Tangled Vows
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Yvonne Lindsay
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One
“There’s been a terrible mistake.”
Yasmin Carter froze—poised in her wedding finery at the end of the royal blue carpet leading to the altar. She stared at the man who had just turned to face her. Ilya Horvath, heir apparent to the Horvath empire, CEO of her biggest business rival.
Her groom. The one she was meeting for the first time today.
Her eyes skimmed the small gathering of guests flanking the aisle. Their expressions registered varying degrees of dismay and shock at her words. She forced her gaze back toward Ilya. He did not look surprised...or amused. In fact, he looked annoyed.
Well, that was fine with her. She was pretty annoyed, too, right now, and she’d tell the Match Made in Marriage people at the first opportunity. When her office manager, Riya, had brought the matchmaking business to her attention, it had appeared to be a solution to her current business woes. Cost aside, she had stood to gain more if she went through the type of arranged marriage at first sight offered by Match Made in Marriage than if she remained single. She’d endured the psychometric testing and the interviews with the end goal in mind—securing an exclusive deal to handle Hardacre Incorporated’s corporate and family travel for the next five years. The company was a well-known motivational and business coaching enterprise that worked all over the country. That agreement was the golden treasure that would pull her small charter airline out of the red and back into the black—so she’d signed the detailed contract that stipulated she must stay married to her stranger-husband for at least three months without a second thought. But contract or no contract, this wedding simply could not happen.
She should never have entered into this ridiculous scheme to save her business, but her inside source had warned her that the owner’s wife would never allow her husband to do business on a regular basis with a beautiful, young, unmarried woman. Wallace Hardacre had a wandering eye but was known to leave married women alone.
It had seemed so simple. To seal the deal, she needed to be married. She knew she had everyone else’s quotes beaten on price. And it wasn’t as if she didn’t want to marry Mr. Right someday. She absolutely did. It was just that with running the company and all the hours that took, she didn’t have time to form quality relationships with men.
Her gaze caught and meshed with Ilya’s for just a moment and a shiver ran through her. Not of apprehension, exactly—something more primitive than that. But it was enough for her to be certain that this whole thing had been a mistake from the start.
Ilya Horvath might look as though he’d stepped from the pages of GQ but there was no way she could consider marrying him.
Physically, of course, he was perfect. Tall, with broad shoulders filling out his suit to perfection and a light beard wreathing his jaw, he was—in a word—gorgeous. Attraction rippled through Yasmin’s body, making the corset beneath her strapless bodice suddenly feel a hundred times tighter than when Riya had hooked her into it this morning. Yasmin clamped down on the sensation and forced herself to take a breath, reminding herself that mentally, emotionally, socially and fiscally he was all wrong for her. No, she couldn’t do this to her late granddad’s memory—not to the man who’d taken her in and raised her when her parents had dumped her on him so they could continue to pursue their adventures rather than face up to adulthood and responsibility. She couldn’t marry the man whose own grandfather, her granddad’s best friend, had stolen and married the woman her grandfather loved. Attraction was all very well and good, but not when two families had been feuding for as long as theirs had.
“There’s definitely been a mistake,” she repeated, more firmly this time.
She bent and gathered the fullness of her layered organza gown, completed a swift one-eighty and exited the ballroom as fast as her feet, clad in intricately beaded slippers, would carry her. There was total silence for a few seconds, then the room broke out in a clatter of noise that followed her down the wide corridor.
Yasmin didn’t know which way to go as she headed into the resort’s foyer. To the elevators and back to the luxurious honeymoon suite where she’d gotten ready this morning or straight out the front door and hope there was a cab waiting there? It was a long way from here in Port Ludlow, Washington, to her home in California. The fare would be—
“Yasmin!” a woman called from behind her. “Please, wait. We need to talk.”
Yasmin turned to face the petite, elegant older woman now approaching her. Alice Horvath—the woman responsible for the bitter rivalry between the Carters and the Horvaths these past sixty-plus years.
“There’s nothing you can say that will make me change my mind,” Yasmin said firmly.
“Just give me a moment of your time.” Alice put a gentle hand on Yasmin’s arm. “Please? It’s important.”
“Look, I—”
“Perhaps up in your suite would be best, more private.” Alice began to steer Yasmin toward the elevators.
The adrenaline that had surged through Yasmin’s body at the sight of her intended groom began to abate, leaving a dragging lethargy in its wake.
“Fine, but you, of all people, should know you’re wasting your time if you’re going to try and persuade me to marry your grandson.”
The older woman gave her a sweet smile in response but said nothing as they rode the elevator up to the honeymoon suite. Yasmin was surprised when Alice produced a key card that opened the door.
“Forgive me the intrusion,” Alice said, closing the door behind them. “I was merely holding the key for Ilya until after the ceremony.”
Yasmin didn’t know what to say or where to look, so she opted to plunk herself down on one of the sofas in the sitting room. Alice gracefully seated herself opposite.
“You have a right to know what’s going on.”
Damn right she did. Yasmin tightly squeezed the bound stems of her bouquet of pale pink roses and gypsophila to stop the trembling that had begun in her fingers and now threatened to travel up her arms and take over her entire body.
“Let me be frank with you, my dear. When you applied to Match Made in Marriage I immediately knew you and my grandson were compatible. I didn’t need the specialist tests to assure me that you and Ilya would very much be a perfect match.”
“I beg your pardon? You work with Match Made in Marriage? Are you telling me that you make the matches?” Yasmin replied in stunned surprise.
“It’s not widely known, of course, and we do take the tests and interviews into consideration, but more as a confirmation that I’m on the right track with my couples. Trust me when I say I’ve always had a knack for these things. Once I retired from the family firm it was purely common sense to turn my little talent into a business. When my grandson told me he was ready to marry and settle down, it was only natural he would turn to me, but I didn’t expect to find the perfect match for him so promptly. I have to say, getting your application was quite the surprise.”
* * *
Alice Horvath looked at the beautiful but clearly confused and angry young woman sitting opposite her and wished things could have been different between their families. That the painful rift between best friends hadn’t formed when Jim Carter and Eduard Horvath both fell in love with her and, eventually, fallen out forever when she chose Eduard for her husband. But this was her chance to make things right—to heal the wounds of so long ago and to put this stupid feud to bed once and for all.
If only she could persuade Yasmin to go ahead with the wedding.
She drew in a breath and chose her words carefully. If there was anything this young woman seemed to have a grasp of, it was business. Oh, yes, Alice knew that Carter Air was struggling. She also knew that Yasmin, despite having come up with the hefty commitment fee, could not afford to break the terms of the marriage contract she’d signed or attempt to sue Match Made in Marriage to get out of it.
Alice sighed softly and composed herself.
“I repeat, matching you and Ilya is no mistake. The two of you are perfectly suited to each other and are fully compatible when it comes to your values and your hopes and dreams for the future. I have every faith that you belong together and that you could make a long and very satisfying marriage.”
“But—”
Alice raised a hand. “Please, allow me to finish. There comes a time when the past has to be put behind us so we can look to the future. This is your time. I know that there’s been a great deal of bitterness between our families, that your grandfather and my Eduard ceased to have a civil word to say to each other after...” Alice blinked away the emotion, the weakness she couldn’t afford to show. “Suffice it to say that bitterness has tainted too many lives for far too long.”
“It’s not just a family feud, Mrs. Horvath—”
“Please, call me Alice,” she interrupted. “And, yes, I know it goes deeper than that. But I urge you to reconsider and to return to the ceremony. Everyone is waiting.”
“I can’t do it. I can’t go against everything I’ve ever been raised to believe. I can’t marry the man whose business is trying to put me out of business. I owe it to my staff and to my grandfather’s memory to walk away from this. I want to invoke the exit clause in my contract early. Ilya and I are incompatible on far too many levels.”
Yasmin’s gray eyes flashed with emotion, reminding Alice so much of Yasmin’s grandfather.
“Ah, my dear. So often pride comes before a fall. Your beloved grandfather aside, you owe it to your staff to go through with this. Let’s be honest. You’re not in the best position financially, are you?” Alice paused to let her words sink in. To ensure that Yasmin was aware that she knew exactly what the younger woman’s situation was right now. “The figures you provided as proof of your monetary position were inflated, to put it kindly, and before you ask, yes, we checked.”
Yasmin began to protest but Alice cut her off.
“You gave us every right to examine your financial situation when you signed the contract. Let’s be quite honest with each other. We both know you can most certainly do without the negative public fallout of walking away from your contractual obligations, not to mention the financial fallout from attempting to break your contract with Match Made in Marriage. I know you took out a loan to fund your application. A loan secured by the assets of Carter Air, I believe?”
She watched Yasmin grow pale as her words sank in.
“You’re threatening me with ruin? Really? All to make me marry your grandson?”
“Sometimes, my girl, the ends justify the means. Don’t you think your future happiness is worth it?”
“So you want me, specifically, to marry Ilya. Why?”
Alice studied Yasmin, her ashen face, her clear gray eyes, the set of her pretty mouth and the proud posture as she fought a battle she couldn’t win. She recognized the girl’s spirit; after all, hadn’t she been just such a young woman once? And Alice was no different now. She still fought hard for what was best for everyone she loved. This was important and she was convinced, beyond a doubt, that Ilya and Yasmin belonged together. She wouldn’t have made this match if she hadn’t known, deep in her bones, that they were right for each other. That “knack” she’d mentioned earlier—it had manifested early in her life. A knowing that some might call mumbo jumbo and others prescience. Whatever it was, it was her gift and she only used her gift for good.
Alice loved her eldest grandson, the son of her first-born son, more fiercely than she’d ever believed possible. This woman was the key to his long-term happiness—she knew it as surely as she knew she’d made the right decision when she’d chosen Eduard Horvath for her husband. As surely as she’d known every one of the matches she’d engineered was right. She only hoped Yasmin would come to see that, too.
“I love my grandson dearly, but he works too hard and, deep down, I don’t believe he’s happy. You, whether you realize it or not, hold the key to his future happiness. I wish nothing more than to see him and his bride happy together. It’s as simple—and as complicated—as that.” Alice flicked an invisible speck of dust off the sleeve of her impeccably tailored jacket. “Now, shall we return? We both know you can’t afford not to let this wedding go ahead.”
“But what about the clear conflict of interest? Ilya is my business rival. How are we to manage that?”
“That is something you will need to work out together.”
“No, that’s not enough for me. I need to know that the Horvaths will not interfere with Carter Air. Ilya’s company has either bought or driven out of business every other small charter company at the airfield. I will not let that happen to Carter Air. I made a promise to my grandfather that I would keep his legacy safe.”
Alice nodded and gave Yasmin a small smile of compassion. “Dear girl, I know you loved your grandfather dearly. For all his bluster and noise, he was a man who cared deeply. But sometimes promises made in the heat of the moment should be broken. Is Carter Air truly your passion, or are you merely holding onto an old man’s dream...and his bitterness?”
“How dare you say such a thing? His bitterness? You dumped him! In fact, you didn’t even have the decency to tell him yourself at the time. He had to read your engagement notice in the local paper.”
Alice felt a pang in her chest. “It was for the best.”
“You’ll have to forgive me if I disagree.” Yasmin got up from the sofa and began to pace the floor, the layers of her gown swirling around her like a cloud.
“Fine, I know I can’t afford to break the contract. I’ll go ahead with the wedding, but on one condition.”
“And that is?”
“That our companies remain as two separate entities and Ilya and I never discuss business.”
Alice rose and went to stand in front of Yasmin. “Your businesses are a big part of both your lives. Not being able to share and discuss your day’s work, your challenges and successes, means you’ll only be sharing half a life together. Are you sure this is a wise decision?”
Yasmin’s eyes darkened and her mouth firmed into a straight line before she spoke.
“It’s the only way. If he won’t agree to it then the wedding is off and you will release me from my contract with no penalty because while it would definitely harm my business if it was to be widely known I broke my contract with you, wouldn’t the same be true for Match Made in Marriage? After all, Ilya is your grandson. In itself that would raise eyebrows if your involvement in this was made public, wouldn’t it?”
Alice had to admire the girl’s mettle. She inclined her head slightly. “And you’ll accept my grandson’s word that he will honor your request? I’m sure you’ve heard that his word is his bond.”
Yasmin nodded.
“Fine. I will discuss it with my grandson.”
* * *
“I have to say I’m surprised at how well you’re coping,” Valentin Horvath leaned over and whispered in Ilya’s ear. “After all, it’s not every day a man is rejected by his bride on first sight. Maybe I’m biased, being family and all, but I didn’t think you were that ugly.”
Ilya clenched his jaw and deliberately counted to ten before answering his cousin, who also happened to be one of his closest friends. Valentin headed up Horvath Pharmaceuticals in New York and was generally more serious in nature than his younger, more carefree brother, Galen.
“It’s only to be expected that she would be nervous.”
“And if she doesn’t return?” asked Galen.
“She’ll return.”
“With Nagymama frog-marching her from behind, no doubt,” Valentin said, using the family’s Hungarian nickname for their grandmother.
Galen stifled a laugh. “Can’t say I’ve seen Nagy move quite so quickly in the past few years.”
“Protecting her investment, perhaps,” his brother replied archly. “You know how personally she takes her matches.”
Ilya rolled his eyes. Family ribbing was all very well and good—to be expected under the circumstances—but he was getting impatient. Where the hell was his bride?
He’d recognized Yasmin Carter the moment he’d turned around. So many thoughts had crossed his mind, the first being how stunningly beautiful she was in her wedding gown. Who knew that beneath the flight suits or jeans and a T-shirt he’d seen her wearing at the airfield, she could be so incredibly feminine, or so vulnerably fragile. That first glimpse of her today had appealed to an instinct his family constantly teased him about—his need to protect and provide for those he cared for. He hadn’t expected to feel that for his bride immediately, but he had—deeply and viscerally. His response had made him want to follow her when she’d turned and left after her awkward pronouncement. It was only his grandmother’s hurried whisper that she would deal with it that had prevented him from chasing Yasmin as she’d bolted from the room, even though every cell in his body had called on him to do so.
He looked at his watch again and fought not to start tapping his foot in impatience. The women had been gone twenty minutes now.
“The natives are getting restless,” Valentin observed as he cast his eyes over the assembled family and friends who’d been able to make it on short notice. “It’s a good thing you have the champagne flowing, Galen.”
Galen was the head of Horvath’s hotel and resort chain. He’d automatically switched into damage control mode the moment the wedding had gone off the rails. Ilya refused the offer of a waiter passing by with a tray of beverages. He needed a clear head today.
A movement in the doorway attracted his attention and he started toward his grandmother before anyone else noticed her.
“Is Yasmin all right?” he asked as his grandmother tugged him into the hallway.
“You recognized her?”
“Of course I did. While I’m left wondering what madness possessed you to match her to me, I’ve learned to trust you. But does she? She’s more skittish than I would have thought.”
“And so you ought to trust your grandmother. I only ever have your best interests at heart,” Alice said, patting him fondly on the cheek. “We have a small problem.”
A small problem? He would have thought his bride running away from the ceremony was a bit more than that.
“She has a stipulation if the wedding is to proceed,” his grandmother continued.
“And that is?”
“She’s very protective of Carter Air. She will go ahead with this, provided that you two never discuss business together and that your companies remain two separate entities. Therefore, no mergers, no buyouts, no sharing of information.”
“And that’s it?”
In the grand scheme of things, it was nothing. Of course she’d want to protect her company. And though their families had bad blood between them, he wasn’t interested in Carter Air as a takeover target and didn’t wish Yasmin ill beyond the usual competition in the industry. It wasn’t his style. He’d never understood why the cold war that had raged between his grandfather and Jim Carter, Yasmin’s grandfather, had been carried on for generations. Ilya didn’t believe in holding grudges. But even so he did wonder if his grandmother had some other ideas cooking beneath her halo of perfectly coifed silver hair.
“You agree, then?”
“Of course I agree, Nagy. Show me where to sign and I’ll sign.”
He saw relief in his grandmother’s blue eyes. “Thank you, my boy. I think it’s best if we keep this a verbal agreement for now, don’t you? We don’t want anything to muddy the waters should circumstances change, and thanks to your exemplary reputation, Yasmin is prepared to accept your word. Now, go back inside and wait.”
“We’re going ahead?”
“We most certainly are.”
