“He’s not,” I stress both words. “He’s in a meeting, sir. It’s an important meeting.”
“I should have realized what Graham was up to.” He drops his gaze to the floor. “A couple of weeks ago, Eugene mentioned what a breath of fresh air you are. He said he hadn’t known you very long, but I didn’t think to ask when he first met you.”
I don’t offer up those details, hoping he’ll skip past them.
“Had you been in this building before the day you and Graham picked me up from the airport?”
As guilt grips me, I look him in the eye. “That was my first time. I’d never been here before then.”
“I’m sorry that you got caught up in this.” He exhales sharply. “I thought Graham had changed. All of these years, and I thought he’d stopped with the lying and the games. I was wrong. I was so wrong.”
“Sir,” I whisper. “Let me try and explain.”
“You have nothing to explain,” he cuts in before I can get another word in. “I know that Graham put you up to this. He must think this marriage will secure his position as the future owner of Abdons. I suppose it shouldn’t surprise me. Why did I think he was a better man now than that kid I met so long ago?”
I want to ask about the day they met, but I can’t. This isn’t the time.
“It’s not what you think.” I stop to mentally form my next sentence. I want to word this correctly so that Mr. Abdon understands that we may have started out trying to make his wish a reality, but somewhere along the way, it became all too real.
I’m Graham’s wife. I feel it in my bones.
“It’s exactly as I think,” he snaps, then shakes his head. “I’m sorry, Trina. I worked so hard to help Bull. I dropped the charges. I spoke to his foster parents. They were thrilled when I told them I wanted to send him to The Buchanan School so he could clean up his act. Frankly, they were relieved that he’d be in a boarding school. I paid for college. I even gave him a job working for me. Ironically, I was very close to signing the company over to him, but not now. I will never hand my life’s work to him after this.”
“What charges?” I question. “I don’t understand.”
“He still hasn’t told you?” he asks before he chuckles sarcastically. “Of course, he hasn’t. He never had any intention of telling you. This wasn’t a real marriage at all, was it?”
That stings more than it should. He’s right about the fact that I know nothing about Graham’s past.
“Am I safe to assume that you don’t know how we met?” He lifts his chin. “He didn’t tell you about that either, did he?”
I shake my head.
“I kept pushing him to tell you, but why would he? You’re not really his wife.”
I fight back tears.
“Allow me to fill in the blanks for you.” His arms cross his chest. “He broke into our flagship store when he was fifteen. The security company called me before they called the police. I lived nearby at the time, so I got to the store before they did.”
I stare at him, stunned into silence.
“I walked in to find a messy-haired kid with a bull tattoo on his arm and twelve of my watches in his hands and his pockets.”
My hand jumps to cover my mouth.
“He had been through ten foster homes by that point.” He leans closer to me. “Ten. He kept doing things that would get him kicked out. He was fighting, stealing, causing trouble with anyone he could. Sela and I stepped up and helped him. We got him into the most exclusive private school in the state for boys. We saw him through to his college graduation.”
“I didn’t know.”
“He had no one until we came along.” He shakes his head. “Absolutely no one, and this is how he repays me. He pulls the wool over my eyes. He makes a nice young woman like you go along with his charade. He made a fool out of me.”
“Sir, please.” I take a step toward him.
“His mother left him on a subway train when he was six.” He shakes his head. “I felt sorry for him. Sela did too. No father and his mother abandoned him. His grandmother wanted nothing to do with him. We thought we could help him get on the right path.”
My heart aches in my chest for the boy Graham once was, a boy who had no one to turn to. He had no family. No one to love him the way my parents have always loved me.
The only person who cared enough to help him is livid at the moment, and it’s in my power to change that.
I can give this to Graham. I can help him salvage the family he does have.
“None of this was Graham’s idea.” I swallow past the lump in my throat. “I’m the one who suggested we get married, sir.”
His brow furrows. “You?”
I take a breath to steady myself. “He let it slip that you haven’t been well and that you thought we’d make a great couple, so I told Graham we should get married.”
“Graham went along with this?” he asks skeptically. “You came up with the plan to tell me you two were dating and then engaged and married? Are you even legally wed to each other, or is that another lie?”
“We were married at the courthouse,” I confess. “Graham told me that he couldn’t lie to you about being married if we weren’t. He said you were the best man he’s ever known, sir.”
I see the tension in his shoulders slip away as he contemplates everything I’m saying. “Is there a prenup? Did Graham consider that? I hope to hell he thought of that.”
“I signed one,” I say quickly. “Graham loves you, sir. He would never intentionally hurt you.”
“What about you?” His finger flies in the air toward me. “What are you getting out of this? You must be benefiting in some way?”
This is it. This is where I sacrifice myself to save my husband. “I negotiated a one and a half million dollar payout in exchange for three months of marriage.”
He rakes a hand through his hair. “I can’t believe this.”
I watch as his gaze falls to my left hand. I tug my wedding rings off, suddenly feeling unworthy of both rings but especially guilty of wearing the ring he gave his late wife.
I shove both rings at him. “I’m so sorry, Mr. Abdon.”
He takes the rings in his palm. “Bull went along with this to make me happy? He did that for me? It’s not about the company?”
The tide has changed. I see it in the way he’s looking at me. Graham will be spared his pain. It’s a burden I can carry for the man I love.
“He did it for you,” I whisper. “All he wanted was to make you happy.”
“It might be best if Graham and I had some time alone when he comes home.” He glances behind me at the elevator. “I’m sure you understand, Miss Shaw.”
That cuts through me. I’m no longer Mrs. Locke in his eyes.
“I’ll go home,” I say because that’s what my apartment is.
I don’t belong here anymore.
“Goodbye, Trina.” He doesn’t make a move toward me.
“Goodbye, Mr. Abdon. I hope you know just how deeply Graham loves and admires you.”
His response is a curt nod, so I turn, press the call button, and step onto the elevator that will take me back to the life I had before I married the man of my dreams.