Chapter Eleven ISLA'S POV
1020 Words
The hotel project had a Monday deadline for preliminary design concepts, which meant Sunday was spent at the kitchen table with my laptop, fabric swatches, and three different lighting catalogues spread across every surface Kai owned.
He worked at the other end of the table. Laptop open, phone periodically buzzing, a coffee that had gone cold two hours ago sitting untouched beside him. We'd been in the same room for six hours and it hadn't been uncomfortable once, which was either a good sign or evidence that we were both very good at compartmentalizing.
"The lobby needs a focal point," I said, not really to him. "Something that reads as luxury without being obvious about it."
"Custom installation," he said, without looking up from his screen. "I had one commissioned for the Prague property. Local artist, mixed metal and glass. It became the most photographed element in the building."
I looked up. "You have an eye for that stuff."
"I have an eye for what works." He finally looked at me. "The hotel is in Manhattan. Whatever you choose needs to feel like the city without being a postcard of it."
"Specific but not literal."
"Exactly."
I wrote it down. He went back to his screen.
This was the strange domesticity of the situation. We were married, living together, navigating a stalker and a board meeting and a business rival, and somehow we'd also just had a productive design conversation over cold coffee on a Sunday morning.
At noon his phone rang. He looked at the screen and something in his face closed off.
"Thomas," he said.
"You should take it."
"I'd rather not."
"Kai. Take it."
He picked up and walked to the window. I kept my eyes on my laptop but the apartment wasn't large enough to not hear.
"Father." A pause. "The marriage certificate was filed Friday. Derek sent confirmation to your lawyers." Another pause, longer. "That's not how the clause reads and you know it." His voice stayed level but his shoulders were rigid. "Monday afternoon. We can meet then." A final pause. "I'm aware of what you think. We'll discuss it Monday."
He hung up and stood at the window for a moment before returning to the table.
"He thinks the marriage is a legal maneuver," Kai said.
"You told me he would."
"He's also threatening to contest the clause interpretation in court. Argue that the spirit of the requirement meant a genuine marriage, not a convenient one." He sat down. "His lawyers have been preparing for this apparently."
"Can he do that?"
"He can try. It would take months and cost both sides significantly." He picked up the cold coffee, looked at it, put it back down. "Thomas doesn't bluff. If he says his lawyers are ready, they are."
"So what does that mean for Monday?"
"It means the board meeting cancellation buys us time but not security." He looked at me across the table. "It means we may need to make this marriage look more convincing than a city hall signature."
I sat back. "How convincing?"
"Public. Consistent. No visible cracks." He held my gaze. "There's a charity event Wednesday evening. Hotel industry, investors, press. I was already attending. If you came with me, as my wife, it establishes a visible narrative before Crane or Thomas can set their own."
"You want to take me to a public event."
"I want us to appear as what we legally are. A married couple."
"With a two day old marriage."
"Which we'll frame as a private ceremony following a longer relationship. Which is technically accurate."
I thought about it. "What kind of event?"
"Formal. The Meridian Foundation gala. It raises funds for hospitality industry workers. Legitimate cause, good press, right crowd." He paused. "Elena will be there. She's been texting me since Friday. I haven't responded."
"You need to talk to her."
"I know."
"She's in a difficult position with your father."
"I know that too." He said it without defensiveness. "It doesn't make what she did easier but I understand why she did it."
"Then tell her that."
He looked at me steadily. "When did you become the person who manages my family relationships?"
"When I married into them apparently." I closed my laptop. "Kai, she's your sister. Whatever your father has over her, she's still on your side fundamentally. Don't let Thomas use the distance between you as another lever."
Something shifted in his expression. Not quite softness, but the wall came down a fraction. "You're very direct."
"You said you wanted honesty."
"I did." He was quiet for a moment. "I'll call her today."
"Good."
I opened my laptop again. He picked up his phone and typed what I assumed was a text to Elena rather than a call, which was very Kai, but it was a start.
We worked through the afternoon. At four Derek arrived with updated information on Brandon, who had been confirmed at the Hamptons property since Saturday night and hadn't moved. The restraining order had been officially filed and served through his lawyer. Derek also brought documents about Crane's anticipated arguments for Tuesday's meeting, which Kai went through methodically while I finished the preliminary concept boards.
At six Elena texted back. Kai showed me the screen without comment.
*I'm sorry. Dad had the accounting records. I didn't have a choice. I want to meet her properly. Please.*
"Tell her Wednesday," I said. "She can come early to the gala and we can talk before it starts."
He typed the response. Set the phone down. "She'll cry."
"Probably."
"I don't do well with crying."
"I know. I'll handle it."
He looked at me with an expression I was starting to recognize. The one where something I said landed somewhere deeper than he expected and he didn't know what to do with it.
"Thank you," he said.
"We're on the same side." I turned back to my screen. "Also your coffee has been cold for four hours. It's concerning."
He actually smiled at that. Brief, real, gone quickly.
But I caught it. I was getting better at catching them.
- Writer
