The Wrong Fiancée: A Billionaire Second Chance Romance (Marriage by Contract Book 3)
The Wrong Fiancée: Chapter 31

Palm trees swayed lazily in the afternoon breeze, and the sound of waves crashing against the nearby shore mixed with the laughter and conversation of my family scattered around the pool area.

It was one of those rare moments where everything felt…settled.

Everyone was here.

Damian and Emilia sat at one of the shaded tables, laughing as their son Leo splashed around in the shallow end of the pool with Solène. Her parents had disappeared, I believe, to find some privacy. We were all steering clear of the house—no one wanted to hear them go at it.

Mom reclined on a lounge chair, wearing her wide-brimmed hat and oversized sunglasses, looking every bit the glamorous matriarch she was.

Elsa had managed to convince our mutual friend Thierry and his girlfriend Angela to join the Archer family holiday. I’d suspected those two were going to get together, and they had. There had been a few fights, with Thierry demanding Angela quit her job as an escort and Angela telling Thierry that he couldn’t tell her what to do. Ultimately, she did quit—though she declared it was because she was done and not because the man she was in love with asked her to. I think the truth was somewhere in between.

Angela and Thierry were talking to Moana, who was a lawyer and had, incidentally, worked as an escort to pay for school. Damian and Duncan knew Moana better than I did—but she settled in like she’d always been part of the family.

I watched Solène leave her cousin and run up to Elika who wrapped her into a hug. My niece was talking up a storm, and my girlfriend listened intently with a soft smile on her face.

‘Are you dreaming about having babies with her?’ Dante, who’d joined us, asked as he settled into the lounger next to me.

‘We have time.’ There was such luxury in saying those words because fuck, yeah, we had all the time in the world. We’d just started dating, but we weren’t starting from scratch; we were starting from a place of positivity—because we already knew how to deal with conflict between us and how to talk about issues as and when they arose.

All relationships were different.

Damian and Emilia bickered—that was their foreplay.

Duncan worshipped Elsa, who would bend over backward to take care of her husband.

Thierry and Angela were playful.

‘Speaking of time, I’m running out,’ Dante declared.

‘So, you’re marrying this Italian village belle?’

‘He’s dying, Dean.’ There was a wealth of sadness in Dante’s voice. He loved his grandfather, who had all but raised him because Dante’s father was an asshole who should’ve been neutered—instead, he had three children with three different women.

I patted his shoulder. ‘Why don’t you meet this woman?’

Dante nodded. ‘I go back in a couple of days. We’ll see what happens. Now, let’s forget all the serious talk, si?’ He rose and picked up his surfboard. ‘I’m going to hit some waves.’

I watched him walk toward the beach, not sure how to help him, considering the situation he was in.

Elika’s bright laugh distracted me from my friend. She was tickling Solène, and it was fucking adorable how those two got along. Solène called Elika tatie, auntie in French.

She looked so natural, so right. Like she’d been a part of our family all along.

Damian wandered over, his glass in hand, a grin on his face. ‘Not bad, huh?’ he said, gesturing to the surrounding scene. ‘Who knew we could get the whole crew together without someone losing their mind.’

‘Give it time,’ I smirked. ‘The week’s not over yet.’

He chuckled, shaking his head. ‘True. However, with Moana here, things might actually get interesting. You know, she and Emilia love a bit of chaos.’

‘Moana?’ I raised an eyebrow. ‘Didn’t think she was the family gathering type.’

Damian shrugged, taking a sip from his drink. ‘Took some convincing. Between Emilia and her, I get a complex for having family money. They look down on me, calling me an entitled asshole.’

‘I’ve heard that one before,’ I submitted. ‘Elika isn’t enamored by our wealth.’

‘It would suck if our women wanted to be with us because of the money.’

‘Yeah, it would,’ I agreed as I watched Elika wiping her legs with a towel, and move over to the shaded seating area. She caught my eye, smiled, and I felt that familiar tug deep in my chest.

Dad strolled over, cigar in hand. ‘I made an offer on the house. Do you think Elika will move in here with you? Or will she make you stay in her cottage?’

Damian sighed. ‘Emilia made me move into her fucking small studio apartment. My advice is, Dean, don’t do it. It took me forever to get us out of there when she was pregnant with Leo.’

‘I’m working on it.’

Dad grinned. ‘I love how these women have you by the short and curlies.’

‘Please,’ I mocked, “you’re married to Marcella Archer.’

‘Yes, I am.‘

Dad left us to go to Mom.

‘I always wanted to be a couple like them until I realized I am not Dad,’ I told Damian.

‘Me too,’ Damian admitted. ‘Working around the clock together is right for them. I need time away from work. I didn’t even know that until Emilia.’

We watched for a moment as Elika leaned over to help Solène with something, her easy smile pulling a laugh out of my niece.

Fuck, but I was gone for this woman!

Mom and Dad joined Elika. There was no awkwardness, no distance between them. They all got along like a house on fire.

Damian smirked. ‘Looks like you’re not the only one she’s charmed.’

‘Yeah,’ I murmured, taking a sip of my cocktail.

‘Maybe she’s the one who’s gonna keep you grounded,’ Damian said with a half-smile, and then swore, ‘Leo, fucking hell, kid.’

‘Stop with the foul language in front of my son,’ Emilia cried out.

They both converged on Leo, who was attempting to jump into the deep end of the pool without an ounce of fear.

I was about to join Leo in the pool when the housekeeper Dad had hired rushed to me.

‘There’s someone here to see Elika,’ Momi told me. ‘That someone,’ her voice dropped, ‘is Sam Thatcher.’

Since the island was a fucking village, Momi knew Elika and her history. Momi used to work at Hale Moana before she started to freelance and stayed as a housekeeper in holiday houses such as the one we were in.

‘I put him in the lounge. I think you should deal with him,’ she suggested.

I ran a hand over the back of my neck. ‘Yeah.’

‘He tried to put her in jail. That was not okay.’

Everyone knew what Felicity had done, and since Elika was considered a local, unlike the Thatchers, everyone on the island was Team Elika.

A part of me wanted to protect Elika, but I knew that wasn’t the way. I went to her and slid an arm around her waist. She was in her one-piece swimsuit and looked fantastic.

‘Sam is here. He wants to talk to you,’ I kept my voice low. ‘I can handle him.’

She seemed calm when she said, ‘No. I got this.’

‘You sure?’

She smiled and patted my cheek. ‘I’m one tough titah; no one messes with me.’

Titah, I had learned, was Hawaiian slang for a badass woman.

She slipped on a pair of denim shorts and her flip-flops, before heading inside.

Damian looked at me, and I nodded, tacitly asking him to follow. I had a suspicion I knew why Sam was here—he was probably on the same mission his daughter had been on when she insisted we meet.

By the time I reached the lounge, Elika and Sam were seated on comfortable sofas across from one another.

‘I wanted to tell you how sorry I was for what happened,’ he said.

‘It didn’t happen, Uncle Sam, Felicity, and Ginny orchestrated it. They hired someone to frame me. I know you made the police drop charges against them, and I didn’t pursue legal action against them, but it doesn’t change the facts.’

A few months ago, Elika would have accepted his apology, smiled, and sucked it up. Now, she wasn’t ready to roll over. I was thrilled to see that.

I leaned against the doorway, my arms crossed. Sam nodded at me. I didn’t bother to respond.

Sam was weak. I preferred a bad man over a weak one because at least with a bad man, you knew where he stood. Sam, on the other hand, would shift his allegiances and tactics based on whatever was easiest. He didn’t have the courage of his convictions—or many convictions to begin with.

‘I know, Elika. I know what they did was wrong.‘

‘It’s just taken you five weeks to come and say that to me?’ Elika’s tone was hard.

Sam looked surprised. I imagined he’d gotten so used to Elika’s grace and kindness that he didn’t know she had an iron will.

‘I am sorry, Elika. I really am. For everything.’

‘Is that it?’ she asked in a take-no-prisoners tone. Fuck, but she was making me hard with how much of a titah she was being.

Sam swallowed. ‘Look, I know you’re angry and⁠—’

‘I’m way past that, Uncle Sam. I’m past sad that you abandoned your family—that would be Noe and me. I’m past that you allowed your wife and daughter to treat me like dirt. I’m past you never defending me. I’m past caring that you’re here.’

You could knock Sam down with a feather. He hadn’t expected this.

‘I understand.’ He looked uncomfortable as hell. ‘I wouldn’t be here except…I mean, I would be here to see you and…well, apologize, but…,’ he paused and then cleared his throat, ‘I need you to help me with Damian. He’s pulling out of deals with us and making others do it as well. It’s going to destroy us, Elika.’

Elika frowned. ‘Dean’s brother? I don’t know him. I just met him for the first time yesterday evening when he got here.’

Sam looked desperate. ‘I know he’s doing this because of what went down with the accusations…of you stealing jewelry⁠—’

‘False, made-up accusations, you mean?’

She wasn’t going to give an inch, I thought, enjoying myself.

‘Look, Elika, for the sake of family. Please, you have to talk to the Archers and make Damian stop this vendetta against us. I’ve made mistakes, but I can’t lose everything over a misunderstanding. Please.’

I clenched my jaw, my hands tightening into fists at my sides. Emotional blackmail. That’s what this was. He wasn’t here to make amends; he was here to use her. To manipulate her, use her kindness. He knew exactly what he was doing.

I could see Elika’s shoulders stiffen. She was quiet for a moment, and I knew she was weighing everything, trying to find some way to make peace. She always did. But there was no peace to be made here. Not really.

‘You calling what your wife and daughter did a misunderstanding is insulting,’ Elika informed Sam. ‘But I will talk to Damian.’

‘Like hell, she will,’ I heard Damian’s low growl from behind me. ‘Your woman is too nice.’

Tell me about it!

Sam’s sigh of relief made my blood boil. ‘Thank you, Elika. Please know that I feel really bad about everything.’

She sighed, shaking her head. ‘You came here to get me to fix whatever is going on between you and the Archers. You wouldn’t be here if that wasn’t the case, would you?’

Sam looked at her uneasily. ‘Of course, I would.’ The lie was so blatant it made me sick.

Elika rose. ‘Please leave, Uncle Sam, and…don’t get in touch with me ever again. If you see me anywhere, just ignore me. Since Dante Giordano banned you from his resort, I’m sure our paths will seldom cross.’

Sam looked small—like the man he was. The fact that I’d ever thought he was one of the good guys told me a lot about my poor judgment.

They said their goodbyes, not reconciled but civil. When she walked back inside, her face was drawn and tired. She looked up to see Damian and me in the lounge.

‘Are you doing something to Uncle Sam’s business?’ she asked Damian.

He nodded. ‘Yeah, I’m making Thatcher Consulting unemployable.’

She licked her lips and looked at me apologetically. She then faced Damian. ‘Can you…he’s still my uncle, you know?’

‘I do know.’ Damian wasn’t one to budge easily.

‘What is it that you want him to do, baby?’ I softened my voice and sidled up to her, putting an arm around her, wanting her to know I supported her.

‘Ah…I know you don’t have to listen to me,’ she began, her voice tentative but steady, ‘but can you not destroy his business? He’s still my family.’

Damian shrugged. ‘Sure. If that’s what you want.’

Elika sagged in relief. ‘Really?’

‘I was doing it because they fucked with you. But if you’re fine with it—then I’ll be, too.’

She gave my brother a hug, and a kiss on his cheek. ‘Thank you.’

‘You’re family, Elika; you don’t have to thank me.’

Elika all but skipped back to the pool. I watched her go, then turned my attention to Damian.

I lowered my voice. ‘What the fuck was that?’

‘That was me telling your woman that I’ll do as she asked.’

‘Will you?’

Damian smirked. ‘Of course not. Sam’s dug his own grave. I’m just humoring her. Let her feel like she sorted it out for that asshole, no harm in that.’ He chuckled smugly. ‘Thatcher’s going down. It’s only a matter of time. And when it happens, they won’t be playing in the art world—or any world, for that matter.’

I let out a slow breath, a part of me relieved that Damian wasn’t backing down, even though Elika had asked him to be considerate. Sam didn’t deserve leniency, not after everything he’d done.

‘Good.’

‘And when she finds out and wants my balls, you’re gonna make sure she doesn’t get them, right?’

I shrugged. ‘Hey, I’ll do what I can, but she’s a badass titah, so, you may be on your own.’

‘Asshole,’ Damian muttered.

‘Yep,’ I agreed with him.