Ruthless Knight: An Arranged Marriage Romance (Ruthless Billionaires Book 1)

“Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul – and sings the tunes without the words – and never stops at all.”- Emily Dickinson

How fitting that my horoscope should quote my favorite poet on today of all days. And that particular quote, too—about hope.

God, do I truly need hope.

Perhaps the universe stepped in when it saw how disjointed I was and provided me with a message I needed to hear.

It’s Saturday. D-Day.

I’m at the Langford Hotel for my engagement party.

My guests of thirty people, which includes Nathan and his family, are gathered in the grand hall waiting for me.

Madison is finishing my makeup. We’re in one of the French Provincial-inspired boudoirs, where I’m sitting in front of a vintage dressing table, staring mindlessly at my reflection in its gold-rimmed mirror.

We have twenty minutes before we have to join everyone.

Madison has done a great job with my makeup. She’s chosen smoky colors for my eyes and neutral tones on my cheeks and lips. My hair is rolled into a neat chignon, and I’m wearing a soft camel-colored dress.

I look beautiful, but inside, I feel like shit.

I’ve carried hope in my heart all day like a secret locked away in a treasure chest buried beneath the sea, but now that my engagement is upon me, I’m a hot mess.

Madison is talking about something, but my mind has tuned her out so it can jump back on the train carrying all my worries.

Those worries existed long before my encounter with Knight Grayson, but like an idiot, I added him to the load.

Over the last few days, I’ve fluttered from obsessing over all the wild things I did with him, to worrying about what will happen following my engagement to Nathan.

Admittedly, I’ve been thinking about Knight a hell of a lot more than Nathan.

That night, the moment I got home, I jumped onto Google to check out what the World Wide Web had to tell me about the man.

Knight is a thirty-year-old business magnate and property investor. He graduated from Princeton with honors and finished his MBA at Harvard. By the time he was twenty-five, he was already appearing on various renowned lists for his wealth, skills, and prestige. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index and Forbes’s Real Time Billionaires list, his current estimated net worth is 20 billion US dollars.

The two people ahead of him on both lists are his father and grandfather. The two people after him are his brothers, Jericho and Bastian.

Bastian Grayson is Knight’s half-brother, whose mother is Sloane Belafonte—as in the diamond company Belafonte.

There was nothing online about Knight’s mother. I figured she was purposely left out, and there was an obvious story there they didn’t want to share with the world.

Littering the blogs and articles cascaded over Google was coverage of the event Elena hinted at back at No. 11. It was an extravagant yacht party Knight hosted for the Hawks, New York’s NHL team. His best friend, Luc, is one of the team’s defensemen.

The press went wild because of the throng of celebs and royalty who attended. It was like a mini version of the Emmys.

On Knight’s arm was one of the princesses of Monaco, who could easily have been a Victoria’s Secret model. She was exactly the kind of woman you’d expect to find on Knight Grayson’s arm.

The combination of seeing her and everything I read about Knight bamboozled me, making me wonder why the hell he’d even looked in my direction.

It doesn’t make sense.

Then there were his famous last words.

The next time we meet may be different. We don’t know yet if we’ll be friends or foes.

Those ominous words have crashed around in my mind like a ship on rough waters, trapped in a tempest. Each day that has passed since has seen me looking out for something to happen. Or to see him again.

As there’s been no sighting of the gorgeous billionaire, part of me wonders if I’m being paranoid. But I don’t think so.

It’s all driving me crazy. Thank God I have Madison. She’s the only person keeping me grounded—her being here with me now and us working together at Sunset Cove to fulfill my mother’s final wishes.

Months before Mom died, she was given the chance to buy the resort, but it was still under a lease. That lease expires in a few weeks. Mom managed the place for over ten years and had dreamt of refurbishing it in a 1940s theme.

That’s what I’m planning to do, and Madison is going to help me. She runs her own full service marketing firm. She’s offered to help me outsource all the companies I need to bring Mom’s dream to life and do all the advertising campaigns once the refurbishment is complete.

“Lord Jesus, girl,” comes Madison’s deep Georgian accent right in my ear. She’s so loud I jump right out of my thoughts and glare at her.

“What?”

She shakes her head at me, and her long honey-blonde curls bounce like springs.

Madison has the petite, fairy-like body and features of Tinkerbell, but when she’s annoyed, she becomes as fierce as a dragon.

“You didn’t hear a word I said, did you?” Her brows furrow.

“Sorry. I’m a little spaced out.” My shoulders sag, and my chest caves.

“A little spaced would be good. Miss Lady, you are more like zombified.”

I haven’t told her about Knight yet. Since I can’t quite figure him out or get over the fact that I was so intimate with a total stranger, I’ve been keeping him on the shelf of things to never speak about. Needless to say, Madison would have a field day if she ever found out what I did.

I lift my hand to my temple and note my skin feels hot. “I just need to get through tonight.”

“Tonight? This is just the beginning. It’s nothing compared to the rest of forever with that prick.” Madison’s dark eyes grow larger with displeasure. “I don’t care what your daddy says. This whole Nathan thing is a disaster. How the hell are you supposed to act like you’re in love with an asshole?”

“I don’t know.” I sound as hopeless as I feel.

One of my biggest peeves about this arrangement is that Nathan and I are supposed to pretend we’re head over heels in love and have been dating in secret.

Our families don’t want people to suspect we’re arranged, as it would be bad press for Nathan’s family. Mine, too, but it would be worse for him.

So, on Monday, when we share the news of our engagement to the world, I’m not supposed to look like I’d rather be pulling off my toenails.

“Oh, Aurora.” Madison takes my hands into hers. “I just wanted a better guy for you. One like mine.”

I give her a faint smile. It means a lot to hear her wish that for me. Madison has been dating the most perfect man on Earth for the last three years. Her boyfriend, Chad, is a six-foot-six lieutenant in the Marines who treats her like a queen. He’s currently on duty in the Middle East. My guess is he’ll be putting a ring on it when he sees her in a few weeks.

I know Chad is the one for her, and I’m happy for Madison, but I’ve accepted that not everyone gets to find their true love.

“I want that for myself too. But… you know why I’m doing this.”

Understanding forms in her eyes, and eventually, she nods.

I’ve confided in her again with more secrets. This time about my suspicions regarding my upcoming marriage and the trouble my father’s business might be in.

“Knowing doesn’t make me feel any better.”

“I know. It doesn’t make me feel any better either,” I agree, my tone flat.

After I had the freakout-argument when my father first broached the subject of marrying Nathan, I worried Dad would exercise stricter controls over my inheritance.

Until I turn twenty-five, he’s my executor. He controls all my income that doesn’t come from the meager earnings I make from my books.

With my dismal job situation growing worse, my choices were next to nothing, but then I overheard a conversation I shouldn’t have between him and Conrad and realized Dad’s business was in trouble. That’s when I suspected there was more to this marriage arrangement than what he told me.

From what he’d said I also realized the reason for the trouble—Mom’s death.

Her death broke him. Everything, including the business, suffered immensely.

There was a time in my life when Mom and I were in trouble too, and that’s when my father stepped in. It was the first time I actually met him.

He saved us in a way that only an angel could. It’s not something I’ll ever forget. That’s the crux of why I’m doing what I’m doing and the reason I’m so forgiving of his actions and decisions.

As Nathan and his family aren’t that far down the ladder from the Graysons, marrying into such a family would open doors and fix my father’s problems.

Madison sighs and releases my hands. “Okay, back to plan B.”

“Remind me what that is again.”

“Praying Nathan gets syphilis, and his dick falls off.” Her tone is as casual as if she were talking about buying a new purse.

Despite my mood, I burst out laughing. “Madison, only you could say something like that with such a straight face.”

“I just hope the good Lord sees it fit to bless you. Being afflicted with a terrible STD and dickless is a perfectly good reason to call off a wedding.”

We both start laughing. It feels good until we’re interrupted by a knock on the door.

“Aurora.” It’s Dad, which means my time is officially up.

I glance at Madison, and she straightens.

“Come in,” I call back, biting the inside of my lip to hide my nerves.

Dad walks in and gives us a sparse smile that makes me long for the days when he used to really smile. Those smiles came easily, straight from his heart.

Looking at him makes me sad that those days seem to be gone forever.

“I’ll let you two talk and see you outside.” Madison dips her head and makes her way to the door. Before she leaves, she glances back at me, sympathy returning to her eyes.

Although my heart sinks, I summon strength and stand when Dad moves closer.

The only resemblance I have of him is his eyes. Everything else is my mother’s.

Dad is a giant with a marathon runner build and light brown hair. He still looks good for a man in his late fifties, but grief has aged him immensely.

“You look beautiful.” He touches my cheek and looks me over with pride.

“Thank you.”

“I just wanted to see how you’re doing before you go out there.”

“I’m okay.” We both know that’s a lie and that I’m far from okay.

“I know you’re not fond of marrying Nathan, but I know love will come in time. He’s very fond of you.”

No, Dad, I just happen to be to his liking because I have the right breast size.

I would say that, but there’s no point. He believes Nathan will change after our marriage.

“Conrad and I want you to give this a fair shot.”

Translation: don’t fuck this up.

Conrad and Dad have been friends since they were children. They’ve been business partners for the same time too. If I didn’t have my suspicions about Dad’s business, I would understand the sentiment of having their children get married to each other.

“You don’t have to worry about me.” Another lie.

“Okay. It’s time to go out. Are you ready?”

As ready as I’ll ever be. “Yes.”

“Good. Let’s go.”

I pull in one last breath to try to calm my mind before we leave.

Dad and I proceed down the corridor and head to the hall. When we enter, everyone cheers at the sight of me.

I smile back at each person as Dad leads me further inside, and I assume the role of the ecstatic bride-to-be.

Nathan meets us in the middle and beams at me with his Ken-doll smile and razor-sharp good looks. Like every other time I’ve seen him, he looks photo-shoot-ready.

When he plants a loving kiss on my forehead, I mentally give him credit. He really does know how to play the game. That kiss almost felt genuine.

A spark of interest lights up his eyes as he looks me over. He’s about to say something when the doors on the other side of the hall crash open and in storms a group of FBI agents.

An audible chorus of gasps—including mine—ripples throughout the room at the sight of them.

The sound of our astonishment grows louder when the agents march up to Conrad. One agent starts reading him his rights while another cuffs him the moment he protests and calls to Jennifer, Nathan’s mother, to call their lawyer.

The arresting agent says something about securities fraud and embezzlement. It’s then that it hits me he’s being arrested for serious shit.

My God.

Nathan’s father?

“You can’t do this!” Nathan demands, rushing over to the group.

That’s all he gets to say before two agents take hold of him and arrest him too.

A sinister part of my mind wonders if this is the universe intervening, until I feel eyes burning into me.

The feeling is so intense that I look straight up to the second floor, from where I feel the pull. Just like at the restaurant nights ago, my eyes lock with the Nordic blues of Knight Grayson.

He’s resting his hands on the stone balcony, gazing right at me.

Only me.

Dressed in a long black coat, he looks like the Grim Reaper coming to collect souls. The arched windows behind him are open, letting in a breeze which lifts his coat and hair, adding to that element of darkness and doom he’s exuding.

The sight of him stuns me, and I’m instantly taken back to the intimate, forbidden moment we shared when I would have given myself to him.

The memory is only fleeting, as common sense slams into me like a fifty-ton truck, along with reality, and the first question that hits me is, what is he doing here?

The question is followed by those last words that have haunted me.

The next time we meet may be different. We don’t know yet if we’ll be friends or foes.

Not even a second passes before something dark and twisted dawns on me.

This…what’s happening now. Nathan and Conrad being arrested.

This is what Knight Grayson is doing here.

And those words…

I think this was what he meant and why he’s standing in a position where he was sure I would see him.

Knight straightens, then turns and walks away, blending with the shadows.

He’s gone.

But I have a feeling that won’t be the last time I’ll see him.