LOGINAfternoon settled slowly over Rhysand’s house, bringing golden light through the tall windows of the living room and making everything look calmer than it actually was.Aiden had finally crashed. Not gracefully.He’d spent almost an hour in the pool claiming three illegal victories, using Rhysand’s head as transportation, swallowing half a glass of water because he’d tried blowing bubbles while talking, then refusing to admit he was tired until his own body staged an intervention.Now he was asleep on his side across the long light-gray sofa, his black hair still damp and falling messily over his forehead, his cheeks flushed from the sun and swimming, one small leg tucked beneath him while both arms wrapped around a large cream pillow that probably cost enough to cover several months of electricity at my first apartment.The pillow belonged to him now. I could tell by the way he was hugging it like if anyone tried to take it, his lawyer would call.I sat on the sofa across from him wi
Rhysand looked at me with what was probably supposed to be a threatening stare, except the effect was slightly ruined by the four-year-old sitting on his shoulders in upside-down goggles, steering his head like a warhorse.“You’re recording this in your head.” He narrowed his eyes.“Already in permanent storage.”“Mami!” Aiden called. “Look, I’m tall!”“You’re sitting on a man over six feet tall.”“I’m a giant.”“Technically, a parasite.”He didn’t know that word, so he chose to ignore it.I opened my laptop again.Inbox.Work.I had a company.Thirty-two unread emails, two vendor crises, one call that needed to be rescheduled, and possibly the biggest wedding in the history of my company, whose groom had just told the bride they needed to talk tonight.Normal.I read one line.Rhys’s phone vibrated on the table beside the lounger next to me.I looked at the screen because I had eyes, and curiosity had never once been recognized as a sin in the de Cruz family.BOARD CALL.Rhysand didn
I found them at the pool seven minutes later.Seven minutes had been enough for Aiden to change clothes, put on a swim vest that could probably fit a kid two grades above him, wear his goggles upside down for the second time that day, and decide that Rhysand’s private pool was now the official venue for aquatic Formula One.“GO!” Aiden pushed off the wall with both little feet.Or, more accurately, tried to.His body moved maybe a foot before the blue vest popped him back to the surface like an expensive cork, while Rhysand, who was in the imaginary lane beside him, hadn’t even started swimming yet.I stopped at the glass door.Elma sat at the edge of the pool with both feet in the water, sunscreen beside her. She looked at me. “I tried fixing his goggles.”“I believe you.”“He said aerodynamics.”I looked at my son.The goggles were still upside down.“He’s swimming.” Elma shrugged.“AIDEN.”He turned in the middle of the pool. “Mami!”“Your goggles.”“They’re good!”“They’re upside
“What?”Rhysand didn’t repeat himself.I stared at him for another few seconds, waiting for something. A smile. A wink. Some tiny indication that what he’d just said was part of his chronic condition known as annoying Maya de Cruz for personal entertainment.Nothing.“Don’t you dare call off your engagement.”Now he really looked at me.I let out a laugh because his face somehow made me feel like I was the one saying something ridiculous.“Seriously, Rhys. Don’t stand there after a fifteen-minute conversation about Aiden and decide, wow, apparently the best solution is to blow up a seven-figure wedding that’s already halfway planned.”“I didn’t say it because of a fifteen-minute conversation.”“You said it immediately after a fifteen-minute conversation.”“Timing isn’t causation.”My hand almost went for the glass.He saw that, and the corner of his mouth twitched. “Don’t.”“You know how much I love it when men give instructions to my hands.”“I’d prefer my glassware intact.”“Excelle
“Do what?”“Turn this into a morality trial over who’s worse in your family. The competition is too tight.”His jaw shifted. “I’m not going to leave him.”“You’re going to marry someone else.”“That’s not the same thing.”“To a four-year-old?” I raised an eyebrow. “Good luck explaining that nuance after you tell him, surprise, I’m your Daddy, and then two months later Mami has to go to the venue to make sure Daddy marries Miss Sunshine with a seven-figure floral budget.”The name made something move across his face.Gracie.Finally.Someone else real in this conversation.Not just a conceptual obstacle.A woman who had once brought almond croissants as a peace offering and stood in front of a mirror in a wedding dress asking me if it was pathetic to want her fiancé to go out to dinner with her without his phone. A nice woman.I rubbed my thumb over my lower lip, then dropped my hand. “And before you say you can split your time, don’t.”“I haven’t said anything.”“I know how rich men t
I stared at him for a few seconds, then let out a long breath and tipped my head back slightly, because apparently God did have a limit for how many times a woman could hear a rich man say something that sounded equally like a threat and a business proposal before her cervical spine gave up too.“Okay,” I said finally. “Let’s say you ask.”Rhysand listened.“Let’s say I wake up one morning in a neurologically unstable condition and tell you, go ahead, Rhysand, tell Aiden you’re his father.” I lifted one hand before he could interrupt. “Then what?”His eyes narrowed slightly. “What do you mean?”“I think the question is simple enough for a man with two degrees.”“Maya.”“No, seriously.” I shifted so I was facing him more fully. “You said you don’t want to sit across from your son forever while he thinks Daddy is somewhere making money. Fine. You want out of somewhere. Congratulations. Passport stamped. Welcome home.”Rhys’s mouth moved slightly, but I had no intention of giving him roo
Morning arrived far too politely for something that should have come in carrying a fire extinguisher.I woke before the sun was fully up, with pale light slipping through the gap in Rhysand’s suite curtains and falling over my skin like an accusation.For a few seconds, I didn’t move.There were ge
He picked up his whiskey and took a small sip. It’s too easy. Too controlled. I wanted to disturb him. I wanted to make him lose his flat fucking face. I wanted something tonight to be messy, unmanaged, not wrapped in family and money and shame.“I’m not a good man, Maya,” he said quietly.“I know.
Late night, I’m at a beachside club with a glass of tequila in front of my face and a bartender looking at me like I’m an expensive potted plant that had suddenly started smoking.His name was probably Kai. Or Koa. Or something very Hawaiian and very undeserving of being dragged into the Bernadi fa
After spending the entire day making sure my wedding did not turn into a disaster with expensive flowers, I finally collapsed onto the bed in my suite, one foot still in a heel and the other already surrendered to humanity.Tomorrow, I’m going to become Mrs. Bernadi.That should have made me blush,







