“Welcome back, Mr. Prescott,” Katherine Handel purred.

Dane forced himself to not roll his eyes as he stepped by Katherine and held his office door open for his wife, who was several feet behind him chatting to one of the executive assistants. When Allyson appeared, Katherine scowled and crossed her arms in annoyance.

“Good morning, Katherine.” Allyson gave her a wide smile and walked into the office.

“Is there something you want, Ms. Handel?” Dane asked, doing his best to keep the irritation out of his voice.

After returning to New York, he and Allyson had spent the day getting some rest at their luxury condo. Now they were at Prescott Global headquarters, about to work on strategy to secure Allyson’s position at the company. She hadn’t been to work for days, and all without notice. It was behavior he could risk as the former CEO who would eventually be taking his position back once Nicholas Handel’s tenure was over. But Allyson was an assistant. Even though she’d agreed to do it, he sensed that his new wife was still hesitant about securing a better position she felt was unearned.

It was a delicate, tricky situation to sort through and Katherine’s unexpected appearance wasn’t helping.

“I just wanted to welcome you back from your trip.” Katherine followed them into the office, obviously not taking the subtle hint that her presence wasn’t wanted. “It was so sudden and mysterious. First Miss Smith disappears and then you left town. I hope everything is all right.”

“Everything’s fine,” he said tightly. “And if you must know, Katherine, she isn’t Miss Smith any longer. Allyson is Mrs. Prescott, and I trust you’ll address her accordingly.”

Allyson gasped and stared at him sharply. “Dane!”

“We’ll be calling my parents shortly,” he muttered. He knew exactly what she was thinking. He also knew Allyson was probably going to be pissed at him for dropping the marriage bombshell on Katherine, but he wasn’t going to put up with a snooty blue blood disrespecting his wife. If Allyson gave him hell for it later, he didn’t care. “I just want Katherine to understand things are going to be different around here.”

Katherine’s face turned bright red, her typically tight grip on control slipping. Her jaw clenched and she balled up her fists. “Mrs. Prescott?” she squeaked. “How can that be? There were rumors you two had broken up—”

“Listening to unfounded gossip really is beneath you, Katherine,” he said coldly. “I don’t know where you heard the rumors, but they’re not true. Allyson and I are now married. I trust you will act accordingly.”

Katherine pursed her lips. “Are you sure this isn’t one of your jokes, Dane? Really, weren’t you and Allyson pretending to be married before?”

“It’s not a joke,” he said firmly. “We’re husband and wife.”

Katherine paused, her entire body shaking with barely-restrained fury. Finally, she plastered a fake smile on her face and turned to Allyson. “Please forgive me, Mrs. Prescott.”

“There’s nothing to be forgive. You didn’t know,” Allyson said softly. “Is there anything else, Katherine?”

Katherine shook her head, spun on her heel, and stomped out of the office in a huff.

“I don’t think she took that well.” Allyson sighed and sank into the chair across from his desk.

Taking a seat at his desk, he leaned back in his chair. “No, but it’s done now. She knows and there’s nothing she can do about it.”

“I don’t think Katherine’s going to take this lying down,” she murmured.

“I want her fired,” he said, making his position clear.

She frowned. “And I think that’s a bad idea. Her brother is the interim CEO now. He’ll be stepping down in a few months, but for now we don’t want to give the Handels a reason to be angry with us.”

“I don’t think I can wait a few months.” He crossed his arms. “And she’s already angry, if you hadn’t noticed.”

Allyson smiled, but shook her head. “If you force Nicholas out after calling for a new CEO in the first place, that’ll just make the investors and the board nervous again.” She played with the button on her collar as she thought. “And making Nicholas angry by firing his sister is only going to backfire. I know you’re trying to protect me, but please don’t do anything reckless.”

“I don’t trust her and neither should you,” he muttered.

Allyson averted her gaze and bit her lip. “There’s something you should know.”

His chest tightened. It wasn’t like her to keep secrets from him. He sat up straighter and narrowed his eyes. “What is it?”

“Remember how I told you about the two women in the Prescott bathroom the night we went to the French restaurant?”

How could he forget? That was the night they’d had sex in his luxury car. The night he declared his love for her on the balcony of their apartment. The night Allyson had ended their engagement and fled the hospital.

The women in the bathroom had said awful things about Allyson. Accused her of being a gold-digger. Threatened to make sure nobody in high society had anything to do with him or Allyson as long as they were seeing each other. Whether the women had made good on their promise he didn’t know, but he had a sneaking suspicion that he was soon going to find out.

He nodded. “I remember.”

She took a deep breath. “One of those women was Katherine Handel.”

 

*  *  *

 

“Excuse me?”

“I should have told you sooner.” Probably not the best time to bring this up but, then again, there would never be an appropriate time. She straightened and folded her hands in her lap.

“Why did you keep that from me?” he demanded, exasperation etched on his face.

Allyson crossed her arms, frustrated that a few minutes back at Prescott Global had already managed to create drama. “Because I thought you’d do something reckless, and you’d just proposed.” She lifted her hand and touched the rings on her finger. “Everything was perfect. I didn’t want it to be ruined by the hostile relationship you have with the Handels.”

He released a heavy sigh. “I get it. We can’t change that now, but if we don’t fire her we still have to find a way to deal with that bitch.”

“Maybe we won’t have to do anything. We can wait while Nicky Handel finishes his time as CEO, then find a delicate way to fire Katherine.”

“You’d be fine with that?” he asked, doubt creeping into his voice.

She nodded. “Yes.” It was the best idea she had, under the circumstances. If she busied herself with her new position and got settled into taking night classes at a local university, maybe there wouldn’t be time to worry about whatever Katherine was scheming.

Either way, she needed to reassure Dane she could handle a few more months of all this. He’d been hesitant to return to New York because he worried she wasn’t tough enough to face the city’s upper class. She didn’t want to give him any reason to worry about her so early in their marriage. Didn’t want him to think that she wasn’t strong enough to survive as a billionaire’s wife.

Before Dane could respond, a knock on the office door grabbed their attention.

Dane groaned. “Seriously? What now?” He cleared his throat. “Come in.”

Allyson blinked in surprise as Monica stepped into the office. Anxiety made her stomach knot at the sight of her sister. “Monica? Why are you here?”

“I just came by to congratulate you.” Monica flashed a phony smile that didn’t reach her green eyes. “My, aren’t you clever. From sleeping with the boss to a marriage proposal.”

Allyson frowned. “Katherine’s already told you the news?”

“News travels fast at Prescott,” Monica replied with a nod. Then, her sister walked over to Dane’s desk and sat down on the desk to stare down at Allyson. “Hello, Dane,” she cooed.

Dane scowled. “Good morning, Monica.”

“What are you doing?” Allyson asked her sister sharply.

“Now that I’ve congratulated you two on slinking off and getting married—”

“We did not slink off,” Allyson snapped. She didn’t mean to get snippy with her older sister, but she hadn’t wanted her family to find out about her marriage like this. Truthfully, she wanted to avoid telling them about her marriage for as long as possible. Monica would try to ruin her newfound happiness, and the rest of her family were too status-obsessed to care if she was happy at all.

“Whatever.” Monica waved her hand dismissively. “I’ve got news of my own.”

“Does it involve you minding your own business and getting off my desk?” Dane muttered.

Monica laughed. “Your new husband is so funny, Allyson.” She paused dramatically. “I’m Prescott Global’s newest employee.”

Allyson’s eyes widened in alarm. “What?”

“Isn’t it great?” Monica chirped.

“No, it’s not great,” Allyson said through gritted teeth. Monica looked positively pleased with herself as she smiled expectantly at her. This was a nightmare. The thought of working with her jealous, vindictive older sister was making her nauseated. “How on earth did you get a job working here?”

“The home fitness division needed a cardiologist on staff to make sure everyone is heart-healthy,” she said. “Katherine told me about the job opening.”

“Of course, she did,” Allyson grumbled. It was obvious that Monica and Katherine were up to something. Things had been bad enough before, but now they would have ample time to team up and make her life hell.

Every day she was going to have to endure Monica’s taunts. Listen to Monica regale her with stories about how perfect their parents thought she was. Everything was going to end up being a competition. The thought of spending five days a week competing with Monica was unbearable.  

“So, aren’t you going to congratulate me?” Monica asked.

“Why?” Allyson asked bitterly. “It’s obvious you’re only doing this because you enjoy making me miserable.”

“I do not,” Monica insisted. “I told you, Allyson. Everything I do is to save you from yourself. I’m looking out for you here.”

“By teaming up with the woman who wants to ruin me?”

Monica frowned. “Look, I’m not interested in Katherine’s personal life. I took the job at Prescott Global because you still need your older sister to look out for you. Now that you’ve married into wealth, you don’t seem to get how in over your head you are.”

Dane suddenly shot to his feet. “Get out of my office.”

“You’re not my boss,” Monica said. “My contract states that only Nicholas Handel can fire me.”

“I said, get out of my office!” he ordered.

With a glare at Dane, Monica slid off his desk and started to head for the office door. “You should’ve been nicer to me, Allyson. Maybe then I could’ve protected you from what’s coming. Enjoy the money and the top-floor-view from Prescott while you still have it,” she said over her shoulder. “You might’ve gotten me to be on your side. Now nobody on the staff wants either of you around. I hope marrying your rich boyfriend was worth it.”

When Monica disappeared from the office, Allyson buried her head in her hands. Things were already imploding. Her family would know that she was married before the day ended. She had already texted Holly, trying to set up a visit, but she hadn’t mentioned the wedding to her sister-in-law. Now, it was likely that Holly would get the news from Monica and not her. That would probably make things even more awkward with her family.

“I don’t know which of them is worse: Katherine or your sister,” Dane said, dragging her back from her thoughts.

“Katherine has more power, but she can be fired. You can’t fire family.”

“Problem is, I couldn’t fire your sister even if I wanted to,” Dane said grimly. “If she’s telling the truth, only Nicky Handel can fire her.”

“That sounds like something Katherine cooked up while we were away.” Tension started to mount in her shoulders. Her stomach tightened painfully as panicked thoughts flashed in her mind. “I don’t want you getting dragged in to this. They’re up to something drastic. I can feel it.”

“Don’t worry about me.” He approached her and shoved his hands into his pockets. “With your sister on Prescott’s staff, do you still want to wait things out?”

“I can’t.” She closed her eyes, mentally kicking herself for her weakness. Dealing with Katherine and Monica separately was one thing. But having her sister at work every day, constantly trying to sabotage her, filled Allyson with an uneasiness she had never felt before. This was like going to war with her sister. And with Katherine around, it was a war Allyson wasn’t equipped to win. Her stomach was in knots. “I mean, I can’t deal with all this right now. What have we done that’s put targets on our backs?”

“Nothing. I understand, sweetie.”

The concern in his voice made a lump form in her throat. She had been so ready to take on their detractors. So ready to prove what she was made of. Katherine’s cruel words from all those days ago rang in her ears. She had no breeding, came from a middle-class family. Maybe her sister was right. Maybe she really was in over her head and didn’t know it.

“I don’t think I should come back to work at Prescott,” she said softly. “I didn’t exactly leave under the best circumstances, so if I came back with a better position the staff would resent me.”

“You don’t have to quit outright. Maybe take a leave of absence,” Dane suggested. “That way you wouldn’t be shutting the door on anything. It would give you time to think things over before making any permanent decisions.”

She opened her eyes and nodded. “That’s probably for the best.” He wanted her out, too. This was only going to end badly. She knew it in her gut.

One day back at Prescott and she was already a disappointment. Dane had been worried about her coming back to New York to face all this, and she was now already crumbling under the pressure. No wonder he was so quick to give her a way out with the leave of absence idea.

She gave a shuddering sigh, not sure what else to say to her husband now that she had so obviously been defeated.

When she suddenly heard the voice of Dane’s mother behind her, Allyson’s heart sank like a stone.

“What’s this about you two being married?”