28

Perfect Fit

Angel gripped the armrests of her chair until her knuckles went white. She blinked hard a few times, willing the buzzing in her ears to quiet so she could think. Because right now, with that drone and the pounding of her heart that sounded as if it was drumming against the inside of her skull, thought was impossible.

Drew’s fond smile stretched. He hoisted the small box higher as if she’d somehow missed the glittering ring inside it.

He laughed, giving his lawyer a faint, abashed smile before looking back at her. “This is usually the part where you say yes,” he said in a stage whisper.

She forced moisture into her mouth. Swallowed. Reached for her soda and took a massive gulp of the ice cold liquid. It fizzed hard against her tongue, and that dragged her brain from the part-catatonic state it had slipped into.

“You want to… marry… me?” she managed.

“I know we haven’t known each other that long,” Drew said, talking faster than she’d ever heard him speak. “But I’ve never felt this alive. This… energized. You’ve made me the happiest man in the world, Angel, and I want to wake up next to you for the rest of my life.” He ducked his head a little, again proffering the ring. “If you’ll have me.”

Her hand moved autonomously; sliding into the air between them, draping limply over Drew’s as he slid the ring over her finger.

It was a perfect fit.

“I… this is…” but Harry seemed incapable of alliterating whatever was going through his head.

“Is that a yes?” Drew whispered to her. He squeezed her fingers hard enough to make her flinch when she tried to draw her hand from his.

She nodded. Blinked away sudden, confused tears before they could fall.

Drew’s smile became a grin. He stood, brushed a kiss over her forehead, and sat back in his seat. Then he turned to Harry, putting the ring box back into his pocket with trembling fingers.

“Fiancé,” he said to Harry, grinning.

Her heart thundered in her chest. She closed her hand into a fist and shoved that fist into her lap, trying to crush the sensation of that cool band of platinum that lay encircled her finger. Surprisingly, no thoughts were vying for attention. Not a single one. Her mind was empty, silent except for a fading buzz.

It made everything sound as if she was under water. Like she was relaxing in a tub of water the same temperature as her skin so she couldn’t feel it anymore.

“Congratulations, Drew,” Harry said unsteadily. He shuffled a few of the papers in front of him, spread them out again. Stirred his coffee. Added another sugar. Stirred it again. “I mean… just… congrats.”

“Thanks, Harry. Now, I’ll need you to make sure she gets an income too, same as Penny. More, of course, as my spouse. Do we need to open another income fund, or could we just extend the one I already have?”

Her heart began a deliberate thumping as her teeth clamped together.

This was what she wanted, so why the fuck did she suddenly feel so powerless? Like she’d stumbled into a spider’s web, and every time she struggled, more of that invisible web clung to her. Trapping her.

Suffocating her.

“I—it would be better to open a new one.”

“This has nothing to do with the commission, right?”

Harry made a strangled sound that could have been an attempt at a laugh. “Of course not. You might want different payouts, lower risk.” Harry’s voice strengthened. “We’d also need to look at additional life benefits on your life policy—”

“Sounds good, Harry. All sounds good.”

A hand clapped over her thigh. She was too shell-shocked to jump. “Jesus, I mean, can you believe it? Look at her, would you?”

“Yeah that’s—” Harry cut off with a cough. “That sure is something.” A cup clinked against a saucer. “It’s going to take me a few days to—”

“One last thing.”

The buzzing in her ears cut off as if Drew’s word had vanquished a spell of his own making. Angel turned her head to him, her neck stiff and her fingers beginning to thrum where she gripped them in her lap.

“Hmm?” Harry looked up from his pad.

“I need to add a new trustee.”

“A new—?” Harry glanced at her as if expecting to hear her name.

“Bryce.”

Her heart began pounding in earnest. She swallowed hard, sitting forward slowly, swallowing again.

“Bryce? Bryce Sugar? As in, your brother?” Harry put his pen down, crossed his arms, and frowned hard at Drew. “Drew, as your lawyer—” he broke off, cast her a hard glance, and then leaned closer to Drew as he dropped his voice “—as your friend, I don’t—”

Drew laughed. “Hear me out, Harry.”

Harry shifted his arms. “I’m listening.”

“The past?” Drew stuck out his arm, flicking his fingers toward the wall. “It’s in the past. I’m living in the now.” He pointed down, between his feet, and then gave her a sidelong glance. “Right here, right fucking now.”

This time, when he leaned to the side and squeezed her thigh, she managed a watery smile.

“Bryce is an asshole, but he’s still my brother. And my brother came to me this week to ask for my forgiveness.”

Angel’s fingertips became numb. She glanced at Drew under her lashes, then blinked, staring at the space between them as her mind scrambled.

Forgiveness?

“What kind of man would I be if I couldn’t forgive my own brother?”

He’d have told her. He’d have said something, anything, before now. So why was he lying to the lawyer about this?

“Plus, if this woman here’s taught me anything, it’s that life is fickle. One minute you’re drudging through every day as if you wished it was your last. The next?” He cupped the side of her face in his hand, his dark eyes crinkling as he bathed her in a fond smile. “The next thing you know, your whole world’s upside down and you’re loving it.”

“But, Drew, Bryce is—”

“Qualified,” Drew cut in, his voice going hard as he turned to the lawyer.

“But why this? Did he ask you to—?”

“This is my decision, Harry,” Drew cut in quietly.

“But—But You were adamant he be kept out of this when we drew up the trust.” Harry grabbed Drew’s file and began flipping through it. “There’s even a provision that—”

“Then change it.” Drew got to his feet, resting his knuckles on the table as he leaned over to the lawyer. Harry leaned back, eyes going wide and the page he’d been about to flip over slipping from his fingers. “This trust is revocable until the day I die. Last time I checked—” Drew held out his hand and pressed his fingertips to the inside of his wrist “I still have a fucking pulse.”

Harry slowly closed the file. “Co-trustee?” He murmured, ducking his head low over his pad.

“Of course not.” Drew snorted. “I’m not an idiot. Successor trustee.”

Harry nodded. “That’s… sensible.”

“Course it is.” Drew sat down again, tugging at his suit as if he’d just had a fist fight with the man.

Her voice finally came to her then, weak and trembling. “Successor trustee?”

He glanced at her as if he was surprised she was still in the room. “It means he handles the trust if something happens to me.”

“Something… happens?” Her hand shook when she grabbed her soda and took a swallow of it.

“If Drew becomes incapacitated or dies,” Harry put in without looking up from his scribbles.

“So.” Drew slapped his hands on the chair’s armrests. “Where do I sign?”

Harry wrote for a few seconds longer, and then slowly put down his pen. “Oh, well, it’ll take at least two weeks for me to—”

Drew’s laugh cut him off. “Today, Harry. I need this done today.”

“Today?” Harry glanced at them, a slow smile spreading on his mouth as if they were punking him and he’d just put two and two together. “Drew, that’s—”

“I’ll triple your usual fee for this sort of thing.” Drew waved a hand at Henry’s scribbles. “Does Bryce need to sign anything?”

“No, not yet. But he’ll have to come in to fetch the restatement of declaration—”

“Courier the docs to me. He’s tied up at work at the moment, but I’m seeing him this weekend. I’ll make sure he gets them.”

“How did he… is he happy about—” Harry glanced at them, putting his elbow on the table and pressing his mouth closed with his fingertips.

“Oh, he doesn’t know yet. Not about any of it.” Drew grinned widely. “It’s a surprise.”

He grabbed her arm, tugged her to her feet despite the sound of protest she made.

“I’ll tell him right after we’ve made the announcement.”

Harry got to his feet, smoothing the edges of his suit over his bulk with an absent hand. “Are you sure this is wise, Drew?”

“Of course.” Drew frowned at her, and then back at Harry. “He’ll be a model trustee if something happens to me; he’s completely unbiased.”

“So he has no prior relationship with Miss—” Harry waved in her direction, swallowing air as if he’d forgotten her surname.

“Relationship?” Drew glanced down at her, laughed, and squeezed her tighter. “Oh, they fucked once. But that — just like everything else — is all in the past.”

Harry’s mouth gaped as Drew maneuvered her out of the office. Dee sat perfectly still at her reception desk as they walked past. Like the Mona Lisa, only her eyes followed them.