AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Abby wrapped her hands around the warm coffee cup he handed her. “How is your sister doing this?”
“Max?”
She nodded. “Her daughter is the same age as Charlotte. What’s it been like for her?”
A smile touched Gray’s lips. “Max courted the press for a decade. There was naturally a lot of interest when she fell pregnant. However, she and Noah holed themselves up on a boat somewhere off the coast of Spain for most of her pregnancy. She was rarely seen, and the media moved on to other, more salacious stories.”
“And once she had the baby? Where do they live now?”
“They travel between their home in the Cotswolds and a loft in Brooklyn.”
“Brooklyn?” She expelled a rushed breath. “So close?”
He crossed his arms over his chest.
Abby’s whole world seemed to be shifting as she realized Gray was far from an island all on his own. He had a family. A sister. A brother-in-law. A niece. People who were going to want to get to know Charlotte and must, by extension, meet Abby. People who would judge her for deceiving Gray and keeping him from Charlotte’s life.
“They’re going to hate me.” Her eyes latched to his, her face unknowingly pale.
A muscle jerked in his jaw, and he regarded her with eyes that gave very little away. “We have to control the narrative,” was all he said.
“You mean lie? To everyone we care about?”
“Max and I grew up a certain way. We’re all each other has. To say she’s protective of me is an understatement.”
Despite the seriousness of her thoughts, she smiled. “Protective ofyou?”
“It would make things easier for you if we obfuscated a little.”
“And you care about that? Making things easier for me?” She said quietly, wondering why everything hung on his answer.
“I care about making this a smooth transition for Charlotte, and I’m very aware your happiness and her happiness go hand in hand. Nothing is served by pissing off Max, believe me.”
Abby’s heart twisted. In her fantasy land, whenever she’d imagined getting married, it had been more than just finding her own Prince Charming and riding off into the sunset. Her dream scenario involved a sister with whom she could become besties, a mother-in-law who’d love her like another daughter, and a father-in-law who’d finally be the dad-figure she’d never had.
“So what exactly will you tell her?”
“That we’ve been working things out.”
“And they’re seriously going to believe you’ve been ignoring your daughter for sixteen months?”
“Max knows enough about me not to push for details if I don’t want to share them.”
Abby squished her lips to the side. It seemed far from a perfect plan, but he knew his sister best.
“Okay. If you’re sure that’ll work.”
“We’ll keep it all as vague as possible. But as with your mother, when we see my family, we’ll need to behave as if this is the real deal.”
Her heart skidded to a stop in her chest. That wasn’t likely to be often.
“As for the wedding,” he moved on quickly, leaving her reeling.Wedding? “My first instinct is we should do it quickly, with minimal fanfare. But I’m aware this is your wedding day, and you might have different ideas.”
“But it’s not a real wedding.” Breathing was almost impossible.
“Perhaps not in the traditional sense, but it is the only wedding you’ll be having for at least another seventeen years, so if you want to make it count, then say the word.”
Her future stretched before her and it scared the heck out of her to imagine walking the tightrope of life with Grayson Fortescue. But not as much as a future where they were at war over Charlotte.
