Fake Empire(112)
The elevator’s silver doors part to reveal the rooftop. Gray stone covers the ground. Artfully placed trees and flowers interrupt the spaced tables. Twinkling lights illuminate the space. We’re the only people up here. Crew must have rented out the whole terrace.
“Wow,” I breathe.
“A server will be up shortly to take your orders. Enjoy your evening.” The man steps back into the elevator, leaving Crew and me standing alone up here. He walks over to the edge of the roof, overlooking the whole city. I follow.
“You like it?”
“I love it.” I glance over at him. “Since you accused me of being jealous, I’ve always wondered: what did you say to that guy in Proof? The night you came over to the booth, right before we were engaged?”
“Technically, we got engaged when we were sixteen.”
I roll my eyes. “You know what I mean.”
“I told him you were mine,” Crew replies.
“That’s all you said to him?”
“Him? You don’t even remember the guy’s name, do you?”
“Stop changing the subject.”
“Do you?”
I think back to that night. Try to remember the guy who came over to my booth and talked to Sophie and Nadia. But all I remember about that night is Crew. How he looked. What he said. “No,” I admit. “I don’t.”
He grins, pleased. “I might have threatened Evan with a little bodily harm if he got handsy with you that night.”
The possessiveness in his voice elicits a contrary mixture of contentedness and annoyance. “I wasn’t yours. We weren’t even married then.”
Crew shrugs. “It felt like you were.”
I remember how pleased I was when he dismissed that redhead. I shouldn’t have cared who he screwed back then. But I did. “See? I knew you were romantic.”
“You said wasn’t.”
I raise a brow. “What?”
“You said, ‘I wasn’t yours.’ Does that mean you are now?”
“Yeah,” I tell him. “I am.”
In the past year, I’ve learned a lot. One of the things I’ve discovered about Crew is that his assurance means he is rarely without something to say. This is one of those rare moments. Where he gifts me with a sentimental smile that tells me he’s as much mine as I am his.
“Did you think we would be here the day we got married? Like this, I mean.” I gesture between us, as if love is a tangible connection you can see between two people. “Ever wonder what it would be like if you’d married someone else?”
“Do you?”
“I asked you first.”
He ignores me. “You know one thing about us that was always confusing? Why me? Up until my father told me I’d be CEO, it made some sense. But once he did, I always wondered…”
His musing is too pointed, too precise. “Your dad told you.”
“He mentioned you…requested me.”
I smile wryly. “Hanson Ellsworth doesn’t grant requests.”
“So…”
“So, it was more of a threat. I told him I’d marry you…or no one.”
“Why?”
I shrug. “Part of it was rebellion. Back then, everyone assumed Oliver would end up at the top. Asking Arthur to change the terms after they’d been set would be embarrassing for my father.”
“And the other part?”
“I wanted you.” I chew my bottom lip. “I wanted you,” I repeat.
The aftermath of that confession leaves me embarrassed.
“Come on.” I try to tug Crew toward the table. “We should look at the menu.”
He doesn’t budge. “Not yet. Wait.”
I look around the rooftop. “Wait for wha—”
Loud flashes of color light up the sky, cutting me off. I stare at the spectacular sight.
“We’re celebrating,” Crew tells me.
I realize, if anything, I was underselling his soft side earlier.
Money can buy a lot. Importance. Accolades. Relevance. Lavish vacations and expensive dinners and a dazzling display meant for two people in a city of millions.
Love is immune to currency. Money isn’t why there’s a soft half-smile on Crew’s face. Why there are butterflies in my stomach and a total certainty in my head that we’ll last.
Side by side, we watch fireworks explode over the Manhattan skyline, illuminating the city we call home. And there’s nothing fake about any of it.
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THE END
AUTHOR’S NOTE
Thank you so much for taking the time to read Fake Empire. I hope you enjoyed Scarlett and Crew’s story! Whether this is the first book of mine you’ve read or the twelfth, I’m so grateful you chose to.
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Please take a moment to rate or review this book. It’s the best way to help me reach new readers, and I’d love to hear your thoughts!
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All the best, C.W. Farnsworth
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
To put it simply, I had a blast writing this book. It’s the first one I’ve written in a while that just flowed from start to finish. I was excited to open my laptop to type every night, to get lost in the glitz and glamour and decadence of Crew and Scarlett’s story. I hope you had as much fun reading this book as I did writing it. And to top off a book I was already super excited about, I had a team of amazing women, all of who I’ve been lucky enough to work with before, to help me polish this book into its best possible version.