throat?” she supplied helpfully.

“Pretty much.”

Tori fanned herself. “I am living for this. So did you go home with him?”

I shook my head, biting my lip. “No. We… almost…” My cheeks flamed. “But he pumped the brakes. Had his driver take me home.”

Tori’s jaw dropped again. “Who is this man, and what has he done with Isaac Bancroft?”

I shrugged, unable to hide the flicker of confusion that still lingered. “I don’t know. But I can’t stop thinking about him.”

Before Tori could dig her claws any deeper into that little confession, the glass door slid open with a soft whoosh.

My father stepped out, dressed in slacks and a linen shirt, his sunglasses perched on his nose.

Even in his casual attire he looked serious.

I was still pissed at him for insisting I go out on the date with Isaac.

Yes, I had a good time, but that wasn’t the point.

I didn’t appreciate my father trying to manipulate my love life.

“Girls,” he said with a casual smile.

“Dad,” I said cautiously, sitting up a little. Nothing good ever came from him being this cheerful. He was trying too hard to look casual.

“Mina, I was hoping I could steal a few minutes of your time.”

Tori slid a glance at me and started to get up.

“Stay, Tori,” Dad said.

I pasted on my best fake smile. “Sure, Dad. What’s up?”

He came closer, perching on the edge of the lounger beside me. “So, you know how busy things have been at the office,” he began, in the tone he used when he was about to ask for something huge. Bigger than going on a date with a guy I didn’t know.

“Mmm-hmm,” I said warily.

“Well, it’s left me a little short on time. And with summer kicking off, I was thinking it’s about time we threw a party.”

I blinked. “ We ?”

“You,” he said, smiling like that made it better. “With some help from the staff, of course. But it would mean a lot if you’d take the reins. I want to reintroduce you. Let’s start the summer off right.”

I opened my mouth to come up with an excuse, but he cut me off.

“You’re great at these kinds of things,” he said. “You always have been. And maybe it’s just what you need right now. Something fun. Something you can make your own. No budget. Go wild. Make it the party to beat.”

Tori perked up from her chair. “I’ll help!”

Dad beamed at her. “That would be wonderful. I know you two will make a great team. I want this to be fun, not one of those stuffy things that everyone can’t wait to leave. If it goes well, it might just have to be the new Duvall tradition.”

I slumped back against the lounger, defeated. There was no getting out of it now. I shot Tori a frown. She totally betrayed me. Traitor .

Dad’s phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out, stared at the screen, and frowned. “I have to take this. But Mina, my assistant will send you the preliminary guest list. Make sure the Bancrofts are all on there. All of them.”

There’s no point in trying to get out of it. What’s ordered is done.

He smiled, patted my shoulder, and disappeared back into the house.

The minute the door closed behind him, I let out a groan.

“I’m going to die,” I said dramatically. “I’m going to plan a party and die at the end of it. But before I die, I’m going to kick your ass.”

Tori laughed, tossing a pillow at me. “Come on. It’ll be fun. We’ll get drunk while picking out flower arrangements.”

I glared at her but couldn’t help laughing too. “I can’t believe you volunteered!”

She shrugged. “It’s what I do. I couldn’t leave you hanging. You know he wasn’t actually asking you to plan the party. He was telling you to do it. Do you really know anything about party planning?”

She had a point.

I let out a long, theatrical sigh. “Absolutely nothing. The last party I tried to plan was my own engagement party, and we all know how that turned out.”

Tori winced. “Yeah, let’s not do that again.”

I sank deeper into my lounger, the memory of that disaster washing over me.

The engagement party I’d planned for Sampson and me had been a nightmare from start to finish.

First, the caterer canceled last minute.

Then the band showed up drunk. And finally, the cherry on top: I caught Sampson with some chick in the coat closet.

He told me he was drunk and thought it was me.

I knew it wasn’t true, but I accepted it.

I told myself it was all going to change once we were married.

“At least this time there’s no fiancé to catch cheating,” I muttered.

“Silver linings,” Tori agreed, raising her glass of lemonade in a mock toast.

A few minutes later, my phone buzzed. I slid my sunglasses up and opened the email from Dad’s assistant, scrolling through the guest list.

At first it was fine—names I recognized, family friends, business partners.

The usual suspects. That was one of the things about growing up in my father’s privileged circles.

The faces rarely changed. Lots of faces faded when they lost their fortunes or found themselves embroiled in a major scandal, but it was rare to see new faces.

Old money and new money. The new money had to prove themselves before they were really welcomed in.

And then I saw it.

Sampson Calloway.

The name might as well have been written in blood.

My whole body tensed. My stomach twisted.

Tori sat up when she saw my face. “What?”

I shoved the phone at her.

She hissed through her teeth. “Oh no.”

“Oh no is right,” I snapped, clenching my fists. “The gall of him to invite that snake to my house after everything?—”

“Deep breaths,” Tori said soothingly, rubbing my arm. “You’re not going to let that piece of shit ruin your summer.”

I took a shaky breath, but my heart was still hammering against my ribs.

“What the hell is he thinking?” I hissed.

My phone rang suddenly, making me jump. Without thinking, I answered it.

“What?” I snapped.

A low, amused chuckle filled the line. “Well, hello to you too, sunshine,” Isaac Bancroft’s voice purred in my ear. “You sound kind of hot when you’re pissed.”

My face burned. I buried my head in my free hand. “Sorry,” I muttered. “I’m having a day.”

“Oh, do tell,” he said lazily, like he had all the time in the world. “What’s got your panties in a bunch?”

I laughed despite myself. “Stupid party,” I said. “My dad’s roped me into throwing some summer extravaganza and?—”

“And you hate being told what to do,” Isaac finished for me.

I smiled because damn it, he got it. “Exactly.”

“Well, maybe I can help.”

I arched an eyebrow. “Help? You? You know how to plan a party?”

“We can talk strategy,” he said smoothly. “On our second date.”

I blinked. “Second date?”

His laughter floated through the phone and washed over me. “Yeah, second date. I’m picking you up tonight at seven. Don’t make me wait. Patience isn’t my strong suit.”

Before I could respond, he hung up.

I stared at the phone, my heart pounding in a way that had nothing to do with rage this time.

Tori grinned at me over her sunglasses. “Was that…?”

I nodded mutely.

She squealed and kicked her feet in the air like a teenager. “You are so screwed . Maybe literally.”

I rolled my eyes. “Very funny.”