Prologue
Sawyer - March
My cell vibrates in my pocket, and I groan when I see the name flashing on the screen. I’ve been dodging Dad’s calls all week. Is it too much to ask to enjoy spring break without some family interference? I have a feeling I know why he’s calling, hence my hesitation to pick up. But I get my stubborn streak from my father, and I know he won’t give up until he’s said his piece, so I reluctantly accept his call.
“Finally. I was about to send out a search party,” Dad deadpans.
“What’s up, old man?” I work hard to keep my tone lighthearted.
“I need another favor.”
Another groan rips from my mouth. “Dad.” My tone carries warning.
“Don’t Dad me.” I can visualize Ethan Hunt pacing the floor of his office with a scowl on his face. “I don’t ask much of you, son, but I need your help with this.”
“You said it was one time.”
“And that was enough back then when we were courting several partners, but things have changed, and it’s become more pressing.”
“Why?” I ask, dropping onto the couch with a sigh.
“For reasons I’m not at liberty to disclose just yet, the other parties have pulled out, leaving Shaw Software as the only contender for the merger.”
“I still don’t get why you want to merge with another tech company. Your new security products are going to blow that market wide-open. Stock prices will shoot through the roof. Why share the profits with another company?”
“We need the investment capital,” he says in a clipped tone. “And this isn’t up for debate. Keeping Herman Shaw on our side is mission critical. By all accounts, Sydney Shaw was very taken with you, and Herman approves. You know how concerned he’s been over his only daughter. He thinks you’re a good influence on her, and it’s been suggested you take her out again.”
“Fuck, Dad, no. I’ll do anything to help, but not that.”
I’m lucky Xavier never found out about my date with Sydney the last time. Actually, luck had nothing to do with it. I made sure nothing leaked because I didn’t want to hurt him. I bought every single photo taken of me with the Shaw heiress at The Met that night and wiped every mention of it online.
I probably should’ve told Xavier, but we weren’t even officially seeing one another, and he’s a total drama queen at the best of times. I know he would’ve made a big deal out of it. With all the other shit I had on my plate at the time, I didn’t want the additional stress, so I said nothing. Quietly took the girl out and promptly forgot our date. It’s not like I wanted to be there or it meant anything to me. Jackson is the only other person who knows, and that’s because the asshole eavesdropped on a call with my dad and overheard the whole thing.
But things are different now. While Xavier and I still aren’t official, things are more serious between us. I shouldn’t have let it get this far, because there is no scenario where it ends well, but I can’t turn back the clock.
Truth is, I have strong feelings for the guy. Even though he irritates the fuck out of me half the time, I care about him, and this would hurt him.
“I’m not asking, Sawyer,” Dad says, using that assertive tone he deploys when he wants to get his own way. “It’s already agreed. You’re taking her out Saturday night. Herman is expecting you at eight o’clock sharp.”
“I have plans,” I hiss between gritted teeth.
“Unmake them,” he shouts. “This is more important. Our entire future is hanging on the line, son. This merger needs to happen or everything I’ve worked for is lost.”
I’m wondering if Dad’s been taking lessons in melodrama from my lover. “Let’s not overreact.”
“Do you think I’d be forcing you into this if I had any other choice?!” he roars down the line. “Stop being a selfish punk, and think of your mother. God, anyone would think Sydney Shaw was an ogre. She’s a beautiful, highly educated woman. It’s not a hardship.”
“One date,” I growl.
“It will be as many dates as are necessary,” he says in a more even-keeled voice, having calmed his temper. “Your mother and I will see you for dinner on Sunday, and I expect a full report. Enjoy your date,” he adds before hanging up.
“Motherfucker!” Frustration wells inside me, and I throw my cell across the room before burying my head in my hands. What the fuck am I going to do now?
1
Sawyer
June of the same year
“Please tell me you’re kidding.” I stare at my father in shock, barely keeping my jaw from trailing the ground. First day of summer break. First day back working at Techxet and he drops the mother of all bombs on me. Couldn’t he have given me a day to settle in?
“It’s a good match,” he replies, striding across the floor of his prestigious office, standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows. “You could do worse,” he adds, glancing over his shoulder as I force my feet to move, slowly approaching him.
“This is the twenty-first century, Dad. Arranged marriages don’t happen unless you’re a member of the fucking elite,” I snap, a muscle clenching in my jaw. “Last time I checked, neither you or Shaw are. I thought you despised them and everything they stood for. Yet now you’re making a move straight out of their playbook?” My incredulous tone matches the incredulous expression on my face. I stare out the window at the ground far below, wondering how much it would hurt if I were to jump.
“You don’t understand.” He scrubs his hand over his prickly jawline, tension tight in his features.
“Because you’ve insisted on keeping me in the dark these past few months. If you expect me to do this—to actually marry Sydney Shaw—then I need to know the reason. I am not throwing my life away without understanding why it’s so important I do this.”
“We’re ruined, son,” he says, staring out the window at Central Park below us.
“What do you mean?” I frown, wondering when my father got so melodramatic.
“Let’s sit down.” He strides to the meeting table in the center of his spacious office on the fortieth floor, flopping down into a chair, looking utterly defeated. All the tiny hairs rise on the back of my neck, and I have a really bad feeling about this.
Pulling out a seat, I sit down, propping my elbows on the table as I stare at my father. Gray strands are threaded through his brown hair, and the lines around his eyes are more pronounced. He looks exhausted. Battle weary. Like he’s close to giving up, and that is not the man I know. Things must be really shitty if he’s on the verge of admitting defeat. “Tell me what’s going on.”
“Two years ago, I discovered a couple of employees had embezzled hundreds of millions of dollars, almost bankrupting the business.”
“What the hell?” My eyes almost bug out of my head. “Why is this the first I’m hearing about this?”
“You weren’t even eighteen. It was your senior year of school, and there was a lot of other stuff going down.” He drills me with a knowing look, and I get it. That was when Kai, Jackson, and I moved to Rydeville to wage war against Abby and Michael Hearst. “You didn’t need to be involved.” He runs a hand through his hair, struggling to meet my eyes. “I pumped most of my personal finances into the business to keep it afloat, and we managed to keep the news quiet through the usual channels.”