Page 39 of Arranged To Be Mine

“And you’re a carbon copy of him.”

“Exactly.” I threw my hands up. “I learned everything from him. I walk the same way, talk the same way, and run meetings the same way. But when I do it? Suddenly I’m cold. Unfeeling. An ice queen who doesn’t believe in love.”

Beau was quiet, letting me vent. I appreciated that too. Most people would have jumped in with platitudes or tried to fix it. He just listened.

“The worst part is, there’s no winning,” I continued, the frustration ramping up. “If I went out there and acted more traditionally feminine, more soft and giggly and whatever, people would say I’m not serious enough to run the company. Not experienced enough. Too emotional. Too much of a woman.” I spat the last word like it was poison. “But when I act like my father, I’m a heartless bitch who’s incapable of human connection.”

“Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.”

“Story of my life.” I snatched a chunk of chocolate that had appeared on the last kitchen run. “Men get to be complicated. They get to be driven and ambitious and still be seen as good people. Women have to be everything at once, and even then, someone’s going to find a reason to tear us down.”

Beau nodded slowly. “I can’t pretend to understand exactly what that’s like. But I do know something about being judged for things you can’t control.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Do tell.”

He leaned back in his chair, staring out at the dark ocean. “Growing up Blackwell wasn’t exactly easy. Everyone knew who our parents were. Everyone had expectations. And there are a lot of us, all competing for attention. We were all trying to figure out who we were in the shadow of two people who’d already done everything.”

“Sounds crowded.”

“It was.” He smiled, but I saw what he was trying to hide. “Sometimes I wonder what it would have been like to be an only child. To have all that space to figure yourself out without constantly being compared to your siblings.”

“The grass is always greener,” I said.

“Isn’t it?” He took a sip of his beer. “Don’t get me wrong, I love my family. But there was always this pressure to find your lane. Callum went into business management. Micah became a director. Jeremy’s the model. Cleo designs dresses. Everyone found their thing, and if you didn’t find yours fast enough, you felt like you were falling behind.”

“Is that why you became a lawyer? To stand out?”

“Partly.” He shrugged. “My dad wanted me to work at Blackwell Studios. That would have been the obvious route. Easy path, guaranteed success. But I didn’t want to be handed anything. I wanted to prove I could make it on my own.”

“I can understand that.”

“Plus, I’m good at arguing.” He grinned, and this time it was genuine. “Might as well get paid for it.”

I laughed, which felt strange. Good but foreign. When was the last time I’d laughed like this?

“What about your siblings?” I asked. “Did they all feel the same way? About walking their own paths?”

“Most of them. We’re stubborn like that. None of us wanted to just ride our parents’ coattails. Even Jeremy, who models for our cousins’ label, built his own career first. He was already successful before he started working with Blackwell Couture.”

“That’s admirable.”

“It’s exhausting,” he corrected. “But yeah, I guess it’s admirable too.”

I reached for another piece of cheese, realizing I’d been eating almost nonstop since I arrived. The alcohol had loosened something in me, made me hungry in a way I usually suppressed. Hungry for food, conversation, and basic human connection with someone other than my father.

Beau was nice. Not at all what I’d expected from the cocky lawyer who’d humiliated my father in court.

“Can I ask you something?” I said.

“Shoot.”

“Why are you doing this? Helping me, I mean. And don’t say because my father’s paying you. I know there’s more to it than that.”

He didn’t immediately answer. “Honestly? I like a challenge. And you’re definitely a challenge.”

“Gee, thanks.”

“I mean it as a compliment.” He turned to look at me, those blue eyes catching the moonlight. “You’re smart, you’re driven, you’ve worked your ass off to get where you are. And none of that should matter less because you had one bad moment on camera. I want to help you prove that.”