Chapter 5: The Grandfather’s Gambit

The morning did not arrive with the soft glow of a romantic sunrise. Instead, it was heralded by the sharp, rhythmic rapping of a cane against the heavy oak door.

"Dominic! Avery! The sun is up, and I’m not getting any younger!" a voice boomed frail but laced with the kind of authority that could move mountains or, more accurately, market shares.

Avery bolted upright, the silk sheets sliding down her chest. In her disorientation, she realized she had drifted across the "invisible line" during the night. Her hand was resting inches from Dominic’s shoulder. He was already awake, sitting on the edge of the bed with his back to her, his muscles tensed like a predator sensing a trap.

"My grandfather," he muttered, reaching for a discarded shirt. "He’s impatient. And he’s suspicious."

"What do we do?" Avery whispered, her heart doing a frantic dance against her ribs.

"We play the part," Dominic said, turning to look at her. His eyes were heavy with sleep, making him look less like the 'Ice King' and more like a man who had spent the night thinking about the woman in his bed. "And we pack. He’s changed the plan."

Ten minutes later, Avery found herself in the morning room, standing before Silas Thorne. The patriarch of the Thorne empire sat in a high-backed leather chair, a wool blanket over his knees and eyes as sharp as glass shards. He didn't look like a dying man; he looked like a king assessing a new addition to his court.

"You're a quiet thing, aren't you, Avery?" Silas asked, his gaze traveling from her simple sundress to the massive diamond on her finger.

"I believe in listening more than speaking, Mr. Thorne," Avery replied, her voice steady despite the tremor in her hands.

"Good. The world is full of noise," Silas grunted. He looked at Dominic. "A merger is a marriage of companies, Dominic. But a marriage... that’s a merger of souls. I’m not convinced yours is in this. So, we’re going to the Island. Today."

Dominic’s jaw tightened. "The Island? Grandfather, the merger meetings are tomorrow"

"The board can wait. If this woman is to be a Thorne, she needs to handle the isolation of the Island. Three days. No phones, no assistants, no distractions. Just the two of you and an old man’s dying wish." Silas leaned forward, his eyes narrowing. "Unless, of course, there’s a reason you’re afraid of a little privacy?"

Avery felt the air leave her lungs. The "Thorne Island" was a private sanctuary in the Atlantic, a place of rugged cliffs and absolute seclusion. Three days alone with Dominic, under the watchful eye of a man who spent his life spotting liars.

"We’d be honored, Grandfather," Dominic said, his voice a smooth mask of compliance. He reached out, taking Avery’s hand and bringing it to his lips. He kissed her knuckles, his eyes locked on Silas. "Avery has been longing for some time away from the city. Haven't you, darling?"

"Of course," Avery managed to say, the lie tasting like copper in her mouth.

As they walked toward the waiting helicopter on the estate’s lawn, Dominic leaned in close. The wind from the rotors whipped Avery’s hair across her face.

"This is a test," he hissed over the noise. "He knows the contract is a possibility. He’s going to try to break us. He’ll look for the cracks in our story, the way we touch, the way we look at each other when we think no one is watching."

"And if we fail?" Avery asked, looking up at the man who held her mother’s life in his hands.

Dominic stopped at the base of the helicopter steps. He grabbed her waist, pulling her flush against him so the pilots and his grandfather could see their "passion."

"Then you go back to the hospital with nothing," he said, his voice cold even as his touch burned. "On that island, Avery, there is no lie too big. You aren't just my fiancée anymore. For the next seventy-two hours, you have to be the woman I can't live without."

"I don't know if I'm that good of an actress," she whispered.

"Then don't act," Dominic replied, his eyes dark and unreadable. "Just react."