64. Natalie

Chapter 64

Natalie

My steps are nearlysilent as I pace behind my desk.

Luke will be here soon.

It’s the first time I’ve seen him since Vegas, and even though it’s only been a few days, it still feels… big.

I stop and turn to pace the other way.

It’s fine.

You’re fine.

He’s fine.

Getting a divorce is the right and normal thing to do in this situation. Plus, he was the one to say he still wants to date. And he still seems happy about me moving here.

I take a deep breath.

It will all work out fine.

I glance at the clock on my wall.

Luke should be here.

I’m tempted to go check my phone, but I left it on Do Not Disturb in anticipation of this awkward interaction.

Not just the divorce. The… office.

I ignore the Biters jersey framed on the wall.

I probably should have told Luke about my dad buying the team. But the accidental marriage thing kind of took over my brain this weekend, and I didn’t find the time to tell him.

It’s not a big deal though.

Our relationship has nothing to do with Wag Corp.

It’s all fine.

“Natalie!” My dad’s angry voice slices through my thoughts.

I turn in time to see him striding through my open office door.

“Dad—”

He cuts me off. “What the hell is this?”

“What—”

He holds up his phone, the screen facing me, and my blood crystallizes into ice.

“Where?” I whisper, the rest of the question stuck in my throat.

Even from several feet away, I can recognize what’s in the video he’s showing me.

Because it’s me.

Me, on my dad’s phone, in what must be video surveillance from the elevator Luke and I took up to my hotel room.

The camera angle is from the opposite corner.

It’s a side view.

It’s clearly Luke.

And it’s clearly me.

And even though we’re fully clothed, it’s… Well, it’s graphic.

My leg is lifted and hooked around Luke’s thigh as he holds me open, grinding into me.

My hands are all over him.

His hands are all over me.

And it doesn’t take a doctorate in assumptions to know we’re moments away from having sex.

“In public?” Dad hisses, and I don’t know if I’ve heard him this mad before. “Have you lost your mind? The board is already breathing down my neck over nepotism, and you go and do something like this?”

“Dad—” I glance from his face back to the phone he’s still holding out. The camera shot changes from the elevator to us stumbling down the hallway. I avert my gaze. “We weren’t in public. Those should never have been shared.”

Dad finally lowers the phone. “You know better. Or I thought you did.” He shakes his head. “Maybe you’re not ready.”

Panic cracks through my frozen state. “No, Dad, it’s not like that.”

“Really? You’re going to go with it’s not what it looks like? Because it looks like you’re hooking up. In public.” He emphasizes those two words. “With a professional athlete.” He throws his hands up. “At least it’s some hockey player and not one of the Biters.”

I wince, knowing the professional athlete connection makes this worse.

“They’re calling it The Hockey Player and the Heiress.” He shakes his phone again. “It’s playing on ESPN.”

Oh god.

“Please.” I try to make him listen to me even as I feel myself spiraling. “Dad, it wasn’t just some hookup.”

Movement fills the doorway behind my dad.

My gaze darts over to a pair of familiar dark eyes as Luke steps into my office.

And I know what I have to do.

I can only hope Luke will understand.

“We got married,” I blurt out. “I’m sorry for not telling you. And for the videos. But it isn’t some sensational one-night stand caught on tape. It’s a couple on their wedding night.”

“You’re married?” Dad’s head jerks back like I hit him, and I feel even worse than I did a second ago.

I nod, refusing to look over his shoulder. Not willing to watch Luke’s expression as I keep going. “We love each other, and we wanted to get married without making a spectacle of our relationship.”

Dad huffs. “I’d say you made a spectacle.”

“I’m sorry. You’re right. We should have been more careful.” Even if it’s bullshit that one of the employees of the resort leaked the footage, we still should have waited to maul each other until we got inside the room.

His shoulders drop. “Why wouldn’t you tell me? I didn’t even know you were seeing someone.”

A large dose of guilt mixes in with all the other heavy feelings twisting through my ribs.

“I didn’t want you to tell me no.” My voice cracks as I say it, but we both know it’s true.

I love my dad. He’s a good parent. He’s given me a wonderful life, and we’ve always been close. But we’re a prominent family. And as much as I value his opinion, there’s a chance he would have tried to tell me I couldn’t date Luke with the whole pro-athlete connection. And even though I want to make my dad proud, I’d never break up with someone just because he didn’t like the optics. And Dad would never have given his blessing for a Vegas wedding.

His mouth goes flat, and he nods once. “Alright.”

He starts to turn like he’s going to leave without saying more, then he spots Luke.

My dad has always seemed larger than life to me, even now, but seeing him standing across from Luke, I realize that he’s not the biggest man I know. And something about that makes me sad.

“You the one who married my daughter?” Dad practically growls.

I hold my breath, unsure of how Luke is going to respond to my dad’s judgment and anger.

But Luke just nods. “Yes, sir.”

They stare at each other for a moment before Dad looks back at me. “This why you didn’t buy a place? You’re going to live with him?”

Oh fucking hell.

I glance at Luke, but, for once, his face doesn’t give anything away.

“I am,” I lie.

I’m not moving in with Luke. I was never planning to move in with Luke. But he was part of the reason I didn’t buy a house. Because a side of me was hoping that maybe, in the future, we would live together. And even though I didn’t expect that to happen soon, I figured I’d find a rental once I got here and go from there.

But now I’m going to have to pretend that I’m living with Luke and not in a hotel. And honestly, I don’t know how I’m going to pull that off.

Dad’s jaw works, and Luke’s silence doesn’t make me feel any better about the success of this lie. But it’s probably better than him saying anything right now.

“This isn’t the end of this conversation.” Dad shakes his head one last time. “I’m disappointed in you, Natalie.”

I try not to flinch.

That sentence.

I’ve worked my whole life to avoid hearing that sentence.

My hummingbird cowers behind her wings, and I resist the urge to press a hand to my chest.

Dad turns away without saying more, and Luke sidesteps out of the way as my dad storms out of my office.

I force myself to meet Luke’s eyes as we wait for my dad to get farther down the hall.

When a door slams somewhere down the hallway, Luke walks toward my desk.

“So,” he says in too casual a tone. “I thought we were getting a divorce without telling anyone.”

“I know, I know.” I twist my fingers together as Luke comes to a stop across from me. “I’m sorry. I know it’s a mess, but I can’t let him cut me out of the business.”

Luke dips his chin. “The money is too good. Got it.”

“What?” I lower my brows. “No, it’s not like that.”

“Isn’t it, Princess?”

The way he says it feels like barbed wire around my throat.

He says it like it’s a curse word.

Like I’m nothing but a spoiled child.

Even the hummingbird in my chest recoils farther behind her wings at his tone.

“It’s not about money.” I put as much force into my voice as I can.

“Really? Because as soon as your dad threatened to cut you off, it was suddenly important that we married for love.”

“It’s the business,” I try to explain. “I’m supposed to take over for him, but the people—” I untwine my fingers to gesture with my hands. “If the public views me as irresponsible, the board will put pressure on my dad to pick someone else as his successor.”

Luke nods. “So I’m a political ploy.”

“You’re not…”

Not to me.

You’re not a political ploy to me.

My head is spinning, my thoughts tangled, and I can’t figure out the right way to explain this. Not when Luke is looking at me with the same disappointment as my father.

“Why should I go along with this?” Luke slides his hands into his pockets. “What’s stopping me from walking down the hall and telling your dad everything?”

That barbed wire tightens.

He can’t.

Luke can’t do that.

If he tells my dad it was all an accident…

He just can’t.

“Well?” He lifts his brows and takes a step back like he’s going to do exactly what he threatened.

I swallow, dreading what’s coming next. But knowing I need to stop him before he makes this all so much worse.

“It would be bad for you too,” I say quietly. “The accidental marriage. The video. You’re the golden boy. Your team wouldn’t like it.”

The words taste like bile on my tongue, but we both know it’s true.

He’s even more of a public figure than I am.

More well known. More recognizable.

Luke scoffs. “Jackson’s the golden boy. I’m just the fool.”

“Luke…” My mouth is so dry I can hardly say his name.

“Don’t.” He pulls a small cloth bag out of his pocket. “I wore this here as a joke.” He tosses the bag onto my desk, and for the first time, I notice the bright pink band on his ring finger. “Guess I’m leaving it on as the joke.”

“Please—”

I don’t finish the sentence.

I don’t know what to say.

Please listen to me.

Please try to understand.

Please just give me a fucking moment to process what’s happening.

But it doesn’t matter because Luke is already striding out of my office.

Feeling like I might be sick, I slowly lower myself into my chair.

Breathe.

I take a slow inhale and try to exhale just as slowly.

Everyone is mad at me.

I have so few people I’m close to, and right now, they’re both mad at me.

Disappointed.

Angry.

I swallow.

It will pass.

I want to think Dad will forgive me, but I don’t even know which part I need him to forgive me for first. For not telling him I was dating someone, for getting married without inviting him, for lying to his face.

And Luke…

I drag the small bag across the desk toward me.

Luke just needs a moment to cool down.

Once he’s calmed down, I can explain everything.

I can tell him how much good I can do running Wag Corp. How it’s not about the money or the power. How I’m not doing this to be greedy.

I open the bag and tip it upside down over my palm.

A silicone ring, like the one Luke was wearing, falls out.

I vaguely remember Luke getting this after the party while I was signing what turned out to be our wedding certificate.

If only we’d looked in the bag at the moment or read the contract, this all could have been avoided. We could have scratched out our signatures and walked away. And the scare would have sobered us up enough that we probably wouldn’t have been pawing at each other in the elevator.

If we’d just taken one second, today could have been avoided.

I stare at the folder on my desk, the one holding the unsigned divorce papers, and I slide the ring onto my finger.

One day.

I’ll give Luke one day to be mad, but then he’ll come around.

He has to.