Forever After All: A Billionaire Marriage of Convenience Novel

We’ve only just made it to the restaurant when Elena’s phone buzzes. She glances down at it, her eyes widening.

She looks up at me, a shimmer of panic in her eyes, and then she looks back down, hiding her phone away in a rush. Unease settles in my gut when she smiles tightly without meeting my eyes.

“I… I need to go. Something came up,” she says.

She smiles at my mother and then turns to walk away before I can even stop her.

“Elena,” I call, rushing after her. “Where are you going?”

She looks into my eyes and the guilt I see in them wrecks me. She’s hiding something from me. “Oh, it’s nothing. I just need to head back to the hospital real quick,” she says.

And then she blinks twice, her telltale sign. She’s lying.

She grabs my hand and smiles at me. “Go ahead and have lunch with your mother. I’ll see you later.”

She squeezes my hand, and then she walks away, flagging down a taxi as she goes. I stare after her, my heart uneasy.

I grab my phone and call my security team the second she steps in the taxi. “Tell me exactly who just texted my wife, and what the contents of that text were,” I order as soon as Aiden, my security officer, picks up.

“Yes, sir,” he says.

I pace on the pavement as I wait for him to retrieve the data. “Everything okay?” my mother asks. “Where did Elena go?”

I shake my head. “It’s nothing, Mom. Something came up, though. Can we reschedule?”

She frowns at me and nods, but I can tell she’s concerned. She’s been worried about us for a while now, and I’ve let my anger at Elena overwhelm my mother’s needs, her happiness. “Of course, Alec. I’ll have the driver pick me up.”

I smile at her and press a kiss to her cheek as she grabs her phone to call our driver.

“Mr. Kennedy,” Aiden says on the phone. “It appears the text message came from your brother. The contents were as follows: I need you, Elena. Now. Please meet me at this address,” he says. I wait for him to give me the address, a thousand thoughts whirling through my mind. What the fuck are they up to? An affair? After she swore to me that nothing was going on between them? I should have known better. I should have known the second I found out about the fucking lingerie bullshit.

Pure rage fills my every vein when I realize the address is a room in one of our hotels. My hands are shaking as I get behind the wheel. Each scenario that comes to mind is more painful than the last. It feels like Jennifer all over again. Finding her in the apartment I bought for her, Matthew on top of her. I was stupid to put my faith in Elena. To think that money could buy her loyalty.

I’m seeing white as I walk into the hotel lobby. The receptionist is visibly nervous to find me here in person without any prior notice, and she stares at me with wide eyes. “Give me a duplicate key card to the Presidential suite,” I tell her.

She blinks and hesitates, but thankfully for her, her manager steps up and hands me the key before I can fire her for her incompetence.

I take it and wrap my hand around it so tightly that it cuts into me. Dread fills me as I take the lift up, scared of what I’ll find. I stand in front of the door, my heart aching in a way it never has before. Elena… I should’ve remembered whose little sister she is. Whose daughter she is. She’s had me fooled.

I slide the keycard through quietly and open the door as soundlessly as I can, catching it before it slams closed.

I lean back against the wall, listening for moans, but instead all I hear are pained sobs. I freeze, straightening.

“He broke my heart. Tore it to shreds.”

I frown, confused. I take a step closer until Elena and Lucian come into view. My heart drops when I find my half naked brother in my wife’s arms. It appears all he’s wearing is boxers, but Elena is still fully dressed.

I struggle to make sense of what I’m seeing, what I’m hearing.

This… this isn’t an affair.

“I really thought Marcus was different,” Lucian says. “I fell so hard, Elena. I thought he was the one. I was going to tell my family about him. He already works with my brother, so I thought it might be easier to accept for them. He’s Alec’s CFO, and I know Alec quite likes him, so I was really hopeful.” He inhales shakily, his eyes falling closed. “But Marcus was just after the money. Today was the first time we slept together, and it was magical to me, so magical, Elena. But he… he filmed it and he’s blackmailing me.”

Elena hugs him tighter, her expression anguished. “We’ll figure something out, Luce. Everything will be okay. We need to tell Alexander. He’ll know what to do.”

Lucian pushes her away harshly, pure panic transforming his face. “No!” he shouts. “My brother can’t find out,” he says, his voice high, panicked. “He’ll never see me the same way. He’ll lose all respect for me. He’ll find me despicable. A gay brother? He’ll never accept it. To have gotten blackmailed, too? He’ll just think I’m weak. You can’t tell him, Elena. You promised. You swore you’d never tell.”

Elena wraps her arms around herself, looking as panicked as Lucian does. The anguish on her face… fuck.

I walk into the bedroom, startling them both. Lucian’s expression transforms into one of betrayal, and then hatred. He looks at Elena in disbelief and I shake my head.

“She was acting suspicious,” I tell him. “So I followed her.”

I walk toward the bed and pick up his discarded clothes, my eyes roaming over the messy room. I throw Lucian’s clothes at him and shake my head. “Get dressed,” I tell him.

Elena rises to her feet, looking worried, and I sigh. I don’t even know what to say to her. To think I suspected her of cheating with my own brother, when I couldn’t be more wrong. I’ve somehow managed to push my brother so far away that he trusts my wife more with his secrets than he does me. And my wife… I’ve accused her of disloyalty over and over again, when I couldn’t be more wrong. It’s her loyalty that kept her from telling me the truth, when that would have resolved all our issues. She kept the promises she made to Lucian, even as I made her suffer for it.

Tears stream down Lucian’s face as he gets dressed, and he’s choking back sobs, unable to look me in the eye. It breaks my fucking heart to see him like that. I can’t remember the last time I even saw him cry—not in years. I should’ve been the first person he turned to in this situation, yet I’m the last person he wanted finding out.

I grab my phone and call Elliot, one of my closest friends, and a total computer genius. He picks up almost immediately.

“What’s up?” he says. “How do I get to extort you today?”

I bite back a smile and shake my head. “I need camera footage removed,” I say, glancing at Lucian.

“How were you filmed, Lucian?” I ask, my voice soft. “With what device?”

He swallows hard and lifts his head slowly, fresh tears in his eyes. “I… Alec…”

I smile at him and shake my head. “Just tell me what device it was.”

He nods, big fat tears rolling down his cheeks. “It was his phone. I don’t remember what model it was.”

I sigh and nod at him. “Elliot, I need you to fry every single device owned by Marcus Smith. He’s one of my employees. I’ll write you a blank cheque.”

I hear Elliot typing furiously through the phone before he replies. “It’s for Lucian?” he asks, his voice soft.

“Yeah,” I murmur. “His boyfriend betrayed him.”

Elliot falls silent. “I see. So, he’s… uh, he’s gay?”

“Yeah, so?” I snap, furious. “Is there a problem?”

“No, no,” Elliot says. “I just—I just always thought he was really cute.”

I blink in surprise, completely thrown. I don’t even know what to say to that. I clear my throat awkwardly. “Well, I’m sure you know how to get your hands on his contact details, though now probably isn’t a good time.”

Elliot laughs nervously. “Okay, well, consider it done. No charge, since it’s for Lucian.”

I laugh, I can’t help it. How am I only just finding out that two people I’ve known forever aren’t straight? Am I really that clueless?

“Thank you,” I say. “I need you to uncover every bit of dirt on him and have it go viral. I need enough to be able to fire him without having a lawsuit on my hands. I don’t want him ever being able to find another job.”

“Come on,” I tell Elena and Lucian. “We’re leaving.”