Page 70 of Earned Husband

She was smiling wider than I’d seen all evening, though, so I took it as a win.

Basel was smiling too, but he quickly wrapped up and stepped away from the podium. Music swelled through the ballroom now that the speeches were over. I was trying to weave my way through the crowd to get to Deja when Basel appeared beside me, gently redirecting me in the opposite direction. Again.

“Come with me,” he said happily. “There are some people I want you to meet.”

I glanced over my shoulder, catching Deja’s eye from across the room. She smiled sympathetically, giving me the tiniest shrug. Resigning myself to the fact that, once again, I’d been intercepted when all I really wanted was to talk to her, I averted my gaze and let Basel guide me toward a cluster of businessmen.

“My friends,” he announced when we reached them, introducing me as casually as if these guys were no more than cousins at a family barbecue, but I recognized some of them, and if I was correct about the others, they were collectively worth several billion dollars. “This is Colin Thayer. He owns one of America’s finest steel companies and he’ll be expanding to Egypt soon. You should all invest.”

Jane would probably object to the wording of most of what he’d just said, but as ambitious as his pitch was, it looked like we were really doing this now. Half a dozen interested faces turned toward me and I slipped into business mode, much more comfortable than I had been for the rest of the evening.

“We’ve been evaluating several international expansion opportunities,” I began, quoting our manufacturing capacity, our projected growth, and our infrastructure, but the more I gave them the data, the less interested they appeared to be.

It honestly looked like I’d lost them until an older man interrupted with a pleasant smile on his lips. “Tell me something, Colin. Are you married?”

I opened my mouth, but Basel spoke right over me. “He’s not married yet, but he will be very soon. Colin also has several younger brothers who are still single.”

He waggled his eyebrows at them and they laughed, the atmosphere around our group instantly changing into one of interest and engagement again. They asked me about my brothers and Chicago, whether my mother still lived nearby, and how my siblings got along.

I answered their questions honestly, completely stunned when telling them about how Isaac was restoring an old house generated more excitement than our annual earnings. Ryan’s return to Chicago prompted more approving nods than our quarterly projections and the fact that Holden was considering graduate school was like I’d told them Christmas would be coming early.

After we’d spent nearly twenty minutes talking about my family, someone casually asked another question about steel, and it finally clicked then that this was how they did business. It wasn’t the way I’d been taught, but here, the relationshipwasthe contract.

Every deal was a promise, a real-life connection, not just a signature on a page. It was a strange revelation, difficult to get my head wrapped around what that would mean for our expansion, but if growth required trust from these people, then maybe I would have to earn that, too.

A sharp voice suddenly cut across the ballroom, interrupting the story I’d been telling about Wyatt, who’d just graduated from Yale. “You cannot be serious!”

I turned with the others to see Jasmine standing a few yards away. She looked absolutely furious, speaking rapidly to someone I’d never met before and throwing both hands into the air as she shook her head. “No. I won’t do it.”

Whatever he replied seemed to make matters much worse, prompting her to spin on her heels and stalk toward the exit. Every conversation around us had paused, but they quickly picked back up again, no one apparently shocked or even concerned about the interaction.

I frowned. “Is she alright?”

“Jasmine?” Basel waved a dismissive hand. “She’s fine.”

“Are you sure? She looked pretty upset.”

He smiled into his wine. “This is normal behavior for her.”

I glanced at her again, noticing that aggravation seemed to be radiating from her as she grabbed a flute of champagne off a passing waiter’s tray and downed the whole thing in one go. My eyebrows swept up.

“Maybe someone should check on her.”

Basel shook his head, still smiling as he leaned closer. “I’m trying to arrange her marriage as well. Layla has likely just introduced her to the young man we have in mind.”

Okay, well, that explains it.

“So, she’s… protesting?” I guessed out loud.

“Vigorously,” he said proudly. “Don’t worry. I expect she’ll forgive us by breakfast.”

I wasn’t so sure, especially when I saw Deja hurry after her sister. She caught up quickly, reaching for Jasmine’s arm and pulling her to a stop. Jasmine crossed her arms, her mouth moving while Deja listened, her expression becoming increasingly more concerned.

When Jasmine eventually stopped talking, Deja glanced back at me, and even from this distance, I could read the apology in her eyes. She offered me a small, tight smile, then disappeared through the doors after her sister.

Everything in me wanted to follow. A large, primal part of me wanted to swoop in and try to protect her from this if it wasn’t what she wanted. Hell, an even larger part of me needed to ask Deja ifshewas okay, because she sure hadn’t looked it, but I stayed exactly where I was.

Basel smiled at me when I refocused on the men he’d introduced me to, likely knowing how close I’d been to bolting but seeming pleased that I hadn’t done it. I sighed, but I was also starting to realize that my marriage, the merger, and the expansion were going to take a hell of a lot more learning—and that sticking close to Basel’s side was the best way to do it.