Page 32 of Scarlet Embrace

“What will it take for me to convince you to postpone girl’s night and come with me?”

If there’s one thing I’ve learned in all the time I’ve been doing business, it is the fact that everyone does have a price. For some, they come high, and for some, they are quite cheap, but anyone and everyone could be bought.

“I don’t know. I’ll have to talk to the girls and get back to you,” she said right before she ended the call.

“I’m so going to—” I began before I noticed that Logan was laughing in the corner. “Did I say something funny?”

“You should have seen your expression,” Logan said as he struggled to hold his calm. “This girl knows all your buttons, and I swear she’s pushing them.”

“I’m going to ignore you,” I said as I got onto my feet.

Logan was right, and I hated that fact. Elena had just pissed me off even without saying a word, and I couldn’t deny it. She was most likely going to cost me a rather nice opportunity if she didn’t come around. Luckily for me, she called about thirty minutes later and told me that the only way she was going to cancel girls’ night was if I was going to pay for it.

“Gladly. Anywhere you and your friends want your friends to go, I’ll sponsor it.”

“Not only that,” she added as I slowly rubbed my forehead.

“What else?”

“You’ll come with us. My friends want to meet the man I’m dating.”

I wanted to tell her that there was no way I would be doing that, but I simply decided against it. I just need her to go to the event with me, and everything will play out nicely.

“Fine. I’ll come, but no pictures,” I told her.

“Agreed. Now tell me about this event of yours.”

Madam Caroline, whose real name is Caroline Jones, was an heiress of some shipping Greek magnate or something like that. I really don’t know much about the woman other than the fact that she’s a long acquaintance of my father’s, and everyone in the city was trying to get into her good graces. I explained everything about the event to Elena and told her we’d be going shopping the next day.

“Why? You think I don’t have a dress worthy of such an event?”

“No, but I just want to ensure that you are well dressed as my fiancée,” I answered.

Dealing with her was quite a headache. It seemed like she enjoyed causing me grief, and I didn’t blame her, seeing how she holds my fate.

Admitting to Father that this was all a ruse is not going to work.

Not when I am this close to getting everything I’ve always wanted.

“Fine, then. That will be in the evening. I have to be at the courthouse,” she told me.

Fixing a time to meet wasn’t much of a problem. I wasn’t entirely free myself, but I could create time to take her shopping. Luckily for me, Linda had promised to help since I knew very little about where to go.

The next day, I sent Thomas to pick her up while I attended to the latest batch of luxurious cars that we had just acquired. Things were looking quite good, and that made me happy. In fact, it was one of the few reasons I looked forward to going to Madam Caroline’s ball in the hopes that I’d get the chance to sell a few more cars.

I noticed Elena at the door, and for the first time, I studied her closely. A confident woman, in every sense of the word, her strides, the way she looked around the building, this was a woman who knew how to carry herself. She spotted me, and she smiled as she walked over. I won’t deny the fact that Elena Rodriguez was a beautiful woman and someone I shouldn’t be getting involved in my business.

“Thanks for the ride,” she said as she walked over to me.

“One of the privileges that comes with being my fiancée,” I told her as I hugged her.

“You know I never agreed to be your fiancée. Just your girlfriend,” she whispered to me.

“It’s all the same,” I said, planting a kiss on her forehead.

She rolled her eyes for a moment, and I couldn’t help but wonder what it would look like if she was angry. Would those eyes of hers blaze with fire, or would her cheeks burn red hot? I’ve seen her embarrassed, and it was quite a pretty sight.

“So, what exactly am I getting?” She asked.