Mason

LAUREN

It was four hours later when Athena finally called me. By then, I’d completely forgotten about our plans to meet up and chat.

She’d left work early and suggested we hit a bar.

I agreed, but I was a bundle of nerves. It was silly, really. Athena was my friend. There was no reason to be nervous.

The problem was, I didn’t know whether to tell her the truth or stick to the lies we’d been telling everyone else.

With anyone else, I’d be sure they didn’t know about our contract. But Athena was Mason’s family.

If I lied to her and she already knew the truth, she’d never trust me again.

She was already seated at a table in the back when I arrived.

“Am I late?”

“Nope, I’m just early,” Athena replied, stretching her legs out in front of her and raising an eyebrow at the empty chair across from her.

“What are you drinking?” I asked, pointing to the purple concoction she was sipping. “Is it as good as it looks?”

“Absolutely.” She flagged down a waiter and ordered the same drink for me.

Athena put her drink down and looked at me. Was she trying to read something in my face? Why else would she be staring at me like that?

“So…you and Mason…” She let her words hang in the air, a thoughtful look on her face.

“I know, right? It all happened so fast.”

I decided to stick with the lie, hoping I didn’t look as guilty as I felt.

“Oh really?” she asked, a faint smile playing on her lips as she took another sip of her drink.

“So, how did it start?”

I told her the same story I’d told Beth’s mom. The only problem was, this time I didn’t even convince myself.

With each word, Athena’s eyebrows drew closer together.

“Oh really? That sounds romantic. Speaking of romance, where did he take you on your first date? I hope it was that restaurant on Elm street. Mason always wanted to have a first date there.”

“Yep, that’s the one.” I grinned, agreeing to something I didn’t even know existed until now.

Was there really a restaurant on Elm street?

I was sure I’d been down that street many times and never seen a restaurant.

“What did you guys eat?”

“Shrimp,” I blurted out without thinking.

She frowned. “But I thought he hated seafood.”

I looked at her puzzled face and laughed nervously, mentally kicking myself for being so careless.

“I ate shrimp alone, and he had a salad.”

Lying to Beth’s mom had been easy, but Athena’s relentless questions made it much harder.

I felt like I was being interrogated and I was woefully unprepared.

She stared at me for a moment before bursting into laughter. When she finally stopped, she wiped a tear from under her eye.

“You’re the worst liar ever, and by the way, there is no restaurant on Elm street. I was testing you and you fell for it.”

I could only imagine how red my face was. If only I could see my reflection in the window.

“Damn, I knew you were onto me.”

“Tell me what’s going on. Is Mason blackmailing you? Is that why you agreed to marry him?”

It wasn’t exactly blackmail; we were just two people helping each other out.

“Of course not,” I replied, trying to sound light-hearted.

“Do I look like the kind of woman that gets blackmailed easily?”

Yes.

“Then why are you two getting married?” she asked, her voice a mix of confusion and annoyance—probably annoyed she couldn’t figure out the reason.

A frown appeared on her face, and Athena pinched her eyebrow and watched me.

“You have to understand my curiosity and confusion, Lauren. Mason hates women and he would never think about getting married to anyone.”

I knew for a fact he hated women because he’d been upfront about it. Why, I didn’t know. He seemed like someone who’d been hurt and had his heart broken by a woman.

But then I remembered this was Mason we were talking about. I laughed and shrugged off that ridiculous theory.

“I feel like I should tell you, but then the two of us will have to face him. You should talk to him. I’m sorry, but I really can’t even if I wanted to.”

She nodded in understanding. At least, she really tried.

Who else would understand my situation better than Mason’s aunt? She knew who he was, and what he was capable of. Defy him and you’d feel his wrath.

“He has you in some kind of a hold,” she noted.

“Yes, but between you and me, this marriage won’t last two years.”

She giggled. “I won’t be shocked. But I have to warn you about what you’re getting yourself into.”

“I already know the kind of man Mason is. You think I’m not prepared?”

Athena shook her head. “I’m not talking about Mason,” she answered, then paused, taking her time to sip her drink.

“I’m talking about his family. If you think Mason is bad, wait until you meet them.”

My eyes widened.

I hadn’t even considered his family. If they were as bad as Mason, or worse as Athena was suggesting, I wanted to run and hide.

But that wasn’t an option.

“What are they like?” I asked, hoping my voice didn’t sound as weak as I felt.

“His dad is a controlling jerk, his cousins are even worse. His sisters are total bitches and will probably skin you alive. My sister is the worst.”

“She’s a stone-cold bitch who will definitely bury you alive with her icy stare and harsh words.”

I realized she was talking about his mother, and nothing she said made me feel any better.

In fact, my anxiety spiked to the point where I thought I might throw up.

“But this is only me saying it in a nice way,” she added, finishing her drink.

“Damn, I think I need something stronger,” I muttered.

She chuckled at my expense and ordered a bottle of Jack Daniels. I didn’t hesitate to down a shot, feeling the burn in my throat.

“Ease up, Lauren, you look like you’re about to have a panic attack.”

I shot her a pointed look. “Well, sorry if I’m trying to process this unexpected news.”

“What were you expecting? Rainbows and unicorns? Reality check: rich families aren’t like normal families. They’re awful, manipulative people.”

“Is that why Mason is the way he is? Because he couldn’t help it, growing up in such a toxic environment?” I was starting to feel for him.

All this time, I’d thought he was acting out of choice, because he could. But to think he’d spent his whole life around people like that, it was heartbreaking.

Athena laughed again. It seemed to be her default response.

“Don’t be naive. No one can change you but yourself, Lauren.”

“Look, the only time you might even meet the Campbells would be at the wedding, and you might not notice their nonsense when you’re too busy being a newlywed. So, chill out.”

“When you say that and include newlywed in it, my nerves aren’t exactly calming.” I exhaled deeply.

“So, tell me. Who’s going to hate me the most?”

I really hoped she’d say none, but the odds of that were slim. I needed to know who to avoid.

“All of them.”

“What?”

“All of them.” Seeing my confusion, she repeated.

“I said all of them. I’m trying to make it one word so I don’t have to choose, because everyone might possibly hate you. You’re dating Mason, after all. He’s the golden boy of the family.”

I could feel my eyes widening. “I really hate it when you give me the harsh truth.”

“You can only get it from me. I won’t sugarcoat anything,” she declared, looking incredibly satisfied.

“Are you close to your family?” I decided to dig a little, trying to get to know her better, but really, I wanted to distract myself from the fact that Mason’s family might hate me.

I wanted to share my worries with him in hopes that he might call off the wedding, but I knew Mason wouldn’t care.

I could hear his annoying voice in my head saying, “Being an adult means being able to handle criticism. But if you want to take the coward’s way out, that’s on you.”

“You mean Mason’s family?”

I nodded, noting how she referred to them as his family, not hers.

Athena shrugged. “I mean, they’re no walk in the park, but we tolerate each other. It’s mostly the women you need to watch out for.”

“I know. It’s always the women that are the hardest.”

“Yeah, when we sense a threat, we strike first. Speaking of striking, can we have lunch tomorrow? I want to know more about my future niece.”

I cringed and made a face.

“Please, never say that word again.”

Athena raised an eyebrow and looked amused. “You don’t want this, do you?”

“I do want it.”

She tried to read my eyes, but I became suddenly interested in the bottle in front of her.

“He offered you something,” she finally said, figuring it out. “Something you couldn’t refuse. He’s really good at making deals.”

I grunted in agreement. That much was true.

There had been countless times when I’d watched Mason give one of his business associates or rivals a choice, a tough one they couldn’t refuse even though the odds weren’t in their favor.

Like when he gave Connor Julian a choice to either let him buy his company and still be the CEO, or watch it crumble.

At the time, I’d been really disappointed in Connor Julian for selling the company he’d built from scratch.

And then, when I accepted Mason’s deal with me, I realized it had been a good deal for Julian. I was doing the same thing he had done. For something we both loved.

“But sometimes, it’s good to walk away from it. Even if it’s a good deal.”

The warning was clear in her voice. I smiled at her, determined to act as normal as possible.

“There’s a saying in my book, Lauren, that you can’t always trust the words of a man with power, tattoos, and, oh yeah, arrogant people.”

“So basically Mason then.”

“Especially my nephew. You don’t trust him.”

“Wait…tattoos! Mason doesn’t have any.”

“Mmh.” She sipped on her drink with a smirk.

My eyes widened. “Shit, where? Mr. I’m-so-perfect-and-better-than-everyone has branded himself?” I chuckled. “I can’t believe this. You have to tell me where he has the tattoo, Athena.”

“You can see it when you get married.”

“You honestly suck so much.”

“I’m the best.”

I couldn’t stop thinking about Mason’s tattoo and what kind it was, and where it was. This sudden obsession to know had me brainstorming ways to see it.

If I asked outright, I’d probably lose my head. And I knew there was no way Mason would want to be around me after the wedding.

Could his tattoo have some meaning?

Was it big?

Was it small?

This was really bugging me.

Damn Athena for bringing this up.

I’d never been this obsessed about anything…but when it came to Mason, I felt the need to know.

And if it killed me, I was going to find out.