“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” he asked her. “You're going to fight me for my company? My estate?”
“You have two months to marry,” she crooned at the door. “If you do not, guess who inherits everything from him? Good luck finding a woman desperate enough to give up her life for a stranger.” She walked out, slamming the door behind her. They listened to the angry click of her heels down the hall before they finally faded into silence.
Riley leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling, wanting very much to disappear. He reached up to tug his earring but remembered at the last second it still wasn’t there. This was just too much to deal with right now. He wasn’t sure he could handle it.
“Mr. Benton,” he asked, straightening in his chair. “Could I trouble you for a refreshment?”
The old lawyer smiled kindly and nodded before pressing the intercom button on the phone on the table. “Susie? Would you mind bringing the decanter and three glasses from my office?”
She said she’d be right in, and Riley thanked him. He guessed now he had a funeral to plan, to see his grandfather laid to rest.
Then he had to go and plan a wedding?
“I still don’t understand what’s going on here,” he said, standing to unbutton his suit jacket and lay it over the back of his chair. “Is this actually happening? Do I really have to get married?”
Susie knocked on the door before Mr. Benton could answer and came in with a small rolling cart. She left it parked beside the table and headed back out as Mr. Benton stood to pour them all glasses of whiskey.
“This was a good year,” he told Riley and Ben as they took their glasses. “To your grandfather?”
“Cheers,” Riley muttered, clinked their glasses, then shot the whiskey back. The familiar burn trailed down his throat and warmed his stomach. He held the glass up for another and Mr. Benton told him to help himself. “So you’re telling me it’s legal then? What he did?”
“I’m afraid so. There is nothing in his writings that will get you out of this deal. Either you marry or you lose everything and it goes to Ms. Chandler.”
Ben sat down and started to look through the papers after asking Mr. Benton’s permission. “I thought this woman was nice and all. Why is she after your grandfather’s company?”
“The company or the money?” Riley asked.
“From the look on her face, she wanted the company, but why?”
Mr. Benton set down his glass with a raised brow. “Just what are you trying to say, young man?”
“I’m saying that perhaps Ms. Chandler’s motives for getting to know the late Mr. Marston were not just out of the goodness of her heart,” Ben said. “If she truly loved him, she wouldn’t care about what he left her.”
Mr. Benton laughed. “People change when those they love die. Some call it their way of dealing with grief.”
“Or she’s after something else,” Ben said. “Mind if I look over this some more?”
“Please do. That is Riley’s copy, after all.”
Riley tried to think back to anything his grandfather might have said against this woman, but he’d hardly ever spoken of her. Riley hadn’t even met her until today, at least not fully. He knew she was a high-powered attorney, but that was it. Not who she represented or where she went on all her travels. He’d never had time to think about it, but now that she might inherit everything from him—she could take the company! He would lose his position as CEO. That couldn’t happen. He’d built so much since his grandfather handed it over to him.
And now everything was at risk. Unless he tied the knot.
His gut clenched as he tried to think of the women he knew now. None of them were friends—mostly one night stands, there to give him a bit of comfort when he needed it. Could he trust any of them with his life? With his company?
No way in hell. They weren’t honest. They thought he was some shallow billionaire and treated him as such. They’d take his money and not care about him, ever.
“Mr. Benton,” he said, mouth suddenly dry as he realized the seriousness of his predicament. “You wouldn’t happen to know where I could find a wife in two months, would you?”
The old lawyer smiled. “I was hoping you would ask. Since we received the will this morning, I’ve had Susie researching legitimate dating websites where one can find a suitable partner in a short amount of time. Why don’t I walk you to my office and you can speak with her there?”