week with my license?”
His eyes narrowed at the use of his birth name; a name I’d heard Maggie call out often and usually with intense anger.
“Yes. I’ll take you home at the end of the week and I will give you the marriage license for you to file.” He agreed.
“I need to be home by Friday.”
“Why Friday?”
“I have obligations on the weekend.”
“Like what?”
“I volunteer with a dance troop.”
“Oh, isn’t it on Sunday?”
“How do you know?”
“I’ve made sure to know a lot about you, Perla.”
“Can we go back to Boston on Friday?” I gently pled, ignoring his unnerving statement.
He took a while to answer, but then said, “Yeah. I’ll make sure to get the pilot to return Friday afternoon.” I nodded grimly.
Concerns swirled through my mind of how I would survive several days without seeing Matt. Just when we had reconciled, we were pulled apart again. The ominous feeling we would always be ripped apart waved over me, making me emotional.
“What will happen to you and the rest of the Pentagon men when I choose Matt?”
“If you choose Matt, everything will be business as usual.”
I looked at him skeptically.
“You don’t believe me?”
“No.” I pulled my hair in front of my shoulders. “I saw how you looked at us when we came into the meeting together and I saw how you looked at us when you left the room with Brigit. You were hurt and angry we chose to be together despite everything. I don’t believe you will allow us to be a couple.”
“I admit I was hurt and jealous because I want you with me, but I also care about him. He’s like a brother. We’re like clones created in the same petri dish. Both of us are tenacious and driven. All of our efforts have been for the greater good of the company. We employ many people, changing lives with our businesses and charitable efforts. And for one brief moment in time, seeing you with him and hearing you’re married made me realize all we built together . . . the five of us . . . was over.” Brady retorted.
I gasped, sensing the truth.
“I never want that to happen.” I cried. “My time at the company has been short, but I know the impact you’ve all made and what you’re doing nationwide is incredible. I’d rather be with neither of you.” I went to stand up to head back to the house.
“Perla.” He grabbed my wrist. “I can truly move on, if you want to be with him. Give me a chance to prove myself to you; like I should have from the start.”
There would be no way Brady could win me over. I was committed to Matt. I took my marriage vows seriously. We married legally and of sound mind, and the license Brady held was only a piece of paper. I only needed it to transfer the shares back to Matt and relieve myself of the immeasurable power. I didn’t want the shares. I wanted Matt.
At the end of the week, I could go home and get a replacement marriage license, if necessary. What I couldn’t get, if I didn’t comply, was my freedom from Brady’s expectation and hopes. If the Playa de Perlas estate was any indication of his desire for me, Brady had fallen hard for the woman he built me up to be. I hoped to show him I was no longer the little girl he wanted to protect, making him realize the woman he coveted was one he created in his own mind.
“I have to call Matt. I need to let him know I’m safe.”
“No!”
He frightened me with his forceful response.
“He will make every move to find you and take you away from me. I’ll send word that you’re fine,” he offered.
“What makes you think he won’t rotate the Earth off its axis to find me with just a ‘word’? He needs to hear my voice.”
“Non-negotiable term.”
“I’m not a business transaction, Brady. I’m a person with feelings and who is worried about her husband’s emotional state.”
He groaned at my use of ‘husband’, throwing his head back and looking away. He returned to face me.
“This is a phone free zone.
His eyes narrowed at the use of his birth name; a name I’d heard Maggie call out often and usually with intense anger.
“Yes. I’ll take you home at the end of the week and I will give you the marriage license for you to file.” He agreed.
“I need to be home by Friday.”
“Why Friday?”
“I have obligations on the weekend.”
“Like what?”
“I volunteer with a dance troop.”
“Oh, isn’t it on Sunday?”
“How do you know?”
“I’ve made sure to know a lot about you, Perla.”
“Can we go back to Boston on Friday?” I gently pled, ignoring his unnerving statement.
He took a while to answer, but then said, “Yeah. I’ll make sure to get the pilot to return Friday afternoon.” I nodded grimly.
Concerns swirled through my mind of how I would survive several days without seeing Matt. Just when we had reconciled, we were pulled apart again. The ominous feeling we would always be ripped apart waved over me, making me emotional.
“What will happen to you and the rest of the Pentagon men when I choose Matt?”
“If you choose Matt, everything will be business as usual.”
I looked at him skeptically.
“You don’t believe me?”
“No.” I pulled my hair in front of my shoulders. “I saw how you looked at us when we came into the meeting together and I saw how you looked at us when you left the room with Brigit. You were hurt and angry we chose to be together despite everything. I don’t believe you will allow us to be a couple.”
“I admit I was hurt and jealous because I want you with me, but I also care about him. He’s like a brother. We’re like clones created in the same petri dish. Both of us are tenacious and driven. All of our efforts have been for the greater good of the company. We employ many people, changing lives with our businesses and charitable efforts. And for one brief moment in time, seeing you with him and hearing you’re married made me realize all we built together . . . the five of us . . . was over.” Brady retorted.
I gasped, sensing the truth.
“I never want that to happen.” I cried. “My time at the company has been short, but I know the impact you’ve all made and what you’re doing nationwide is incredible. I’d rather be with neither of you.” I went to stand up to head back to the house.
“Perla.” He grabbed my wrist. “I can truly move on, if you want to be with him. Give me a chance to prove myself to you; like I should have from the start.”
There would be no way Brady could win me over. I was committed to Matt. I took my marriage vows seriously. We married legally and of sound mind, and the license Brady held was only a piece of paper. I only needed it to transfer the shares back to Matt and relieve myself of the immeasurable power. I didn’t want the shares. I wanted Matt.
At the end of the week, I could go home and get a replacement marriage license, if necessary. What I couldn’t get, if I didn’t comply, was my freedom from Brady’s expectation and hopes. If the Playa de Perlas estate was any indication of his desire for me, Brady had fallen hard for the woman he built me up to be. I hoped to show him I was no longer the little girl he wanted to protect, making him realize the woman he coveted was one he created in his own mind.
“I have to call Matt. I need to let him know I’m safe.”
“No!”
He frightened me with his forceful response.
“He will make every move to find you and take you away from me. I’ll send word that you’re fine,” he offered.
“What makes you think he won’t rotate the Earth off its axis to find me with just a ‘word’? He needs to hear my voice.”
“Non-negotiable term.”
“I’m not a business transaction, Brady. I’m a person with feelings and who is worried about her husband’s emotional state.”
He groaned at my use of ‘husband’, throwing his head back and looking away. He returned to face me.
“This is a phone free zone.
Similar Books
