A preview of
Taming a Princess
Adam Ackers sat on Mr. Van Woodsen’s office. He looked at his clock. The man was thirty minutes late. He would be late for his date! But he needed this deal. Not for himself. But for his father, who is currently fighting for his life in the hospital.
He took his phone and started typing a message:
Might be a bit late. You can start appetizer without me. I’m sorry. Would be there as soon as I can.
Then he scrolled through his phone book until he found Nicole’s number.
A minute later, she replied:
Don’t worry. I’m running late too. Just got off a meeting with a witch bride from hell.
Adam smiled. He liked his friendship with Nicole. She was sensible. She has a serene personality. And she was in love with her best friend. So Adam knows she will not try to flirt with him or go to bed with him. She’s safe. If only John knew how lucky he was. Nicole would make a good wife someday. At least that’s what Adam thought.
Finally, the door opened, and Mr. Van Woodsen entered the room. Although he is now somehow related to the Van Woodsens, Adam refused to use Astrid as his trump card. He would prove to his father that on his own, he could win back this account.
Adam didn’t even call Ryder about the expiring contracts his father’s company has with the Van Woodsens Group. Ryder’s father is still the President. The old man would be the one to sign with them. He wanted to do this as professionally as possible.
“Mr. Ackers.” Mr. Van Woodsen addressed him.
Adam stood up from his seat. “Mr. Van Woodsen.” He extended his hand, and the older man shook it. Then he motioned for him to take a seat again.
Mr. Van Woodsen stared at him for a while and then he said, “I know why you’re here. My contracts would be expiring soon. It’s worth a couple of millions.” He looked at him as if he was sizing him up. “I trust your father, but why should I trust you?”
“Because the fruit doesn’t fall far from the tree. And I’m younger, smarter and armed with new tricks.” Adam replied confidently.
“You’re a lawyer, Adam.”
“Which means I know how to prove a point and make people believe in it. Isn’t that what you hire a marketing company for?”
The older Van Woodsen smiled. Then he stood up. “I’m still waiting for you to mention my beautiful daughter-in-law’s name.”
Adam smiled. “Don’t hold your breath for that. She has nothing to do with this.”
“You’re right. But if you are as charming as she is, then maybe I will put you up on a challenge. And then you can earn my trust.”
Adam raised a brow. “What challenge is that?”
Mr. Van Woodsen smiled. “You have to accept it first. And once you do, you cannot back out. And I trust you know how to keep your mouth shut.”
Adam was not only desperate to keep this account for his father without Ryder’s help, he was now intrigued with the game Ryder’s father is playing at. And he loves a good challenge.
“Okay. But if I pass your test, you will give my father’s company a decade of business… that comes with a binding contract.”
Mr. Van Woodsen smiled. “If you pass, there wouldn’t even be a need for a binding contract. We will do business with you for as long as this company stands.”
Adam stared at him for a while and then he extended his hand to him. The older Van Woodsen shook it.
“So what is the challenge?” Adam finally asked.
The older Van Woodsen smiled slowly. Then he said, “This is a personal challenge, Mr. Ackers. I know you’re smart. In fact, very smart according to your credentials. But I’m afraid that won’t help you in this challenge. If it will, maybe only just a little bit.”
Adam raised a brow. He doesn’t know what Mr. Van Woodsen was aiming at, and he was now more intrigued than ever.
Mr. Van Woodsen sighed. “There is a girl who is… my treasure… my princess. I want to see her married to a man who has something to say for himself. Smart. Honorable. Loyal. Isn’t a womanizer. With a good family background… a family fortune and a fortune of his own.”
“Someone like your son.” Adam suggested.
Mr. Van Woodsen stared at Adam for a while. Then he said, “Yes. But, unfortunately, a breed like Ryder nowadays is… scarce.”
“But not extinct.”
Mr. Van Woodsen nodded. “I have arranged many eligible bachelors to marry this girl. But she hated each and every one of them. Not only did she refuse this arranged marriages, but she also tried her damn best to make the guys surrender. I arranged for her twice, and both men came back saying they wouldn’t even come within a kilometer away from her. I’m trying for number three.”
Adam raised a brow. “What does this have to do with me?”
Mr. Van Woodsen stared at him for a while. “I want you to convince her to marry this guy I arranged for her. And I want you to make her do it willingly. She can’t know that this guy is her arranged betrothed. The minute she does, she will employ all means to make him… cry. I want you to strategize how she’ll end up in the altar, this time next year… with the man, I chose for her.”
Adam looked at Mr. Van Woodsen as if he was out of his mind. “Do you really think I can pull this off? I don’t even believe in marriage, myself!”
“Oh? Is that why you are helping your cousin and your girlfriend manage their booming wedding events company?” Mr. Van Woodsen asked sarcastically.
“That’s a different matter. I’m doing it because they’re very good in it. And you’ve been misinformed. I don’t have a girlfriend.”
“Then even better. No one else needs to know about our little arrangement.”
Adam was in the brink of frustration, but he tried to control his emotions. This is a business meeting! Why is Mr. Van Woodsen mixing business with his daughter’s personal life?
Adam gave the man a hard look. “I’m assuming you’re talking about Paris, your daughter. Why… why do you need to arrange a marriage for her? I mean, are you blind? Have you seen how beautiful she is?”
Thinking about Paris Van Woodsen’s long legs, creamy skin, and riveting green eyes, the word attractive doesn’t even give justice to her. But Adam doesn’t like spoiled, rich brats like her. When he first met her, he thought she was exactly like his sister. Rich. Pretty. But not so bright and quite shallow. Maybe all she does is shop around and spend Daddy’s money. All she needed to do is to stay pretty and wait for a rich guy to marry her.
The old man sighed. “I love my daughter very much. And I have a lot to make up for. She didn’t grow up with me. But I provided for her. I gave her all her whims. But she’s been trying to get my attention ever since she was little. I wasn’t there for her. Now, I want to make sure she ends up with a good man. One who has money himself, so I am sure he isn’t trying to get into her pants, to dig into the family’s fortune. An intelligent man with principles in life.” Mr. Van Woodsen looked at Adam. “But I needed someone close to her age to convince her that this is the best thing for her. That she can’t marry the guys she normally dates. They’re all… hopeless imbeciles. I know she’s only doing that to rebel against me. I know you’re smart enough to strategize this. And I was hoping you would be as charming as Astrid to convince my overly rebellious daughter to accept her position in this family.”
Adam laughed humorlessly. “I think you got yourself the wrong deal, Sir. I am not related by blood to Astrid at all.”
The man smiled. “But blood is not the only thing that makes two people related, Mr. Ackers. I know more about you than you think. You moved out of your father’s house at the age of 18. Graduated law school a year ahead of time. Became a partner in your firm after only two years. Never lost a case in your career. On your free time, you practice kickboxing and other forms of street martial arts, but you didn’t want anybody to in your family to know that.
“We both know you will soon put up your own law firm because that’s your dream. You are trying to win my account, not for your own gain. But for your father’s company, which you have no intention of taking over. You know this firm will go to your sister someday. And you’re trying to secure her future. Not yours.”
Adam was shocked with what he heard from Mr. Van Woodsen. He felt like he just went to his shrink, though he doesn’t have one, and read all his file.
“I love my daughter. I am trying to secure her future too.” He said. “I want to make sure she doesn’t end up marrying one of the bastards she’s been dating for years. They are all spineless, gold-diggers.”
Adam couldn’t believe what he just heard. “You want me to play cupid for your daughter and this man you want her to marry?”
Mr. Van Woodsen nodded. “I’m old. I don’t know what you kids ‘dig’ these days. I need help pulling this off, because my previous two attempts failed miserably. My daughter is tougher than I gave her credit for, and believe me, I gave her a lot!” He paused, lost in his thoughts for a while. Then he said, “I need help, Mr. Ackers. And obviously, I can’t ask anybody in my family because they would never agree to this plan. Ryder would kill me if he finds out. He loves his sister very much and would want her to choose her own future. Astrid is very loyal to my son; I don’t think she would be able to lie to him about this. My ex-wife… well, I don’t even want to go there! Through the years, she’s the woman I trust and distrust the most. You need something from me… and I am desperate to settle my daughter’s future.”
“If you’re damn desperate why don’t you just feign terminal sickness and make this your last wish?” Adam said sarcastically.
Mr. Van Woodsen was taken aback by what he said. And then he laughed. “I can’t say that didn’t cross my mind. But my daughter is smarter than that. Obviously, smarter than you give her credit for. Paris is a… gem.”
Adam snorted. “Yeah. Real princess.” He said with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.
Mr. Van Woodsen laughed hard, and Adam raised a brow. He expected him to get mad at his remark, but to find that amusing is not something he expected.
“Adam, son… I suggest you take this challenge.” He said. “You just might be in for the surprise of your life.”
Adam seriously doubts that. Paris doesn’t rank high in his list of rare and precious gems… right where Nicole and Astrid are at the top of it. He shook his head. “I don’t think I can do this.”
Mr. Van Woodsen raised a brow at him in a challenge. “We already shook on it.”
“That is not binding and legal.” Adam pointed out.
Mr. Van Woodsen shrugged. “Yes. But after a couple of weeks, so are my company’s contracts with your father.”
Adam knows he’s failed his father plenty of times in the past. And now that he’s fighting for his life, he doesn’t want to do it again. It will make his condition worse if he loses this account.
“What exactly do you need me to do?”
Mr. Van Woodsen stood up to pour himself a glass of whiskey. “Do you want some?” He asked Adam.
Adam shook his head. “Thank you.”
“I want you to get close to my daughter. Close enough to earn her trust. And then do what you do best… convince her that she’s better off marrying this man I chose for her.” Mr. Van Woodsen said. “Good if she accepts it because her brain is telling her she should. But better if she does it because her heart tells her it’s what she wanted.”
“And who is this guy you arranged for?” He asked. “Does he know what the deal is?”
Mr. Van Woodsen nodded. “He’s a son of one of my business partners. Wealthy and about to inherit his family’s fortune. Yes, he wanted to marry Paris from the moment he laid eyes on her. He knows that it’s going to be difficult, knowing about the first two guys. He’s willing to cooperate, for as long as he succeeds.”
“If I refuse to do this, what would you do?” Adam asked the man challengingly.
Mr. Van Woodsen stared at him thoughtfully, and then he said, “I would shop around for other companies. If your father, my old friend, Jack gets better enough to handle his company again, I would sign with him. He won’t lose my account. But we both know that’s not your point in coming here today, Mr. Ackers. Am I right?”
Damn! Adam knows the man is right. He wanted to get this account himself. Without his father’s help or Ryder’s or Astrid’s. And if his father doesn’t get better, he wanted to secure his sister’s future.
“Fine.” He said in defeat. After all, how difficult could it be? She’s just a spoiled, little rich girl who probably spends all her time in the saloon or the mall. How impossible could she be?
Adam stood up from his seat. “If I break your daughter and make you win, you would sign a legally binding contract with my father’s company… which I would be drafting under my terms. And since you’ve background checked me, you know how good I am with corporate contracts.”
“I heard you were better than good. You’re probably the best in your game.” Mr. Van Woodsen agreed.
Adam sighed and extended his hand to the older man. Mr. Van Woodsen shook it.
Adam wanted to do this and get it over with. He wanted nothing to do with Paris Van Woodsen. He doesn’t want to stay long in her world of glamor, fashion and shallowness. He’s sure she’s somewhere in a saloon by now, getting her nails done, preparing to go out with her equally spoiled rich friends tonight.
“When shall we start?” He asked.
“Now.” Mr. Van Woodsen replied. “You can start by bailing her out of jail.”
Adam stopped moving or breathing altogether. He couldn’t believe what he just heard.
Jail? What the fuck?!