The Cinderella Arrangement by Vanessa Waltz Page A

disbelief, he kept it to himself. Nothing showed on his face except polite interest. “That’s really, well—”
    “Yeah,” I said too quickly. “We talked, and we realized that we had so much in common.” I gave Luke a quick glance. He wore an expression appropriate to being clubbed over the head. “I’m sorry, baby. I know you like to keep these things private, but I figured that since Brandon was an old friend, it would be fine.”
    “It's okay,” he said in a voice that implied otherwise.
    I grimaced at Brandon, who almost looked sorry for me. “I don’t know what to tell people when they ask, you know? I’m a normal person from the Bay Area. Lots of people look at me and him and they don’t really get it.”
    Luke stood up and my hand slipped from his grasp. He gave me one look of extreme disapproval before announcing that he was going to the loo.
    “Oh, shit,” I whispered as Luke stormed from the table and I hid myself in my hands. “He'll be so mad at me.”
    Brandon patted me on the back, but when I looked up his face was full of sympathy for me. The pain twisting my guts loosened.
    “Luke’s a private person, but I’m glad he’s going to this support group with you. He needs it. Don’t tell him I said that,” he added.
    “No, of course not.” Guilt squirmed inside me. Even his friends could see how his father was tormenting him.
    “He’s always been my best mate, but he’s never been very happy. It’s hard when you have a dad like his.”
    I wasn’t sure if I should be talking to Brandon like this, but I couldn’t resist. “Maybe it runs in the family,” I said, thinking of his mother’s suicide.
    He shrugged. “I’m just glad he has someone who has gone through the same thing. By the way, I’m sorry if I came off standoffish when we first met. The girls he usually dates are only with him for the money, but you’re not like any of the ones he’s been with.”
    The guilty feeling in my stomach doubled and I half-heartedly returned his beaming smile.
    I am with him for the money—sort of.
    I didn’t like lying to him, and I battled an overwhelming urge to confess and tell him the whole truth. My fingers moved around the glass mug. Luke would be upset. I stamped down on my impulse and looked down. For the first time, I felt guilty about this whole arrangement. How many people would I have to lie to? I hoped that they weren’t as nice as Brandon.
    “What’s his father like?”
    “I’ve only seen him a few times. He seemed polite. Maybe cold. That’s normal, though.  I know everything about him through what Luke has told me, and he has told me some terrible things. It’s not just him. It’s the cousins and his uncle. They all want a piece of Luke’s inheritance and they’ll do anything to get it.”
    My fingers were white around the handle of the mug. “Can’t he get power of attorney over his father?”
    Brandon shook his head.
    What a mess, I thought. Part of me wondered whether it would be such a horrible thing if Luke’s father wrote him out of his will. Sure, he’d lose his inheritance, but didn’t he have a great deal of money in his bank account already? Didn’t he have millions of dollars worth of property? How many millions does one need, anyways? At least he’d be out of his father’s influence for good, and he would never have to stress about his family trying to usurp his inheritance.
    “Would it be the worst thing in the world if he lost it? Wouldn’t it be good to be out of his father’s hair once and for all?”
    He stared at me with a shocked expression as if I had suggested that we boil Luke’s head. “What—give up his legacy? Are you mad?”
    I shrugged. “It’s just—I would be happy with a million dollars. Why does anyone need that much money?”
    “It’s not about the money.”
    Bullshit. I rolled my eyes at him. “It’s totally about the money. Look, I understand. Losing that kind of money would make anyone