“It’s not like that, Emily. Really. I love you.”
“You keep saying that. And every time you say it, it sounds less convincing.” Emily folded her arms as her cheeks burned with rage and humiliation. All the time she had been wracked with guilt over what she did, when in truth, she played perfectly into the hand of David’s father.
They pulled up outside Emily’s apartment, and she didn’t even wait for Henry open the door. She pushed it open and grabbed her bag from the trunk.
“Emily, wait. Please. We need to talk about this.” David followed her to the door.
“Stay away from me.”
“But please, Emily. We can work this out.”
“I can’t even look at you.” Tears were flooding her vision now as she fumbled with her keys. David tried to hold her, but she shrugged him off.
“Don’t touch me,” she snapped. David stood back.
“Emily, please don’t shut me out.”
The door to the apartment building swung open and Emily threw her bag inside. She turned and just before she closed the door she paused, staring at David’s crestfallen face. She pulled the platinum ring off her finger and thrust it into David’s hand.
“You were never going to tell me the truth, were you?” The question was more like a statement, but she searched his face. David pressed his lips together keeping silent; she could see the internal conflict in his eyes.
No. He wasn’t.
A sob escaped Emily’s mouth as she closed the door, and she resolved to never look at that handsome face again.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Hurting
David pummeled the punching bag until every ounce of his energy was spent. The gym stank of stale sweat. David’s whole face and neck dripped with perspiration. He huffed as he wiped his forehead with the back of his arm.
“Mr. Marks, sorry to disturb you.”
David threw his fist into the bag one last time and exhaled.
“What is it, Robert?” He picked up his flask and gulped down the ice water. Robert stood a few feet away and kept a distance between them. David had been in a foul mood since he returned. All of the staff were keeping a wide berth.
“Your father is on the phone––”
“I don’t want to speak to him.”
“––he’s says it’s time.”
The words sank like heavy rocks in the bottom of his stomach. He pulled his gloves off and sighed. “Right,” he said. “Tell him I’m on my way.”
The sunshine made everything glow yellow in the garden, and the birds chirped softly in the aviary. There was a gentle breeze in the air and a strange sense of peace. David took a deep breath, as he caught sight of the people standing around the bed. The large glass doors had been rolled back, and as he entered the summer house, he could still hear the tide of the ocean.
Charles stood next to the head of the bed, with his hands resting on the white bony hand of his mother. Edward and Catherine stood at the foot of the bed and watched silently as David stooped down to kiss his grandmother on the forehead.
“Where is your wife, David?” her voice was weak and fragile. Every labored breath seemed to drain her energy.
“She’s so sorry she couldn’t be here,” David lied. He was grateful that Edward didn’t retort or make a sound.
“Hold onto that girl. She’s got fire in her belly and eyes only for you.”
“Grandmother––”
“I know what you’re thinking. Don’t you worry. I know all about the plan.”
David looked up at Charles with surprise and glanced over at Edward who smiled at him. Why is he smiling?
“David, my dear, do you think I would be so cruel?”
“I’m sorry? I don’t follow–” David was shocked to the core. He’d refused to allow himself to be truly angry with his grandmother and her sudden shift in the will. After all, she was his grandmother. But had she really deceived him?
Grandmother Marks coughed and wheezed.
“It was her plan all along.”
He glanced at his co-conspirator father.
“Mission: get David a nice wife,” she whispered with a weak smile.
“But how––”
“David,” his father started, “you’re in your thirties and you still haven’t even plucked up the courage to date. Your grandmother––”
“––did not want to die knowing her sweet grandson was doomed to be alone,” Grandmother Marks finished for Charles. David looked at everyone in turn. Edward shrugged and laughed; Catherine was smiling at him compassionately. Only Charles looked apologetic.
“You were all in on it?” David asked. Edward raised his hand in defeat.
“You got me. Though I’m insulted you think I would dissolve the family business just to make a new Las Vegas, catering to only rich people.” The room laughed quietly at the absurdity of the idea.
“I can’t believe the lengths you’ve all gone to get me married,” David said mostly to himself.
“We knew you would only be pushed if there was a worthy cause, and losing the family business and all we’ve worked so hard to achieve…,” Charles explained evenly.
“But I don’t understand, when the press came out with that story….”
“What were we supposed to do? We were with guests when the news came on, so we had to keep in character and not let out what we’d done. We still have no idea how that information got out. Our attorneys have sworn they didn’t break confidentiality.’”
“But why couldn’t you have just explained… Emily won’t return my calls. She’s––she’s––”
“Humiliated? She wonders if any of it was real,” Catherine spoke up in her sing-song voice. She placed a hand gently on David’s arm. “You need to give her some time. Then go to her, David, and prove to her how you truly feel, and honestly—” She looked over at the family with a slight reprimand before continuing. “—beg her for forgiveness.”
“But how?”
“You’ll work it out,” Grandmother Marks said in a raspy voice. David looked at her with tears in his eyes. She didn’t want him to be alone, so she’d orchestrated a whole plan to manipulate him to pursue Emily. He battled equally with being annoyed and touched by
