Business as Usual (5 page)

 I signed and dated our marriage license
then passed the document to the administrator on the other side of the window
at the courthouse.

“So it is,” I tersely replied.
Just another
business deal...
I could back out at any time, but I knew I wouldn’t be
able to forgive myself for disappointing my father. There were consequences for
disappointment, like being written out of the Byron family and out of my
father’s life.   

Ethan’s hand rested on the small of my back as
the man at the window reviewed the information on the form to ensure everything
was in order. Ethan’s hand was warm, his fingers tracing a pattern on my spine.
Strangely, he didn’t seem as unhappy about the arrangement as he should be. In
fact, he looked downright jovial.

We left the courthouse and went to the hotel a
short time later. There, Ethan’s clothes and other personal belongings were
waiting for us. Someone had already hung our clothes in the same closet, and
placed his shaving kit and other toiletries in the bathroom with mine.

The suite was spacious with a king sized bed,
walk-in closet and large picturesque windows with a stunning view of a glitzy
Las Vegas skyline. I waited until Ethan was properly settled in the other room
as I weighed telling Danny about my marriage of convenience.

Daniel was beautiful, almost fairy-like with his
long wavy golden hair that he’d practically been growing since birth, while
Ethan was action star handsome, tall, athletic, and brooding. He was also an
avid mountain climber with a physicality that Daniel lacked.

I
got my cell phone out and called Danny. He answered on the first ring. I was
going to tell him everything until I heard his soft-spoken voice on the line.
Could I really break his heart? How do you tell the man you love you’re about
to marry someone else?

“If it isn’t my second most favorite girl in
the world...”

There was a patient in the room...a little
girl. I could hear her giggles in the background. Danny definitely had a way
with the ladies.

“
Daniel…hi,
” I said, as I steadied my
shaking hands.

I wanted to kick myself for being so spineless.
I hated disappointing people, even when my own happiness was at stake, as I
embarked on the journey of a loveless marriage. Most people divorced to get
out, and here I was, marrying in.

“Hey, babe. It’s good to hear your voice.
“What’s good?”

“Not much,” I answered dryly. “I’m on the
road.”

“Another amazing trip? That’s
cool
…”
said a perpetually happy, Danny. “Where are you and when are you coming back? I
can’t wait to see you, baby.”

 “Are you with a patient?”

“Just finishing up!”

“Good.”

“You sound weird. What’s wrong?” he asked,
concern edging his voice.

“Are you alone?”

“I am now.” His voice dropped. I heard a door
close in the background, then Daniel’s soothing tone. “Spit it out, spider.
What’s going on?”

“You have to cancel your flight to San Diego.”

“Whoa, what happened? You okay?”

“I’m fine,” I answered solemnly.

“That makes one of us. So what brought this
on?”

He sounded sad and confused.

“Work,” I answered quietly…
guiltily
.
 

The
last thing in the world I wanted to do was involve Danny in my family’s lies,
or worse, make him a target of my father’s threats. One phone call from Eugene
and Daniel would be out of a job, an apartment, or worse, until he was out of
my life.

“You’re
blowing me off and I want to know why,” he demanded. “Is it your father again?”

I
wasn’t a good liar. In fact, I was a terrible liar. But I tried anyway…an
excuse until I could think of a way of breaking up with him without breaking
his heart.

“It’s
not Eugene,” I muttered, chewing the end of my fingernails. “Remember the hotel
I told you about?”

“The
one in Vegas?” he asked, sounding suspicious.

I
tried to sound cool.

“Yeah.
I’ll be working on the budget until we break ground. We have an investor here
from China, a land developer who will be working on the blueprint. I’ve been
tasked with keeping the project on budget. He’s here for a short time so my
life pretty much revolves around his schedule. We’ll be joined at the hip for
weeks. We’re spending so much time together we’re one step away from his and
her towels,” I sputtered, an ill-attempt at humor and the truth.

 “If
I didn’t know better, I’d think he was trying to steal my girl!” Danny
answered, sounding justifiably worried. “Look, I have to go.
Gotta
make rounds,” he said.

“Don’t let me keep you,” I replied, coiling my
fingers in and out of the phone cord.

 “Call me tomorrow, I love you…”

Danny’s words hung in the air.

A short time after we hung up, I found solace
in the mini-bar, drowning my woes away with little bottles of vodka as I kicked
my shoes off and peeled out of my clothes, leaving a trail of undergarments in
my wake. Then I saw it…a small black briefcase. It sat open on the nightstand
next to the bed. Unable to resist, I peeked inside. There was a document on top
written in Chinese, but the logo of my father’s company in the right hand
corner was unmistakable. I heard a noise, snapped the briefcase closed, and
disappeared into the bathroom, heart thumping wildly in my chest.

I peeked through a crack in the door as Ethan
bumbled around in the bedroom, retrieving the briefcase. He pressed a button to
open it then checked the contents suspiciously before closing it again. He then
returned to the living room where he worked on his laptop and talked nonstop on
the phone in rapid-fire Chinese.

I closed the door and ran a bath, thinking
about the mysterious documents while trying to remember if I had eaten anything
as a flush of heat raced through my body and my stomach churned. I wasn’t that
worried. My days as a sorority girl had taught me I could consume almost a
deadly amount of liquor, even on an empty stomach. But still, the mini-bottles
of liquor were slowly taking its toll.

I raked my hands through loosened strands of
hair and took a deep breath as I recounted the events of the day like a post
traumatic stress victim, ranting obscenities at my father and Ethan in my head
over and over again, saying all the things I wish I’d said at the meeting until
some of the anxiety boiling inside of me had been released. With my hair
hastily pushed into a bun at the back of my head I wiped a bead of sweat from
my brow. It was hot. I had shut the air conditioning down when we left our
luggage at the hotel just before the meeting. So I turned the bathwater off,
covered up in a silk black robe, and marched out of the bedroom to turn it back
on.  

Sweltering desert heat filled the penthouse
like helium filling a latex balloon. Ethan paced the living room and unfastened
his tie while smoothing damp hair away where it clung to the side of his face.
The underarms of his shirt were soaked and his chest glistened. There was
something about the sight of a virile young man dripping with sweat that made
my limbs weak. I turned the control on the air conditioner, setting the
temperature to forty-five degrees.

“It’s hot in here,” he complained, looking up
at me for the first time. Ethan’s eyes climbed my legs up to the thigh length
silk black robe.

“The air conditioning’s on. Can I get you
something to drink?”

“
sh
-sure,” he stammered,
walking toward me with his shirt half buttoned.

I turned on my heels and walked to the bar with
a grin on my face. I could feel the heat of his gaze on my back as he followed
me across the room. I grabbed two glasses and a bucket of ice and poured us a
glass of Patron. I passed the drink to Ethan. He placed the glass to his lips,
taking a sip.

“Ready for tonight?” he asked, gazing intently
into my eyes. I wasn’t sure if he was talking about the wedding or whatever he
was expecting to happen after it.

“Oh, as ready as I can be, considering the
circumstances.”

I slid an ice cube across my neck, rubbing it
up and down until water melted into my cleavage. He followed the drip with his
eyes then took another sip of liquor as if to vanquish the image from his
thoughts. “

“What about you?”

Ethan shrugged. “What about me?”

“Aren’t you nervous?”

“There’s nothing to feel nervous about.”

“How can you say that? It’s not like you wanted
to marry me or I wanted to marry you.”

Ethan frowned. “Is the idea of being married to
me that disgusting to you?”

“It’s not you,” I stammered. “I have a
boyfriend. What about you? Do you have a girlfriend back home in China?”

Ethan sat his glass on the counter then took
mine from out of my hand, his face contorted in anger. “You realize you have to
give him up, right?”

“I don’t have to do anything,” I said, lifting
my chin to give him a defiant look.

Even though I’d already made the decision to
break things off with Danny, I wasn’t going to let Ethan think he could bully
me or control my life. I did it to protect the man I loved. Our breakup had
nothing to do with him.

“The only reason I’m marrying you is because I
don’t want to disappoint my father.”

I backed into the bar as Ethan settled my drink
on the countertop. He tried to look away before I noticed the jealous gleam in
his eyes.

“And part of keeping that promise is acting
like a married woman. I don’t care about your love life, Elizabeth, but I won’t
be humiliated. Understand?”

“I already have a father, Ethan. I don’t need
two!”

Jealous?
Really
? The nerve!

I left Ethan at the bar but could feel his
swift angry strides at the heels of my feet as I stormed to the bedroom. He
grabbed the doorknob before I could reach it, pulling the door closed.

“I’m not your father, Elizabeth… but I
will
be
your husband. Try not to forget it,” he huffed, parking his hands on his
hips like an angry woman.

“You won’t be anything if I change my mind,” I
snapped, lifting my chin defiantly.  

Was
he serious?
We hadn’t even said our vows and he was already butting into my private
affairs. The marriage was temporary and so was my separation from Daniel. In
the past, I had been the selfless one in my family, always trying to make
everyone happy whereas Ethan was just a spoiled billionaire brat used to
getting his way. He pushed the door open and I marched inside without another
word, slamming it closed. Then I laid on the king-sized bed and cried as I
contemplated backing out of the contract over and over again. But as much as my
father loved me, he wasn’t a forgiving man… especially when it came to people
not keeping their word. I’d seen the way he treated my mother when she went
against his wishes. I had a choice to make. I could tell my father to go to
hell, and lose the only family I had, or endure the loveless three year
marriage I committed to. Whatever I decided, I had to be strong. Besides…Ethan
wasn’t all that bad. He was intelligent, easy on the eyes, and kind of sexy. I
could do worse, I thought, optimistically.

I cleaned up, washing my tear-stained face
before climbing into the bath a short time later. There, I had time to put my
situation in perspective soaking in jasmine and white tea scented water long
enough for my skin to wrinkle like a prune. My father never made a secret of the
fact that he had always wanted a son. As pathetic as it sounded, being my
father’s only daughter had finally worked to my advantage. My partnership with
Ethan not only helped my father but also gave me the opportunity to take a more
important role in my father’s business. Through Ethan I would prove I was just
as capable as a son. I can be as objective and unemotional as a man. This was
business, not personal.

I got out of the tub to begin my wedding toilette.
After applying an ample amount of lotion and perfume to my body I styled my
hair. I wore it down in layered waves with the beautiful red comb pushed into
one side. I applied a light coat of blush to my cheeks, a touch of eye shadow,
and added a thin coat of cherry gloss to my lips. My satin organdie wedding
dress was all elegance and satin in the softest of reds.

I wondered what Ethan’s reaction would be when
he saw me in the dress. But he went to the chapel early, leaving a note and a
small gift box on the coffee table. I read his letter, hoping to find an
apology, but it was just a note informing me that a car would be waiting
outside when I was ready. I opened the small black gift box. It was a matching
bracelet to the comb I wore in my hair...probably Adriana’s idea. I put the
bracelet on and left the penthouse.

A pearl red Maybach covered with fancy wedding
decorations couriered me to the chapel. When we arrived, the driver discreetly
shuffled me in through the back of the building. Apparently, the paparazzi
waited out front for the next celebrity sighting or wedding party. I was hardly
a celebrity, even if my father was a public figure. I smiled, slightly amused
by the driver’s caution.