“Concerned that I'm marrying a billionaire?” She turned to Andrea. “Would you help me out here?”
Andrea held up her hands. “I'm not getting involved except to say to Calvin that he should stay out of it.”
“Thank you,” Donna said feelingly. “Cal, I know what I'm doing.”
“Do you?”
“Yes. I do. I'm sorry that you aren't happy for me—”
“Are you happy for you? Thomas Hoffman is a machine. He's also a snob who doesn't even talk to the people employed to him.”
“Maybe I'll be able to change that.”
“I strongly doubt that you have that influence over him. Why are you really marrying him, Donna?”
“I came here to get away from questions like this Cal, so trust me when I tell you that I'm done talking about that subject.”
*****
The dinner was barely civil. Donna had insisted on coming in her own car, even though Thomas had told her that he would be sending a car for her. She wanted to escape when she wanted to. And the way the dinner was going, she would certainly need to make her escape as soon as dinner was over. The entire board of directors and their wives—the ones who weren't gay or single that was—were all there, as well as some friends of the family who kept looking at her as if she was some sort of alien. She'd worn a very chic red and blue sarong type dress and her shoulder length dark hair was brushed back and coiled into an elegant chignon at the nape of her neck. Discreet gold earrings were at her lobes and she had the ring on her finger. She'd been greeted with cold civility by both Thomas' mother and sister, who were dressed in expensive identical gunmetal grey dresses.
“My dear, are you okay? You aren't really eating,” Brian Matthews, one of the senior board members said in concern. “Is the quail too much?”
“Is that what this is?” She poked at it with her fork and sent him a smile. “I'm not really hungry”
“Maybe it's the company?”
“Maybe, but certainly not yours,” she reassured him. “You are a bright spot at the table.”
“Thomas, the father, thought highly of you.”
“He did?”
The man nodded. “He thought of you like a daughter.”
They both looked over at Talia, who was holding court with some of the men at her side of the table. Thomas was at one head and his mother at the other and every few minutes he would look over at her.
“That was nice of him.”
“He always said you were smart, and a beautiful woman.”
“Thank you,” she told him with a genuine smile.
He nodded. “At least the crème brulee should be good.”
*****
“Well if it isn’t my soon-to-be sister-in-law.” Talia sailed into the sumptuously laid out guest bathroom as Donna was washing her hands at the sink. “I see you managed to charm old man Brian. What did you do? Tell him your sorry tale of how your mother died and left you alone in the world?”
Donna took one of the scented towels and wiped her hands slowly before responding. “I just told him how lost I feel inside this big mansion with all the rich people,” she said with a sweet smile. “If you would excuse me—”
She stopped as the girl grabbed her arm. “You aren't welcome here.”
“I get that. So I suppose it's quite okay for me to tell you that you won't be acting as my maid of honor.”
“I will reserve myself for my brother’s real wedding,” the woman said with a waspish smile. “We can't wait for the year to pass so that you can get out of our lives.”
“A lot can happen within a year, honey.” Donna pulled her hand away.
“What's that supposed to mean?”
“You are a bright girl, figure it out for yourself.” With that she walked out of the room, standing against the wall and taking several deep breaths before making her way back into the living room where everyone was gathered for after dinner drinks. Thomas saw her and came over. “Are you okay?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?” she asked caustically. “Your sister reminded me that I'm not welcome here and that she couldn't wait until the year has ended for me to take my leave. Speaking of leaves, I'm about to take my exit. All this smiling and pretending that I like all these people is exhausting.”
“You can't leave yet.”
“Why not?”
“It would look unseemly.” He took her arm and guided into a sitting, closing the doors behind them. “Look, the situation is untenable, but we have to deal with it.”
“I am dealing with it.” She walked over to one of the sofas and sank down onto it. “You can make some excuses to the guests; tell them that I'm tired and I wanted to go home and get some rest. Now that we're alone in this room, they'll probably think we're making out, so you can tell them that I was flustered and had to get home.”
“I can't tell them that.” He walked over and went to pour himself a glass of scotch. “Want one?”
“I'm good, thanks.” She eyed him for a moment, taking in the ash grey suit he had on. “Did you end your relationship?”
He turned to look at her with a frown. “Why?”
“Just curious,” she said with a shrug. “Did you?”
“Not quite.”
“So ours will be an open relationship?”
“Are you seeing someone?”
“I'm not. But you are.”
“It’s none of your business what I do. This isn't going to be that kind of marriage.”
“It might not be that kind of marriage—Hell, it might not be any kind of marriage—but I will not have you making a laughingstock out of me. For the year that we're forced to be tied to each other before man and God, you are not going to be seeing another woman.”
“Or else?” He was so furious that his entire body had gone stiff.
“What do you think?” she asked him mildly as she got to her feet. “You're the one who really wants this, Thomas. You want it more than I do. I don't have to be married to you at all, but if you don't you stand the chance of losing out on your company, so do the math my darling fiancé and see which one of us needs this more. I will put up with the rudeness and resentment from your family and I will even put on a very bright smile when we go out to functions but what I will not put up with is you cheating on our so-called marriage. Am I clear?”
“Are you quite done?” His voice had gone quiet and for a moment Donna’s bravado faltered, but only for a moment.
“For now, yes.”
“You dare to dictate to me?”
She walked over and patted him on the chest. “As your soon-to-be wife, yes. Goodnight, darling.” With that she swept out of the room, leaving him staring at the open door. He balled his hands into fists and considered going after her, but he'd never been so furious in his entire life. No one had ever dared talk to him like that! No one! And he wanted to go after her and make that clear. Taking several deep breaths he calmed down enough to go back to the party and made apologies for her, but for the rest of the night, he couldn't stop thinking that he should have done something to remind her who was boss.