Roman POV ...

I closed the door to the study after Hannah’s brothers left, and I turned to her with a raised brow. "What the hell was that?" I asked her.

Hannah had her arms crossed. I couldn’t read her expression, but her green eyes looked back at me. "I didn’t tell them anything about the auction," she said. "I only told them that our father was broke and forced me to marry you for money."

"It didn’t go well," I said, "obviously." Hannah moved to the sofa and sat down. I joined her, keeping an arm’s length between us. "They’re brainwashed," she said, "and I told them that, but they got offended."

"That’s a hard thing for some people to realize," I said to her. I took the drink from the table in front of me and smelled it: whiskey.

I took a drink from the glass, needing the burn, and I placed it back on the table.

"That was mine," Hannah pointed out, taking the glass and draining it.

"Freddy was pissed," I said after Hannah put the empty glass down. "I don’t remember him ever being like that when we were in school."

"It wasn’t him," Hannah said. "He’s turning into our father. He’s under so much pressure to run the family business, and he didn’t even know that Dad was broke."

I shook my head. "It’s stressful taking over the family business," I said, "and I get that, but I can only imagine how much worse it is with a father like Court Macalester."

"They’re going to be just like him," Hannah said, staring off through one of the windows as she spoke. "They respect him and they don’t want to lose his favor. Freddy wants to prove that he’s just as good as our father, and Edward knows that he could get cut from the will with one wrong move."

"That’s no way to live," I said. "Freddy used to be this nice, quiet kid in school." I shook my head in disbelief.

"I remember," Hannah said, meeting my gaze. "He used to be really fun and laid-back when we were kids. He would make me and Lori laugh all the time. But as we got older, he started spending more time with our father. Edward just wanted to do whatever Freddy did, same as now. He wants to be around Freddy all the time, and because Freddy is around Dad, it’s rubbing off on Edward too."

I leaned forward, placing my elbows on my knees. Hannah scoffed. "I can’t believe Freddy told me ’good job for snagging a billionaire playboy."

I glanced up at Hannah. Truth be told, I had developed a reputation for taking liberties with women, I’d admit that, but I wasn’t going to admit to Hannah that I hadn’t gotten laid in months. It was kind of like me knowing that Hannah was a virgin, a topic best avoided.

"Why would he say that to you?" I asked her.

"Freddy actually believed that I enjoyed accompanying my father to his client parties," Hannah said, her expression filled with disgust. "He told me that he thought I liked dressing like a slut and flirting with my father’s clients."

My eyes widened as a thought clicked into place. "Your father forced you to go to his parties?" I asked her.

"Of course he did," Hannah said. "I’m not that type of woman. I wouldn’t choose to dress the way I did and act the way I acted. My father told me to do it because it made him look good and I made his clients want to spend their money working with him."

I grimaced. "F*cking hell, Hannah, that’s brutal," I said, remembering the tight-fitting, low-cut dresses that I had seen her in.

Especially the one she had worn to The Auction House. "Your father’s a disgusting man."

"I never thought he’d do something like this," Hannah said, shaking her head slowly. "He never left me alone with any of those men or even let them touch me. I trusted him, Roman, that’s why I went to those parties and did what he asked. I trusted him to not let any of those men take advantage of me."

"At least he did that much," I said. "F*cking bastard."

Hannah smirked, and I met her green gaze.

"That’s a pretty strong reaction from a billionaire playboy," she teased.

I smirked right back at her. "I’m all for a woman to choose whether or not she flirts with a guy, or dresses a certain way," I said, "but to have your own father force you to do something like that is sickening."

"I’m glad you agree," she said. "I’m worried about Lori now. My father may have his precious millions again, but he won’t stop there; he’ll want to groom Lori into what he had created with me."

"How did you protect your sister from going?" I asked her.

"I told her to stay out of our father’s way," Hannah said. "I told her to do as she was told and let me handle whatever father told me to do. I had to protect her because no one was going to protect us. Not Edward, and sure as hell not Freddy."

"Edward used to be more protective?" I asked her.

Hannah shrugged. "Sort of," she said. "He stood up for me once or twice, and he tried to spend more time with me and Lori, but the hold that my father has over him is too strong, especially since Martin died."

"Martin?" I asked her with a frown. "You had another brother?"

Hannah nodded. "He died on the night of his eighteenth birthday in a car accident," she said.

"Father said that Martin and his friends were drunk and had a head-on collision." She took a deep breath and sighed. "He was the black sheep of the family, but he put everything he had into trying to keep our father off of my and my sister’s backs."

"Im sorry," I said to her. "I didn’t even know that Court had a third son."

"That’s not surprising. Martin was such a free spirit," Hannah said. "He and his friends were into some really off-the-wall hobbies, so he’d leave and go with his friends all the time, and I don’t think our father cared, to be honest. He and Martin butted heads often. Martin didn’t care whether he was in the will or not. There’s no one at home to protect Lori now." Hannah hugged herself, absently rubbing her arms. She was really worried.

I sat up and turned to face her on the sofa.

"Once we’re married, Lori can come live with us," I said. "I won’t let anything happen to your sister."

Hannah blinked at me. "Roman," she began cautiously, "I’m very thankful for that offer, I really am, but are you seriously talking about us getting married?" she asked me.

"It’s what the contract says," I shrugged. "In order to nullify the contract, we need to get married." Hannah looked me over skeptically. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

"Don’t take offense," she said, "but I don’t think you’re the marrying type."

I scoffed. "And why is that, Hannah?" I asked her. "Tell me, you won’t hurt my feelings."

She smirked. "I’m not worried about hurting your feelings," she said. I raised a brow as she continued. "You’re too young, and besides, you can have any woman you want without having to promise marriage. I don’t think it’s a good idea to tie down a free bird."

"Can I tell you something, Hannah?" I asked her.

She waved a hand for me to continue. "Go ahead," she said.

"My friends and I were having this discussion the other night," I said. "They think it’s a good idea for me to get married, and I’m not opposed to the idea. I just need the right woman."

"What are you trying to say, Roman?" she asked me in confusion.

"Maybe you and I can work something out," I said with a shrug. "You let me marry you to release us from the contract, and all you have to do is pretend to enjoy my company."

Hannah laughed. "It would never work," she said, smiling.

"I wish I could make you smile like that all the time," I said to her. Hannah bit her lip, thought about the many kisses we had and shared, I remembering my lips on hers. "Don’t go shy on me now. You have a beautiful smile."

"Thank you, Roman," she said, offering me a small smirk.

I had an idea. Sliding off the sofa, I got down on one knee and took her hand. Hannah began laughing again, filling the study with the beautiful sound.

"Will you marry me, Hannah Macalester?" I asked her, smiling.

She took a pillow from the sofa and hit me on the shoulder. We were both laughing now. "You’re such a tease, Roman," she said.

"You’ll have to be more convincing than that."

I rejoined her on the sofa, sitting right next to her. "What do I need to do to convince you?" I asked Hannah.

She smirked at me, her green eyes locked on mine. "You better have a damn good plan, Roman," she said to me.