Chapter 3
I almost choked on my champagne.
"Excuse me?"
Callum didn't blink. "Marry me. Today. Right now."
"I just left my wedding twenty minutes ago."
"Exactly," he said. "Which means you're available."
I stared at him. He wasn't joking. There wasn't a single crack in his expression.
"You don't even know me," I said.
"I know enough." He ticked off points on his fingers. "Serena Cole. Only daughter of Richard and Elena Cole. Top of your class at Wharton. Runs the Cole family's investment arm. Has single-handedly tripled their returns in three years while your fiancé was busy gambling away his family's projects and sleeping with your maid of honor."
My jaw tightened. "You investigated me."
"I investigate everyone connected to people who steal from me." He leaned forward. "But here's what the file didn't tell me. You walked away from a four-year relationship in front of three hundred people without shedding a single tear. That's not something you can fake. That's someone who's been ready to leave for a long time."
He was right. And I hated that he was right.
"Why marriage?" I said. "If you want to take down the Lawsons, you don't need me for that."
"No," he agreed. "But I want you for other reasons."
My pulse spiked. I ignored it.
"Like what?"
"Like the fact that I've watched you from a distance for six months, and every report that crossed my desk made me more interested. Like the fact that I had no intention of letting that wedding happen today even if you hadn't walked out yourself."
I sat very still. "What does that mean?"
"It means I had a lawyer on standby to deliver the fraud evidence to your father thirty minutes before the ceremony." He checked his watch casually. "You just beat me to it."
This was insane. This man was insane.
And yet nothing about him felt unstable. Every word was calculated. Every move was precise.
"If I say yes," I said slowly, "what do I get?"
"Everything. My name. My assets. My protection. Full access to Reed Global's resources. And the pleasure of watching Dylan Lawson lose everything he thought was his."
"And what do you get?"
His eyes held mine. Dark. Steady.
"You."
The Maybach slowed to a stop. I looked out the window.
City Hall.
He'd already told the driver where to go before I even answered.
"You're awfully confident," I said.
"I'm efficient," he corrected.
I looked at City Hall. Then back at him. Then at my phone, where another text from Dylan was blinking.
[Your parents are furious. They'll make you come back. You have nowhere to go.]
I deleted it.
"If I do this," I said to Callum, "I have conditions."
"Name them."
"I don't change my last name. I maintain my own income. And if either of us wants out, we walk. Clean. No games."
He extended his hand.
"Deal."
I shook it. His grip was warm and firm and made something flutter low in my stomach.
"One more thing," I said.
"What?"
"I want Dylan to find out in the most painful way possible."
Callum's smile turned sharp. Almost predatory.
"Serena, I think this marriage is going to work out perfectly."
Twenty minutes later, we walked out of City Hall, married.
He held up the certificate like it was a trophy.
Then his phone rang. He glanced at the screen, and his smile faded.
"What?" I asked.
"Dylan just filed a lawsuit against your family," he said. "Claiming breach of the merger contract."
My blood went cold.
But Callum was already dialing someone.
"Get me the Lawson file," he said. "All of it. We're going to war."
"Excuse me?"
Callum didn't blink. "Marry me. Today. Right now."
"I just left my wedding twenty minutes ago."
"Exactly," he said. "Which means you're available."
I stared at him. He wasn't joking. There wasn't a single crack in his expression.
"You don't even know me," I said.
"I know enough." He ticked off points on his fingers. "Serena Cole. Only daughter of Richard and Elena Cole. Top of your class at Wharton. Runs the Cole family's investment arm. Has single-handedly tripled their returns in three years while your fiancé was busy gambling away his family's projects and sleeping with your maid of honor."
My jaw tightened. "You investigated me."
"I investigate everyone connected to people who steal from me." He leaned forward. "But here's what the file didn't tell me. You walked away from a four-year relationship in front of three hundred people without shedding a single tear. That's not something you can fake. That's someone who's been ready to leave for a long time."
He was right. And I hated that he was right.
"Why marriage?" I said. "If you want to take down the Lawsons, you don't need me for that."
"No," he agreed. "But I want you for other reasons."
My pulse spiked. I ignored it.
"Like what?"
"Like the fact that I've watched you from a distance for six months, and every report that crossed my desk made me more interested. Like the fact that I had no intention of letting that wedding happen today even if you hadn't walked out yourself."
I sat very still. "What does that mean?"
"It means I had a lawyer on standby to deliver the fraud evidence to your father thirty minutes before the ceremony." He checked his watch casually. "You just beat me to it."
This was insane. This man was insane.
And yet nothing about him felt unstable. Every word was calculated. Every move was precise.
"If I say yes," I said slowly, "what do I get?"
"Everything. My name. My assets. My protection. Full access to Reed Global's resources. And the pleasure of watching Dylan Lawson lose everything he thought was his."
"And what do you get?"
His eyes held mine. Dark. Steady.
"You."
The Maybach slowed to a stop. I looked out the window.
City Hall.
He'd already told the driver where to go before I even answered.
"You're awfully confident," I said.
"I'm efficient," he corrected.
I looked at City Hall. Then back at him. Then at my phone, where another text from Dylan was blinking.
[Your parents are furious. They'll make you come back. You have nowhere to go.]
I deleted it.
"If I do this," I said to Callum, "I have conditions."
"Name them."
"I don't change my last name. I maintain my own income. And if either of us wants out, we walk. Clean. No games."
He extended his hand.
"Deal."
I shook it. His grip was warm and firm and made something flutter low in my stomach.
"One more thing," I said.
"What?"
"I want Dylan to find out in the most painful way possible."
Callum's smile turned sharp. Almost predatory.
"Serena, I think this marriage is going to work out perfectly."
Twenty minutes later, we walked out of City Hall, married.
He held up the certificate like it was a trophy.
Then his phone rang. He glanced at the screen, and his smile faded.
"What?" I asked.
"Dylan just filed a lawsuit against your family," he said. "Claiming breach of the merger contract."
My blood went cold.
But Callum was already dialing someone.
"Get me the Lawson file," he said. "All of it. We're going to war."