A Moment Like You (The Baker’s Creek Billionaire Brothers #2) - Claudia Burgoa Page 0,73

one is on me because I gave no fucks about this arrangement. I always thought everything could be fixed with money. That’s what I learned from Cyril, Mom, and you. I can’t fix the face of the woman I love. I can’t take away her pain. Nothing will erase the hurt I saw just a few minutes ago. I can’t promise her anything because I’m in no position to say shit. What am I supposed to do now?

“Months ago, this wouldn’t have bothered me. In fact, I might be willing to just sign the marriage certificate and get the nightmare over with, but I want to be married to my best friend. To my dream. Hold on to the one miracle that has happened in my life. You wouldn’t understand, William. You never met a woman you could love enough to give up everything for.”

“He loved,” I hear a voice, and when I look, it’s Jerome Parrish. “But you’re right, not enough to give up what he owned.”

I stare at him, studying the man who’s been nothing but a fucking prick and a pain in the ass for the past few months. “I thought you weren’t his friend.”

“I wasn’t, but I can tell you that he was once a different person from the man you knew. It doesn’t help your situation. I realize you see me as the antagonist of his twisted testament. Sadly, I’m just the messenger and nothing more. In my opinion, you should’ve looked into this agreement before you signed it. You should’ve been more responsible for your future. Did you know William let your grandfather dictate his future?”

Taking a step back, I stare at him with wide eyes. I’m speechless. William was his own man, wasn’t he?

“Until he took charge of it, and then…” Parrish glances toward the cemetery gates and then looks down at the grave. “Well, then he was mad at the world and made a lot of bad choices. Here are my two cents, use your head and not your anger. Show Ms. Edelstein that you can be a gentleman and try your best on this trial, not because you want to fall for her, but because you are Henry Aldridge and you always put one hundred percent into everything you do.”

“What if she falls for me? She will fight this, and I will lose more than what I’ve lost already?”

“She’ll be a casualty unless you fall for her,” he replies.

“That’s unlikely to happen,” I respond because Sophia is the only woman for me. “Why are you being nice?”

“Years ago, Cyril Merkel made a deal with Griffin Aldridge. His daughter, Debra Merkel, would marry his son, William Aldridge. When the time came, William avoided those nuptials. The problem was, there wasn’t anything in writing to force him. Your grandfather learned a valuable lesson. The next time he’d have a legal, enforceable agreement. But Cyril didn’t fail. At least a part of the Aldridge estate might belong to his heir.”

“Wait, Cyril made a deal with my other grandfather?” So, he’s the one who fucked up, not my mother.

He shrugs. “Yes. It didn’t surprise me to learn from the late William that Cyril got your deal in writing. In my opinion, the fact that Griffin tried to force William to marry was what made him snap.”

“But I swear, you said you didn’t know him,” I insist.

“No. I implied that I wasn’t his friend at the time he died. Be your own person, Henry. You are more than what they wanted you to be.” He looks at me in a way I can’t decipher and says, “You remind me of the old William. Don’t let this break you.”

Twenty-Eight

Henry

Hayes calls us all into a meeting at The Lodge where Pierce and I updated everyone. Sophia excused herself. Her friends are here though, ready to punch me or worse, have me killed.

“Do you have to live with her?” Hayes asks.

“Yes,” Pierce is the one who takes over. “It’s part of the trial. How can they know if they are compatible when they’ve never shared a space?”

“I wish we had an extra bedroom or a futon where she can stay,” I sigh.

Beacon grins. “We can switch the futon I have in my studio for one of the fancy sofas.”

“I love this kid,” Blaire says and then glares at me, “Unless you want her to stay in your bedroom.”

“Listen, it’s not about how to make her life miserable. She didn’t choose this either.” I try to reason with them because