Wanted: Wife for Hire (The Diamond Club Book 8)

by Elizabeth Lennox

  As he spoke, he handed her a sheaf of papers. Deni realized that it was a contract. How in the world had the man created a contract in only a few hours?! She skimmed through the pages, surprised by the terms.

  In addition to paying off her father’s debt, Sebastian Hughes would give her an allowance of forty thousand dollars a month. Forty thousand? Dollars?! For what? What in the world would she do with that kind of money?

  The next clause almost caused her to laugh out loud. She couldn’t have sexual relations with men outside of the marriage. Like she was going to have sexual relations with a man inside of the marriage? She glanced at Sebastian Hughes. The man was tall and handsome and, she suspected that there were some pretty nice muscles under that expensive suit. But sex? With him? How did one have sex with an iceberg?

  Moving on, she noticed other clauses about presenting a united front to the judge. Gaining custody of Chloe Hughes. A full time nanny took care of Chloe, but Deni couldn’t do anything that would cause Chloe to think that their marriage was anything other than a solid relationship. How was Deni supposed to convince a five year old that she was in love with the poor girl’s father?

  Another glance at the man and Deni was startled to realize that he had finished his call and was watching her. More specifically, he was admiring her legs. Uncrossing them, she stood up and cleared her throat. “I’ll take this home and get my lawyer to review it. Give me a week and…”

  “I don’t have a week,” he snapped. He lifted his phone and dialed another number. “Jason, I need you to look over a contract. I’m not the client, a Deni Stenson is. She’ll be at your office in,” he checked his watch. “Twenty minutes.”

  And he hung up. Had the other lawyer agreed to the meeting?

  “Here’s your lawyer’s address.” He wrote something down, then handed her the slip of paper. “He’s expecting you.”

  She took the paper, frowning down at the address. “This is your lawyer.”

  “No. My lawyer is different. I’ll pay this man’s fees, but I need this deal finalized tonight. I have Judge Miller prepared to perform the ceremony in a couple of days.”

  Deni struggled to keep up. It was all happening so fast. “This weekend?”

  “Yes. As you read through the contract, you’ll notice that I have a court date next week and that you may not discuss this with anyone. My ex-wife doesn’t know about our agreement yet, but I’m petitioning the courts for full custody of my child.”

  “But…why so fast?” Deni asked, trying to choke down her sudden panic.

  “Because my daughter is in pain!” he snapped harshly.

  Deni had been looking at the paper again, but at the normally staid, controlled man’s outburst, she looked at him. In that instant, she saw the flash of pain, the look of panic in his eyes. He quickly controlled it, hiding it away. But that one moment, that small window of emotion, hit her like a ton of bricks.

  Too often, her friends had told her that she was too soft. Too emotional. But Deni knew that emotions weren’t a bad thing. In this case, they might be, but she couldn’t turn her back on anyone in pain. And this man might be playing her, but that pain had been real.

  “I’ll call you tonight after meeting with my lawyer,” she agreed softly and turned around, walking out of his office.

  Nineteen minutes later, she sat down in the office of an older but handsome lawyer whose sharp, dark eyes skimmed through the contract.

  Every few moments, he’d look up.

  “You know that you can’t have sex with anyone for the next year, right?”

  Deni shifted uncomfortably. “Um…that’s not an issue.”

  “A year,” he emphasized.

  The horror in the man’s eyes caused a bubble of laughter to burst from her. “I don’t think there’s a single recorded instance of a human being dying from sexual frustration,” she pointed out.

  He mumbled something along the lines of, “They wouldn’t record it like that,” but went back to the papers. “The allowance is generous. But I can get you more if…”

  “I don’t need an allowance,” she stated firmly. “That clause needs to come out.”

  The man, Jason something or other, shook his head. “No,” he retorted and kept on reading.

  “Seriously, I don’t…”

  Without looking up, he said, “Ms. Stenson, you’re about to marry one of the wealthiest men in the country, possibly the world. He can afford forty thousand dollars each month. Take the money and enjoy it.” And he kept on reading.

  A moment later, he tapped his pen against the document. “There’s a morals and indecency clause. If you do anything that Sebastian thinks is indecent or immoral, you will owe him the full five hundred thousand dollars, every monthly allowance he paid you, plus interest and fines, to be determined by the courts.” He pulled his glasses off and stared at Deni. “That’s a huge amount of money. I think it should be deleted, but I doubt that I can do it. I’m a damn good lawyer, but this entire contract is set up to ensure that Sebastian gets custody of his daughter. I doubt I could get it taken out.”

  Deni had no idea. “What would constitute a violation of that clause?”

  He shrugged. “Having sex with another man. Or woman.”

  Deni laughed, she couldn’t help it. “Um…that’s not going to be a problem.”

  The lawyer sighed, and slipped his glasses back on. “Everything else in this contract is set to benefit you. The only issue is that morals and indecency clause.” He turned and tossed the contract onto his desk. “And you’d have to be married to the man for a full twelve month time period after he gains custody of his child. There’s also gag language.”

  “What’s that?”

  “If you discuss the terms of this contract with anyone besides myself or Sebastian, then you owe all the money back.”

  “Plus interest.”

  “Exactly,” the lawyer confirmed.

  She waved her hand dismissively. “Trust me, I don’t want anyone else to know about this contract. I won’t be revealing anything to anyone.”

  He tilted his head. “You must really need the money,” he commented.

  Deni squirmed. “Yes, well…” What could she say? “Is there anything in that contract, other than the morals and decency clause, that I should object to?”

  “Nope. It’s shockingly fair. I’ve always thought of Sebastian as a real bastard, tougher than the toughest negotiator. But this contract gives you a lot and all he gets in return is your fidelity.”

  “Then I should sign it?”

  “Depends.”

  “On?” she prompted.

  He sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose. “On whether you’re willing to marry a man for money.”

  She thought about it for a long moment. Then the image of her father, beaten down and ashamed, came back to her. “Yes. Yes, I am,” she decided and took the contract. “Thank you very much for your time and expertise,” she said, extending her hand.

  He shook it and, it occurred to her in that moment that this was a scary man. But for some reason, he didn’t intimidate her. Also, she didn’t feel that same, scary heat when he enveloped her hand in his bigger one. Odd, she thought.

  “Good luck, Deni,” Jason said as he shook her hand. “If there’s anything more I can do for you, don’t hesitate to call me.”

  She nodded and smiled. “Thank you.”

  Looking around on her way out, she noticed that the area was still bustling with people. It was seven o’clock at night and the employees all looked to be ready for another shift.

  She tucked the contract into the file folder and then into her purse, thinking that this was a strange world.

  Chapter 4

  Deni stood in the beautiful white suit, her hand warm and secure in Sebastian Hughes’ as the judge asked if she vowed to honor and obey. There was no mention of love, she realized. And obey? Deni had thought that the word had been banished from wedding ceremonies. Apparently not.

  “I d
o,” she replied, cringing because she had no plans to obey the man if he told her to do something unethical. She just had to trust that he wouldn’t. A scary thought, but she pushed it out of her mind. No way was she doing anything unethical for this man...other than marrying him for his money. But…was that different? Did she have grounds to be righteous?

  Not really, she thought, shifting in her kitten heels slightly. She hadn’t intended to dress for the wedding. But the beautiful suit had appeared by messenger that morning and…well, if he wanted her to wear a white suit, Deni wasn’t going to argue. At least it wasn’t a full, huge white gown with tons of tulle. That was her dream wedding dress. And since this wasn’t her dream wedding, and Sebastian Hughes was as far from being her dream husband as one could possibly get, she wore the stupid suit.

  “And do you, Sebastian Avery Hughes, promise to honor and obey Deni?”

  Those grey eyes locked onto hers. Was that a moment of amusement glowing in his eyes? Deni thought she was seeing things. But then she felt his fingers squeeze hers slightly. “I do,” he replied in a firm voice.

  There were some other comments, but Deni didn’t hear them. She was too busy staring up at the man about to become her husband. Why was she here? And why in the world had she dressed in this suit? It was beautiful, more sophisticated than anything she owned, but it was white. This wasn’t a real marriage. Why the sham?

  Then she remembered the clause that stated no one was to know about the terms of the contract. Apparently, they needed to pretend that this was real in all ways. Very odd, she thought, not for the first time. That seemed to be a recurring theme over the past two days and she suspected that it was only going to get worse.

  A cold metal band slipped onto her finger. Looking down, she gasped quietly at the shockingly beautiful diamond band that he’d slid into place. Immediately, Deni wanted to pull it off, nervous about having such expensive jewelry on her finger. He must have understood her reaction, because his hand tightened on hers, silently telling her to hold off on commenting.

  The attendant handed her another ring and she looked at it, almost laughing when she saw the simple platinum band. But she dutifully slid the sedate ring onto his finger, then looked up into his eyes once more. She was laughing, but doubted he understood why she was amused.

  Regardless of the disparity in their wedding bands, she took a deep breath and turned to face the judge.

  “I now pronounce you husband and wife.” He beamed as if he’d just accomplished a miracle. Opening his arms wide, he continued, “You may now kiss the bride.”

  Kiss? Deni turned, panic in her eyes. No kissing, she thought. The contract hadn’t stated anything about kissing. Only…

  And then he kissed her. Just a soft brush of his lips against hers. But…wow! The tingling that the gentle brush left behind was…disconcerting.

  It was all over moments later. She forced her lips into a smile when the judge congratulated her. She smiled when the other attendants, all employees of the court, congratulated her. Deni even smiled as she signed the marriage license.

  But the whole time, she was quaking inside. Quaking in reaction to that kiss. It had been so startling. So disconcerting. So…strange!

  With the formalities over, Sebastian turned and took her hand. “We have plans,” he murmured and tucked her arm onto his elbow.

  She let him lead her out of the courthouse and into a waiting limousine. There was a bottle of chilled champagne and Deni thought that it was a sweet gesture, although completely unnecessary.

  “My chauffer seems to have a bit of a romantic side to him,” Sebastian commented, dismissing the champagne as Deni tried to hide her disappointment. So much for the sweet gesture, she thought in resignation.

  A moment later, he made a phone call. “Yes, deposit the money and send her confirmation when it is done.”

  A moment later, there was an awkward silence as the driver pulled away from the curb and Deni felt…cheap. The transfer was the money to pay off her father’s mortgage. She’d just sold herself to a man to help her father from going to a loan shark. Lovely. Her life had just been reduced to a business transaction.

  “No reason for regrets already,” Sebastian said sharply. “You went into this agreement with your eyes wide open.”

  Deni knew he was right, but she hadn’t realized she’d feel like this. Cheap. Trashy.

  “We’re dining at my house tonight. With Chloe.”

  The reminder of the child sparked something deep inside of her. It soothed her. Reminded her that she’d done this for good reasons. Turning her head, she looked at the man. “Can you tell me about her?”

  Sebastian couldn’t hide the surprise when he looked over at his ‘wife’. She wanted to know about Chloe? The idea seemed preposterous, but those green eyes of hers appeared sincere.

  Unfortunately, after Meredith’s unpleasant tutelage, he’d learned not to trust women. They were vicious, cruel, and heartless. Meredith had dumped Chloe off this morning, saying that she was on her way to Paris. How his ex-wife was going to get to Paris and back by their Tuesday court appearance, he wasn’t sure. He’d been to Paris with the woman. Sebastian knew that Meredith lost herself in her shopping sprees. The woman could shop more than anyone else he knew.

  Besides, she had a fresh stash of money in the form of Chloe’s child support payment, which had been deposited right on time, as usual.

  “She’s five years old, correct?”

  Sebastian nodded. “Yes. She’s five and very impressionable. We have a court appearance on Tuesday morning at nine o’clock.” His eyes skimmed over the white suit, trying to hide the expression of disapproval. Deni looked exceptionally good in white. Almost innocent, he thought. If he hadn’t just deposited half a million dollars into her account for her fifteen minute performance at the courthouse, he might even think that the woman looked beautiful. The terms enticing and alluring popped into his mind, but he quickly dismissed them.

  Focusing on his daughter’s plight and the court issues, he stared straight ahead. “Chloe has been through hell while living with her mother. The court appearance is to petition for full custody. But my ex-wife loves the child support payments as well as the court ordered requirement that I maintain her household and the staff. So, she’ll fight tooth and nail to keep Chloe.”

  “Does Chloe look more like you or your wife?” Deni asked.

  He gritted his teeth against wanting to believe that she genuinely cared. Deni Stenson didn’t care. This was all just more of a performance and Sebastian had endured enough performances from his ex-wife.

  Even so, Sebastian thought that it might be a good idea to answer a few of Deni’s less prying questions. “She looks like me.” In fact, he’d had a DNA test done, just to confirm that Chloe was his child. He’d suspected Meredith had been cheating on him long before he’d had actual evidence of her perfidy. He had pictures, but hadn’t used them. Not until Chloe was safely in his house.

  “She has my eyes and Meredith’s hair color.” He looked out the window, thinking about his little girl. She was so precious and so scared. “She’s…She’s been through enough. You will not manipulate her affections to get more money from me. Is that understood?”

  He watched as the woman shrank back into the leather seat. Good, he thought. He wanted control in this relationship. Meredith had done enough harm to Chloe. He had to get his daughter back, to help her recover. And he had to protect Chloe from anyone else who might harm her. Once he had her safely back in his house, he’d help her grow into a strong, confident child again. But until then, he had to tread lightly.

  Chapter 5

  Sebastian’s house was monstrously huge and located in the center of the city. Three stories of elaborate, intimidating magnificence. Each room had been decorated with elegance in mind, forgoing comfort in many cases.

  He’d left her in the foyer with a cryptic, “Have a look around and choose a bedroom. You can have any bedroom to the left of the staircase.” And
then he was gone.

  The housekeeper, a friendly woman by the name of Debbie, showed her around. “Mr. Hughes is probably with his daughter now,” she said as they made their way up the grand staircase. “He dotes on that child!” she continued. “Goodness, I’ve never seen a man more gentle with his daughter than that man,” she laughed.

  Deni chose one of the smaller rooms towards the end of the hallway. The room obviously hadn’t been used in years. The furniture was still covered with the huge, white sheets that kept the dust off. After Debbie had left her, telling Deni that her luggage would be brought to her room, Deni had explored the house. There were twenty bedrooms in the house. Twenty! Most of them were still covered with the dustsheets. What did the man do with twenty bedrooms?

  In addition, there were four formal living rooms, a massive kitchen that seemed bigger than a restaurant could need, a dining room with a table large enough to seat thirty people, a music room, a conservatory filled with so many plants she couldn’t even name half of them, a ballroom…literally, a room with a wood parquet floor that looked like an old-fashioned ballroom with no other furniture in it other than the massive fireplace flanked by double, glass doors and chandeliers that would have done Versailles proud. On the lower floors, there was a gym with every conceivable piece of exercise equipment, a sauna, hot tub and, when she turned the corner, she found an indoor pool. A HUGE indoor pool!

  When Desi stepped outside, she discovered an elaborate maze made out of boxwood hedges, a formal garden, an outside pool, and a stone patio that ran the length of the house. Everything was on a massive, formal scale and Deni was more intimidated now than when she’d sat in his office.

  The house was a veritable palace! Who would have known that such an elaborate residence was hiding behind the trees?

  Yet, for all of its pristine elegance, Deni absolutely hated the house. It was cold and impersonal, making her feel like she was in a museum. The grand staircase had a beautiful curved wooden bannister, but the thought of sliding down that staircase was…well, one just wouldn’t do something so outrageous. Especially because there was a massive round table at the bottom with a huge bouquet of fresh flowers in the center. Sliding down the bannister might result in crashing into that table. And the crystal vase those flowers were in probably cost more than her annual salary!