My face twists. “Ew. Mother. Please. I’m your child, for God’s sake. I don’t need to hear about your sex life.”

She sets a plate in front of me and then waves me off dismissively. “Oh, please, darling. You’re a grown woman. It’s not like you are too young to hear about this.”

I wrinkle my nose as I cut into the chicken in front of me. “There’s never going to be an age when I’m old enough to discuss sex with you.”

Mother pulls out the barstool across from me and takes a seat before she begins to cut up her food. “Speaking of sex, I took the liberty of Googling Alexander King while you were off gallivanting with him last week.”

I raise one eyebrow as I swallow down the food in my mouth and do my best not to choke. “Why would you do that?”

“I had to see exactly who my daughter was spending all her time with.”

This time, I do roll my eyes. “Don’t let his beautiful face fool you. He’s not pleasant to be around.”

“The hot ones never are, dear. That’s what makes them so fun. They’re a challenge.” A smile pulls at the corners of her mouth. She’s no doubt reliving some memory of a time she spent with some old asshole boyfriend as she takes a sip of her water. “Tell me, was that trip to Vegas all work or did you manage to get some playtime in with the notorious Naughty King?”

For a moment, I debate whether to lie to her. I could stick to the story that absolutely nothing happened between Alexander and me, but knowing how well she can read me, she’ll see right through me.

I readjust in my seat. “I would like to say that it was all business . . .”

“But?” she prods.

“It wasn’t,” I answer honestly.

Her smile widens as she leans in, clamoring for the juicy bit of gossip she can tell is about to spill out of my mouth. “Do tell. And don’t leave out one sordid detail.”

I close my eyes and wrinkle my nose. There’s no way I can hide what happened in Vegas from her. Besides, she’s the one person in this world I can trust with this secret. “I slept with him.”

“That’s my girl!” she exclaims and then instantly launches into a question. “How was it?”

“Mother!”

“What? Inquiring minds, darling. Are you going to see him again?”

I lift one shoulder in a noncommittal shrug. “I don’t want to, but I’m afraid I’ll be forced to.”

She nods. “That’s right. The whole spy mission your father has you on. I nearly forgot about that. If you really don’t want to see Alexander King anymore, just quit and tell your father that you’re done being his little tattletale. Lord knows how hard it is to be in close proximity to an ex-lover. Your father should understand and not make too much of a fuss over the situation.”

I sigh. “It’s not that simple, I’m afraid.”

“But it is. If you’re afraid to tell your father, I’ll call and tell—”

“My issues are much bigger than handling Daddy.”

She bunches her brow, clearly confused. I can see the wheels turning behind her eyes as she tries to figure out what I’m hiding. “Then what is it?”

“I married the bastard on a drunken whim,” I blurt out before I lose my nerve.

Her eyes widen. “Say again? I’m not sure I heard that quite right. It sounded like you just told me that my only child ran off to Vegas and got married for the very first time without me present.”

My lips twitch and finally pull down at one corner. “It’s not like I planned for it to happen. Hell, I don’t even remember it.”

“Oh, dear.” Mother sighs. “Does your father know?”

I nod. “Of course he does. He thinks this is excellent leverage to have on Alexander.”

We sit in silence for a few moments and then Mother says, “Maybe this isn’t such a bad thing.”

That’s not exactly what I was expecting her to say. “How can you say that? Being married to Alexander King is one of the worst things I can ever imagine happening to me in my life.”

“Are you sure about that?”

I push my half-eaten plate of food away before folding my arms across my chest. “Of course, I am. He’s a pompous asshole, and I can’t believe I allowed myself to get in to this situation.”

“See, dear, that’s where I think this marriage might not be such a bad thing.”

Clearly, my mother is allowing Alexander’s disgustingly good looks to blind her to the truth of how awful he is. “You’re not grasping the—”

“I understand just fine.” She cuts me off and then levels her gaze on me. “I’m not sure you’re seeing that maybe fate has a way of intervening, even if you don’t believe what’s happening is the best thing. If you let your guard down enough to marry him, drunk or not, he can’t be all bad, can he? There has to be some small part of you that enjoys being with him or else you would’ve never gone through with a quickie Vegas wedding.”

I open my mouth to argue—to explain that the liquor completely impaired my judgment when it came to Alexander, but that wouldn’t exactly be the truth. I had sex with the man two times before I even had a drink of alcohol. I have no excuse for that. Alexander King is a very intoxicating man, and it pisses me off that I find it so hard to resist him.

Margo

MY PALMS SWEAT AS I sit at my desk, waiting for the moment Alexander comes marching through the door. I don’t recall the last time I’ve been this nervous. That man just has a way of pushing my buttons, even when he’s not around. I seriously entertained Mom’s idea of quitting, but I know Daddy would kill me if I gave up on saving the company, so here I am.