Chapter Two
Lucas sat in Nathan’s hotel suite early the next morning and watched his cousin pacing up and down in front of him. He had never seen him in such an agitated state and he wondered what the hell had happened to get him that way.
“Jeez Nate, will ya sit down?” He finally said when he’d had enough. “I’ve been here over half an hour and you still haven’t told me what’s wrong.”
Instead of saying anything, Nathan went and picked up a cream coloured document off the table and handed it over and then watched the other man read it. He couldn’t help smirking when a few seconds later Lucas’ head shot up and he stared at him with a bewildered look on his face.
“Is this for real?”
“No, you’ve just been Punk’d, dumbass!” He couldn’t help blurting out. A second later he apologised. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to take this out on you. Yes, it’s real. I’ve spoken to Dad’s lawyer as well as my own and they’ve confirmed it’s genuine and legal. If I want to get my hands on that money I’ve got to get married within the next three months. Trust him to die so close to my thirtieth birthday, huh?”
Shaking his head, Lucas said, “I-I can’t believe he’d do this to you. You’d think after what happened with his own marriage that he wouldn’t want you to go through the same thing.”
Nathan released a snort of laughter. “Of course he’d want me to go through the same thing. He lived to make my life a misery and now he’s gone and I’m finally free, he springs this on me from beyond the grave. He knew full well I had no intention of ever getting married and that’s why he decided to pull this stunt.”
“So what are you going to do?”
“A part of me just wants to say fuck it but another part of me wants what’s mine. Maybe I’m being selfish…I just don’t know anymore.”
“I need a drink,” Lucas stated a few moments later after everything he had just heard had sunk in. “Do you want one?”
“Yeah, thanks. Make mine a double.”
He nodded as he got up from his chair and went over to the mini bar. “Apart from the two of us and the lawyers you’ve discussed this with, who else do you think knows about this clause?”
“I’ve got no idea. On the flight here I wondered if my Mom knows but it’d be just like him to keep this to himself so that there was no likelihood of her revealing it to me out of spite or something. All these thoughts are going around and around in my head and I just don’t know what do or think. The only thing I did know was that I had to talk to someone and that’s when I called you.”
“I’m glad you did.” Walking over to him, he handed him a glass of bourbon before going back and sitting down in his chair. “Just out of curiosity, if you do decide to go ahead with this plan of his, who would you marry?”
“I’ve got no fucking clue. The women I tend to mix with aren’t the marrying types if you get my drift.”
Lucas couldn’t help laughing. He knew only too well the types of women his cousin associated with. If he mentioned this to any one of them and they got wind of how much money was at stake, you could bet your life they would be hanging on until well after the three years were up.
“I’m glad you find this funny, Luke.” Nathan scowled.
“I’m not laughing at you or this situation. I was just picturing you marrying one of the bimbos you normally hang out with. They’d take you to the cleaners, man, that is if they ever let you out of their sight once they found out how much money you’d eventually be worth.”
“Tell me about it. No, if I decide to do this, then I need to find someone completely different. Someone real and someone I can trust with this.”
Staring at his cousin, Lucas asked, “Wait! You mean you’d actually tell the woman the truth about why you were marrying her?”
“I think I’d have to. I know I have a reputation when it comes to the way I treat women but I’m not a heartless bastard. I’m not [i]him[/i].”
“I know you’re not. I wasn’t suggesting that for a second. I just didn’t think you’d tell anyone else about this…crazy plan.”
“Well apart from you and the lawyers involved, she would be the only other person to know the truth. I’d have a sort of pre-nuptial agreement drawn up so that she couldn’t tell anyone the truth about our marriage or claim any more money than I’d be giving her and…”
“You’re going to pay a woman to marry you!?”
Nathan shook his head at his cousin’s clueless behaviour. After draining his glass of bourbon, he said, “I don’t think I have much of a choice in the matter. My birthday is in three months time and I need to be married by then so I’m in a bit of a hurry here. Plus, I’d basically be asking her to put her life on hold for three years while she’s married to me so the least I can do is give her something at the end of the three years.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” he conceded.
“The whole thing would just be like another business deal. It would just be a marriage in name only.”
“Right,” Lucas said chuckling. “I’ll believe that when I see it.”
“Look, this whole thing is a damn nightmare and the last thing I need is to complicate it even further with sex. Like I said, the marriage would just be in name only.”
Lucas frowned. “Be that as it may, you’re going to need to make it look convincing to everyone around you.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I mean that if people found out that the whole thing was a sham just to get your hands on your inheritance, you’d probably lose any chance of getting the money. Even if you’re not going to be sleeping with the new Mrs Scott, you need to make it appear to everyone on the outside that you are. You can’t continue screwing around the way you do already.”
Letting his cousin’s words sink in, Nathan nodded in agreement. “You’ve got a point. Damn, it’s going to be a long three years. Dad obviously thought I wouldn’t do it but I’ll show him. That money’s not going anywhere except in my bank account.”
Seeing the determined look in the other man’s eyes, Lucas smiled. He knew that once Nathan had set his mind on something, he rarely, if ever, failed to get it or make it happen. He just hoped that the key players involved in this would come out unscathed.
“So, is there anyone you can think of who I should propose to?” Nathan asked jokily but seeing the serious look on his cousin’s face, his expression sobered.
Hearing the unexpected question caused an image to suddenly pop into Lucas’ head and his lips slowly curled up into a smile. “Hmm, you know, there might just be.”