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The door opened, and Antony was there, with the VANT legal counsel. I’d met with him a couple of times lately; I had a feeling he found me irritating.
“Great, you’re both here. Come in.”
Tally looked between me, Antony and the lawyer. “Uh, should I drop the baby off to Hayes?”
Antony waved a hand. “No, it’s fine. She can sit in on the meeting. I’d like her opinion,” he teased, cooing at the baby. Even stone-cold Antony Barbieri made cutesy noises in her presence.
Tally nodded, shifting the baby in her arms. I held out my hands. “Want me to carry her?”
Her gaze flicked over me. “If you could, just for a minute. My arms have gone numb.” She handed me the baby, and I smiled down at her pretty blue eyes.
“Bambolina,” I greeted Bobbi-June, shifting her into the crook of my arm easily. She weighed nothing to me. I gestured for Tally to walk in, and clocked Antony and the lawyer exchanging looks.
Rocking Bobbi-June softly, I sat carefully down on one of the soft couches in Antony’s office. Laying her across my lap, I put a hand on her belly as I gently bounced her up and down. “Does anyone want to tell me what this is about?” I asked lightly, looking over at Tally, who just shrugged from where she sat opposite Antony’s desk.
Our boss came around and leaned his ass against the desk. “I believe that you can perhaps help each other.” He looked at Tally first. “Rocco here is struggling to get a green card because of some kind of ‘moral turpitude’ clause.”
I clenched my jaw, but remained silent as her eyes ran over me before dropping to the baby, like I’d gone from someone safe to a possible threat to her child. “Moral turpitude?”
I huffed. “I beat the shit out of another driver after a race in Saudi Arabia, and people blew it out of proportion. He blew it out of proportion. Trust me when I say he deserved it.”
She stared at me for another long heartbeat, then finally turned back to Antony. It felt like an acceptance that I wasn’t a danger to her baby, or maybe that was wishful thinking.
“Okay? What does that have to do… Oh.” Her head snapped back toward me, but I was still confused as fuck.
“Don’t you hate it when people talk around you like you’re a fuc—ducking simpleton?” I asked the baby, who gurgled her agreement.
“Tally here needs a husband with a lot of money and some sway in the racing industry. Her ex-father-in-law is trying to gain custody of Bobbi-June by using her lack of both financial security and the social frameworks needed to create a beneficial and secure environment for the child.”
I frowned as it dawned on me too. I looked at Tally. “The asshole from the hospital?” She nodded, her lip wobbling. Fuck. I hoped she didn’t cry. I wasn’t sure I could deal with her tears. “I see.”
She was already shaking her head. “Impossible. I couldn’t do that to Hayes and Jesse. There has to be a different way that doesn’t involve me marrying a man who doesn’t even want to be married.”
I was trying not to be offended by her quick refusal. “Who says I don’t want to be married?”
She tilted her head at me. “The two women who got photographed blowing you in the back room of a club, like, three weeks ago?”
That had actually been well over two months ago, but it had been floating around in the tabloids for a couple of weeks now.
I shrugged. “That just means I like blow jobs.”
She narrowed her eyes. “That didn’t help your case like you think it did.”
“I’ll have you know, I’d love to be married.” Okay, not really true. “And I’m totally open to this idea.”
The baby on my lap was now starting to fall asleep. It was weird to have an entire conversation about an arranged marriage while rocking a baby on my knees, but somehow, that fit this moment.
Tally gaped at me. “You can’t seriously be on board with this?”
I shrugged. “Why not? It’s not forever, I’m sure. It’ll get Immigration off my back, if I have both a sponsor and a wife. You’ll get a husband who’s wildly richer than that old fuck. And I know you aren’t after my money, just my influence. Everyone’s hearts will be safe and secure. Sounds like a neat solution to me.”
Shaking her head, she looked between us all, like we were suggesting she hijack a plane. “And Jesse and Hayes?”
She has a point there. “See them on the side for a couple of years?”
“No.”
“Fine, move them in too. Polyamory seems to be the flavor of the month in this country,” I teased Antony. “It’s not like we’re marrying because of a grand love affair. You can all move into my place, and you can bang them on the downlow. You’ll be my wife, but that doesn’t stop you from being their girlfriend.”
