Marrying My Billionaire Hookup - Nadia Lee Page 0,50

have been. If it had, her family would’ve sung the song.

“Edgar, it’s about the mood. You have to create the right mood. Flowers and cake always do the trick.”

“I’ll be sure to let your future husband know, but believe me, that wasn’t the issue.”

I tell Yuna what happened last night. She isn’t going to get off the phone until I do, and maybe she has some pointers—other than cake and flowers—that I can use. Given that it would be preferable to get the ceremony done before Jo shows too much, my plan needs to be solid.

“You should’ve told her you loved her.” Yuna says it with an uncharacteristic hovering quality, as though she can’t quite settle between disapproval or respect. “I mean, it was good you didn’t lie, but marriages are like mergers and acquisitions, Edgar. Some sweet, empty words wouldn’t have hurt.”

I cock an eyebrow. Corporate daughter or not, Yuna is a pianist. I’m quite certain she hasn’t executed a single M&A in her life. “When I do mergers and acquisitions, I don’t offer up empty words. I negotiate. I give them X and they give me Y.” In this case, I deal with Jo’s objections, and she marries me and we raise the baby together.

“Right. Of course. That isn’t so terrible. Solid foundation.”

“You’re not even trying to hide the placation in your tone, are you?”

“Not really.”

“Well, don’t worry. I have my next moves figured out.”

“Okay. I have faith in you. Just remember to crack a few jokes and make her laugh. It’s hard to hate a man who can make you laugh. And you have to invite me to the wedding.”

“Of course. I expect a lavish wedding gift,” I say, trying my hand at a joke. Yuna has a point about not hating people who can make you laugh. Jo also said she initially fell for her ex because he was funny.

“Ugh. You Westerners and your obsession with gifts. Cash is so much better.” Yuna hangs up.

Hmm. Didn’t work. But then, she probably didn’t get it because she isn’t American.

Instead of putting my phone away, I text my PI. Linda works for me, not the family, which is a significant distinction. Jere Schiro, a bald ex-cop who works for the family, answers to Dad. I don’t need that kind of conflict of interest.

I instruct her to get some background on this Aaron Korvid guy. A man that pathetic and morally reprehensible will have some skeletons in his closet. Perhaps even dinosaur fossils. I’m going to find them and beat him with them until he goes away, permanently.

While Linda’s working on her task, I’m going to start tackling Jo’s second objection—whatever feeling she has for me fizzling in four months. Obviously if she’s used to dating someone like that Aaron guy… Well, she’s been living on Grade D hamburger. I’ll be her steak. No problem.

Actually, this might turn out to be easier to deal with than I thought.

Afterward, I’ll tackle her third objection, about our respective cities of residence. She most likely doesn’t want to give up her career, and I can’t imagine Tempérane having a lot of demand for her services. On the other hand, I can’t stay in L.A. indefinitely. Dad’s going to retire soon, and I need to be there to lead Blackwood Energy.

But I can work in Tempérane from Monday through Thursday, fly to Los Angeles, then work remotely on Fridays. That will give me, Jo and our child three days a week together, plus holidays and vacations. It’s the most logical solution. Private jets are wonderful things.

A vast amount of optimism glows through me. I swing myself out of bed, shower, put on a dress shirt and slacks, and join Tony and Ivy for breakfast.

Tony pours a new cup of coffee when he sees me. Ivy’s digging into the French toast in front of her like a woman who hasn’t seen carbs in decades, which I know is untrue, since she had a huge tower of pancakes for lunch yesterday.

Tony hands me the coffee, which I take with murmured thanks. I sit down and grab some bacon from the platter in the center of the table.

“How did it go?” Ivy asks around her food. “What did Jo say?”

I should’ve known she’d want to know. Tony probably told her everything I told her in the study. And Ivy saw me walk out to get into my car to head to Manny’s Tacos yesterday. I’m surprised she didn’t jump on me the moment I walked in