Page 84 of Modern Romance January 2025 5-8

“You think that I might’ve committed corporate espionage,” he said.

“I actually don’t. Mostly because you don’t seem like a man who is angry that he got caught. I believe you. You’re angry because you think stealing from your father is beneath you.”

“Yes. But more than that, it defies the very point of... All of this.”

“You have to tell me the truth.”

“I don’t talk about the past.”

She sighed heavily, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Let’s go into the dining room.”

“Why?”

“I need coffee. I got woken up by a reporter demanding to know if I wanted to spill secrets about you. And I ran straight over here to try and fix it. When did Charmaine leave, by the way?”

“She didn’t stay the whole night. Women never do.”

“Well, undoubtedly not women on your father’s payroll.”

He growled. “Unconscionable...”

“Why did you let her in?”

“Because I...” He did not like this. Being centered by a tiny little creature. This was how he had lived his life for years. And of course, this was where his father saw weakness. He hadn’t believed that it really was a weakness of his. He had thought it was part of the show. And yet, the show and the man had become one and the same. He engaged in the behavior, so what did it matter?—Was it part of a put-on or not? The truth was, he was indiscriminate when it came to taking lovers. His father knew that. And so of course that was the avenue that he took to come at him.

The mistake he had made was that in his disdain he had begun to minimize who his father was. He had shrunk him down to being a cruel man, and because cruelty was something that he despised, he had convinced himself that perhaps the cruelty was stupidity. Of course not. A person could be cruel and yet be horrendously clever. It was one of the great injustices of the world.

His father was clever.

But Matias was cleverer still, and he would see that he won this game.

His father wanted revenge for the loss of money.

Matias wanted revenge for the loss of his sister.

His motivation would always run deeper. It would always be more intense.

His motivation would always allow him to win.

Surely the monster couldn’t win twice.

He stepped toward the dining room, and Augusta followed him. Then she went on through to the kitchen. “My staff has made coffee,” he said.

“Excellent,” she chirped.

Chirped.

She was far too cheerful about all of this. She returned with two cups of coffee, and set one in front of him, before taking a position down at the opposite end of the table and staring at him through the steam billowing up from her coffee mug.

“This relationship will be purely for show. No wedding. Just an engagement announcement.”

“Agreed.”

“I’m putting it in writing in the contract. There will be no sexual contact between us.”

“Tesoro, surely you understand that there must be a level of physical contact between the two of us in public.”

“A level. But remember, the fascination here will come from the fact that you’re acting as a romantic and not a player.”