The Wrong Brother's Temptation novel Chapter 81

Connor

“Smile. You look constipated.” Elise urged.

“I’m smiling.” I tried to not roll my eyes at her.

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“It’s not quite a smile.” She tilted her head, examining me clinically. “Think of something that makes you happy.”

Instantly my mind thought of Sienna, and the way she squealed when I kissed her. Somehow the photographer apparently found it satisfactory because he said “That’s the one” with genuine enthusiasm.

Elise hurried over to him, browsed through his camera roll rather quickly and asked him to share all the pictures with her right away.

1 miserably looked at my watch and realized it was still noon, and cursed the hands of the clock that couldn’t move fast enough.

My fingers hovered Sienna’s last message asking me to focus and work and the tantalizing reward of her giving me another shot at having her under me.

I imagined her writhing under me and was blissful for a second when my phone beeped with some notification.

Apparently, princess Harrington had tagged me in a post and had uploaded several of our pictures already. “You didn’t ask,” I said, trying to not yell. A headache was working its way up my temples already.

“No, I didn’t feel the need to” she agreed, captioning it something sweet that I didn’t bother reading through.

Fuck!

I prayed to the Goddess that Sienna won’t see it. I quickly checked her and Sandra’s profile but it was rather hush. Interestingly, Sandra had taken down all the photos.

Weird but not that I minded. Maybe she had gotten in some fight with Aaron again.

By seven in the evening I had been photographed at four separate events, had my jacket adjusted twice and my tie once, had been introduced as a very good friend by Elise to a crowd of people I forgot the second they were out of my sight and had consumed two glasses of champagne painfully slowly to keep my head clear because that was the only advantage I currently had.

Elise found me near the window of the last venue and stood beside me and looked out at the water

“Not sure if you can swim all the way to the other side” she mused, knowing bloody well I was debating swimming through the river to get away from this place.

“It’s been an eventful day,” I replied instead.

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15:26 Thu, Jul 23

Chapter 81

今回

“You’re very diplomatic,” she observed. “I’ve been watching you. You haven’t said a single thing you didn’t mean to say, all day. That’s very controlled coming from you.”

“Thank you,” I gave her a small bow.

“It wasn’t a compliment.”

“Can I ask you something?” The words slipped out of my mouth before I could stop them.

“Of course.”

“What do you actually want from this? From me?”

She looked at me then, tilting her head slightly. “From today specifically, or from the situation generally?”

“Either.”

She considered it, which I hadn’t expected because I was sure she was going to deflect my question.

“Today,” she said, “was about the photographs and making a point.” She paused and looked me in the eye. “The situation generally is more complicated.”

“I meant the deal,” I clarified.

“My father does what he wants,” she said, rather ruefully. “He always has. I have influence but not control. The deal will happen if he decides it happens, regardless of me.” She looked back at the river. “I just wanted to see if you’d play along.”

Okay, that honesty genuinely surprised me.

“I had no choice,” I reminded her.

“There’s always a choice,” she said. “You chose to come because the deal matters. That tells me something about you.”

“It tells you I take my responsibilities seriously,” I replied.

“It tells me,” she said, “that you can be motivated, which is useful information.” She turned to look at me again. direct and measured. “I don’t want you, if that’s what you’re worried about. I’m not trying to….” she seemed to choose her next words carefully, “…I have better options. I just didn’t like the way you treated me last time and wanted to put you in your place”

“I’m sure you

did that very well,” I said, feeling immense relief to hear that and not wanting to bring up the fact that she in fact had been hellbent on giving me multiple heirs. I was just glad she found someone else to obsess over.

“But I did want to see you uncomfortable,” she said. “You were very rude to me.”

“I know,” I said. “I apologize for that again if that’s what you want.”

She studied me. “Do you mean that?”

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15:26 Thu, Jul 23

Chapter 81

“Yes”

11

“There’s someone,” she said, observing me. “Isn’t there? That’s why you were distracted at the diner. That’s what you were thinking about when I took the photograph earlier and you smiled properly for the first time all day. Not once did your hand stray away from my back or waist even when I gave you plenty of chances”

I said nothing but damn she was good at observing things I had to give her that.

“She must be something special,” Elise said, not unkindly,

I looked at the Thames and said nothing, because some things didn’t need to be given to the conversation.

Elise made a small sound that might have been a laugh. “Fine. Keep your secrets.” She straightened, picked up her glass. “I want an apology dinner,” she said. “Proper one. You choose the restaurant, you’re buying, and you’re going to be genuinely charming rather than diplomatically charming. There’s a difference and I’ll know.”

“And after that?” I said.

“After that I’ll tell my father the misunderstanding has been resolved,” she said. “And you can have your deal.”

I looked at her for a moment, clearly not having anticipated the conversation to steer this way.

“You called me a golddigger and said all your flings are the same. I wanted to prove you wrong.”

“Well… you certainly are unlike any of them.” I agreed.

She flashed me a genuine smile.

“Can I know her name? What is she like? Anything at all?”

“Get ready for dinner tonight and tell me what clothes you want me to wear.”

“Just be your own self”

I only stared at her as she walked away, leaving me stunned again since meeting her.

Why go through all this charade if she didn’t want me?

I couldn’t resist sending a message to Sienna after not speaking to her all day.

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