Between Commitment and Betrayal (Hardy Billionaire Brothers, #1)(19)

“One year?” Declan restated.

Dex smirked at his brother. “You’ll be off getting your picture taken half the time anyway. So, not even 365 days. Don’t be a whiny bitch about it.”

Dimitri elbowed him. “They’ve got to get fucking married, bro.”

“So?” Dex shrugged. “Declan acts like this gym is his baby, and he’s got hundreds more across the nation. He believes these resorts and restaurants and all our golf courses and casinos are part of the team. He’s going to give that up for one measly year?”

They all glanced at one another. His siblings having an unspoken conversation. About me. About my life. About a whole year of me being attached to their brother.

Then Declan finally spoke up. “Does my whole legal team agree this is the best scenario?”

“Yes.” Mrs. Johnson nodded. She glossed over the details and gave us the big-picture information. I didn’t need the details. I just needed air, needed time to digest, needed a damn drink of alcohol. “There are a few other insignificant details that I can have the legal team look over for you.”

She shuffled the papers around, and Declan glared at her. “That just doesn’t sound at all legal.”

“You’d be surprised what a trust and will can help you get away with, honestly.”

Carl. He had always found a way. It’s what I’d seen in the few months I’d spent with him.

She smiled softly like she was a fairy godmother, ready to help both of us. “I promise we will get through this together, okay? You two get married and try it out. Arranged marriages were the norm less than a hundred years ago and still are in some cultures. It’s for the best.”

“Send the papers to my legal team then,” he growled. I got the sense he was perturbed but willing.

“Mr. Hardy!” I finally couldn’t take it anymore, his name leaving my lips fast and loud, full of accusation.

“Yes, Ms. Belafonte?” The way he sneered my name reminded me why this would never work.

“You can’t be serious?” I breathed out.

“Why wouldn’t I be? This is my company. I’m not handing it over because I need to change my marital status for 365 days.”

“I … I don’t belong here,” I whispered out the words. The walls seemed to shift inward, the air stale with entitlement, the ground too soft for someone who’d lived a different lifestyle. Then I caught his gaze and held it. His were filled with determination, and they must have matched mine. “I do not belong here.” This time I said it with a fury I knew wouldn’t serve me well.

Be calm. Collected. You can’t show anything else.

I growled as I pushed the emotions back down and shut my eyes for a second. They wouldn’t take me seriously if I cried now, if I got mad.

“One year and you can belong wherever you want. You need to pack your things and move. Take a few days or a week. But this year, Everly, you belong with me.”

That adrenaline, that same rush I’d felt with him in the SUV, snaked through me at his words.

“Actually”—Mrs. Johnson held up the gold pen she’d been using as a pointer—“this is effective immediately.”





9


DECLAN





“IMMEDIATELY? I can’t go to his place right now.” Everly tried her best to stay composed, but she was unraveling, losing whatever mask she held up to protect her from the world. “I’m not—”

“It’s effective immediately.” I cut her off. “We do what it says or we lose the things that matter to us. That’s it. Carl knew how to handle people, Everly, and he’s handling us.”

I don’t know why that realization had me cracking the first smile since we’d lost him. It was like he was giving a solid fuck you from the grave, proving his boisterous personality stood the test of mortality. He was still getting what he wanted, even in death.

I hated him for it. But loved him for it too.

“Everly, weren’t you the one who wanted to start your management job right away?” I lifted a brow at her.

She guffawed and wiggled in her pressed black dress. Other than the funeral, I’d never seen her in a dress or professional attire. The tights and sports bras were enough to make my dick stir, but the prim and proper look shouldn’t have gotten as much of a rise out of me, especially when I was missing her father. “Are you enjoying this?”

“Carl was always a stickler about certain terms and such.”

“If you think I’m moving in and marrying you because my father is still having a hissy fit over me dating a rival team’s player, you’re mistaken.”

“Why don’t you let me drive you to my place where we can discuss it further?” I winked at Mrs. Johnson.

Everly rolled her lips between her teeth before she responded with a measured tone. “Don’t wink at her like this is some joke. This is a year of our lives.”

“What’s a year if we’re already working together in the same city? Or are you planning to go back to your hometown?”

There it was. The way she shut down and closed off when I mentioned something she didn’t want to discuss. A whole history and a whole life she wouldn’t bring up.

The first time I’d met her, she’d done the same damn thing.