Chapter 5: The Deal I Didn't Make
1094 Words
Erica's POV
The estate looked exactly the same.
I pulled up in the car my mom had sent and the gates opened the same way they always had. The oak trees lining the driveway were the same, the fountain was the same. The house sat at the end of it all.
I sat in the back seat for a second after the car stopped and just looked at it.
I grabbed my bag and got out.
My mother was on the front steps before I reached them.
Katrina Crosswell at forty-three looked like she'd made a personal deal with time and time had honored it. She was a slik blouse, tailored trousers, her hair perfect, heels on at ten in the morning because some things never changed. She came down and took my face in both hands and looked at me the way she always did, like she was checking for damage.
"Erica." She kissed both my cheeks. "You look thin."
"I look exactly the same, Mom." My voice was flat.
"You look tired." She said.
"I drove three hours, of course I would look tired." I said.
"You should've let Mark pick you up earlier..."
"I'm here now," My voice was firm. "Okay?"
She searched my face for another second, then nodded and smiled. She hooked her arm around mine and walked me inside.
The house smelled the same. Polished expensive wood and fresh flowers.
"Your uncle Jason is already here," she said, lightly.
"Of course he is." My jaw tightened.
He was in my father's study.
Jason Crosswell was sitting behind my father's desk, in my father's chair, fingers laced ontop my father's paperwork, like it had always been his. Like Michael Crosswell had never existed and this room had always belonged to his younger half-brother.
"Erica." His voice was warm. "You haven't changed at all."
"Uncle Jason." I didn't move toward him. "You're sitting in my father's chair."
"Sit down, little one." He ignored me.
"Don't call me that." My voice was sharp.
"Erica." My mother said behind me.
I sat down.
"I'm sure you must be wondering why you're here," He didn't waste time.
I didn't say anything.
"There's a man " He folded his hands. "Damon Sorrento. His father runs the Sorrento Group, you understand what that means in terms of our operations. The alliance has been discussed for some time now."
I looked at him. "An alliance?"
"Your marriage to him," he said softly. "Within the month."
The room went very quiet.
"I'm sorry, a what?" I heard myself laugh. "I don't even know who he is."
"You'll meet him tomorrow." He said.
"I'm not marrying a stranger." My voice rose slightly.
"You'll find he's very..."
"I have a life, a job..." I said, cutting him off. "I've been gone for four years and you call me home to..." I stopped and looked at my mother. "Did you know about this?"
She looked at the window, which was it's own answer. I stood up.
"Sit down, Erica," Jason said.
"I don't think I will, actually..."
"You don't have to make difficult," His tone changed slightly. "We have other options."
"What do you mean by other options?" My voice tightened.
"Leah is a lovely girl," He said, his voice pleasant. "She's beautiful and damon isn't specific about which Crosswell sister. But if you're unwilling, she could..."
"She's eighteen," My voice came out thin.
"She's an adult by every legal standard." He tilted his head. "We also have little lilly. She's thirteen now, obviously she'd need to wait a few years, but Sorrento is a patient family when properly motivated..."
"Stop." The word came out sharp.
He smiled and leaned back. "Sit down."
I sat back down.
"Why?" My voice was flat. "Why now? What does this marriage have to do for the family?"
"That's not your concern." He said.
"I'm the one getting married." I said. "It's my only concern."
"The arrangement benefits everyone," he said. "Damon Sorrento is an alpha and the ceremony will be handled with full family support. You'll have anything you want."
"Except from free will," I said.
"Yes," he smiled. "Except that."
I looked at my mother again. She was looking at her perfectly manicured hands. She had never once in my entire memory gone up against her brother-in-law, not even when my father was alive.
"There's one more thing," Jason said.
I looked back at him.
"There will be a family meeting tomorrow, at ten o'clock." He straightened a paper on the desk. "Your mother's husband will be here and his son."
"What?" I asked. "My mother's... what?"
"Her husband," He repeated.
I turned to my mother slowly. "You got married?"
"It happened quickly." She said. "We didn't want a big wedding."
"You didn't invite me your wedding, Mom?" I asked.
"We knew you wouldn't be happy about it." Her voice was calm.
"Yeah I wouldn't," I scoffed. "That's still not a reason not to invite your own daughter."
"Erica, it's not..."
"Dad has been gone for four months." The words came out quieter than I expected. "Did you even grieve?"
"That's enough," Her voice cracked at the edge. "You don't know what these four months have looked like. You were gone for four years, Erica. You don't get to come back for one day and tell me how my grief is supposed to look like."
"Well it seems you don't know how to grieve," My voice was rough. "Because you just got married, four months after Dad died."
"He's a good man." Her voice dropped. "Maxwell is stable and kind."
The room went quiet.
"You should have told me at least," My voice was quiet. "You should have called."
Jason cleared his throat.
"This is all very moving," he said pleasantly. "But it's also not important."
I turned to look at him.
"Your mother is married," he said. "It's already done. Maxwell Ashford is a powerful man with the right connections and the right resources and the marriage is an asset to this family. Whether it happened four months after your father's passing or four years, It doesn't matter." He folded his hands. "What you should be focused in right now, is not your mother's personal life but your own."
"My own," I repeated flatly.
"Your wedding," he said. "That's what requires your attention now."
"These things take time." I pressed two fingers to my temple. "There are things that need to happen before a wedding. A conversation, a date."
"You have a month," he said. "That's plenty of time for dates."
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