When I got home, Geoffrey informed me that Hannah was with her sister upstairs. I tried to ignore the excitement at seeing Hannah, but it was too prevalent in the way my heart pounded.

I took the stairs two at a time up to the second floor to release some energy, and I walked to Hannah’s room, knocking on the door.

A moment later, the door behind me opened, and I turned to see Hannah in the doorway with her sister at her side, smiling.

"Hey, Roman," Hannah said before nodding toward her sister. "This is my sister, Lori."

I approached them, holding my hands out to Lori. When she offered me her hand I took it between both of mine. "It’s very nice to finally meet you, Lori," I said. "Hannah talks about you all the time."

Lori blushed and glanced at her sister. "Don’t go quiet on me now," Hannah teased her sister.

The way Hannah’s face glowed when she looked at her sister made my heart soar with happiness just to see her happy. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

"Nice to meet you, Roman," Lori said, and I released her hands, giving her a wink. I turned to face Hannah, who was watching me expectantly.

"How was your day?" Hannah asked me. I smiled at her.

"Busy," I said. "I missed you."

Hannah’s brow rose, and I took the opportunity to lean in and kiss her, aware not to go too far because Lori was watching. Hannah didn’t protest. She cupped my face in her hands and parted her lips. The kiss was slow but thorough as we found a rhythm. I placed my hands on her hips, pulling her in closer to me. When we pulled apart, Hannah’s eyes were on mine, and she smiled.

"Thank you for what you did today," she said to me. "I can’t believe you took the time to research wedding details."

"I want us to have the perfect wedding," I said to Hannah before looking up to find Lori seated on the window seat in her room, engrossed in her phone.

"I hear you’re quite the wedding planner, Lori," I said.

Lori glanced up at me and shrugged. "I’ve read a lot of wedding magazines," she said.

I laughed. "Those credentials are good enough for me," I said before turning my attention back to Hannah. "Lauren will stop by tomorrow if you

two need more help."

"That’s sweet of her," I said. "I think Lauren and Lori will get along really well."

"I think so too," I said, longing to kiss Hannah again but forcing myself not to. "How are you?" I asked her. "You seemed stressed earlier."

"I was," she said, "but Lori surprised me. She already has three color combinations and sets of flowers that she’s agonizing over, including a few ideas for our cakes." Hannah took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

"I didn’t know she was so into wedding planning. I thought the magazines were just a phase."

I laughed. Hannah seemed so much more relaxed, and I wanted her to stay that way. "It worked out in our favor," I said. "Lauren will love going over ideas with her. She does a bit of interior designing on the side, so she’s got an eye for color combinations and other things like that."

"I have a feeling they’re going to drive me crazy with the details," Hannah said.

"That’s what the groom is supposed to say," I teased Hannah, and she smiled at me. "I’m just glad you’re OK."

"I told Lori that our father planned this wedding to get you to put money into the business," Hannah said quietly. "But I also told her that you’re a nice guy, Roman. I didn’t want my sister to think you’re anything like our greedy, power hungry father. I told her you agreed to the wedding so that you could help me."

I reached out and rubbed Hannah’s bare shoulder. To my surprise, she covered my hand with her own.

"Did you tell her that he threatened to marry her off as well?" I asked Hannah, and she nodded.

"I feel so much better having her here with me, Roman," Hannah said. I pulled her in close, and she wrapped her arms around me.

"I’ll do whatever I can to keep her safe, Hannah. I promise," I said. She nodded her head against my chest. "I’ll let you two catch up," I said. "I’m going to have dinner with my friends and announce our big news, if that’s OK?"

Hannah glanced up at me. "You’re asking me?" Hannah said.

"Yes, I won’t go if you’d rather I stay here," I said to her. Hannah bit her lip, and I held back the kiss that I wanted to plant there.

"You should go hang out with your friends," Hannah said. "Have fun while you can," she said with a teasing smile.

"Honestly, I’d rather stay here with you," I admitted. "But I owe my friends an explanation."

She slipped out of our embrace and smiled up at me. "Go," she said.

"Enjoy dinner with your friends." We parted and Hannah closed the door. I pulled out my phone to send a quick text to Nick, Wade, and Gabe to meet me at a restaurant downtown.

When I arrived at the restaurant, Wade and Gabe were already seated, flirting with our waitress. Nick showed up a few minutes after I did. We ordered food and drinks and the questioning began.

"You completely disappeared the other night, Roman," Gabe began.

"What’s up with that?"

"I never did hear from you about that exclusive club," Nick added.

"How was it, Roman?"

"It was so good that he went ghost on us," Wade said.

I smirked as all eyes were on me, waiting for answers. "I’m getting married," I said, ripping the bandage off.

They gaped at me.

"Getting married?" Gabe asked me. "To who?"

"You’re joking, right?" Wade asked me.

"I’m not joking," I said. "I’m marrying Hannah Macalester. You’ll each get an invite in the mail soon."

They stared at me for a moment as I sipped my drink.

"When did this happen?" Nick asked. "One minute you’re at the club saying you’re not getting married until you find the right woman, then two days later you’re announcing that you’re getting married."

"I met her at a party that her father was throwing for his clients," I lied.

"He introduced me to Hannah, she and I talked, and I asked her to marry me," I said with a shrug.

"You just asked her?" Gabe asked me. "And she said yes? No plan or dates or anything?"

I nodded, about to confirm the simplicity of the story, when I saw Bernard enter the restaurant. He spotted us and began to walk over, but someone stopped Bernard and they began talking. "Did someone invite Bernard here?" I asked them. They turned to see Bernard with the man, heading our way.

"I may have posted on social media that we were meeting you here, Roman," Gabe admitted, "but I didn’t specifically invite him."

When the man arrived with Bernard in tow, asking if we wanted to set up a spot for Bernard at the table, all eyes were on me for the answer. I met Bernard’s dark gaze. "As long as we don’t have any trouble," I said, holding Bernard’s gaze.

"You won’t have any trouble from me," Bernard said, and I nodded, even though I didn’t believe Bernard. He placed his order and the guys told him about my upcoming wedding with

Hannah.

"Can I talk to you in private?" Bernard asked me suddenly. The guys were glancing between me and Bernard, completely confused.

"We’ll be back," I said as I stood and followed Bernard to the hallway leading to the restrooms. "I said I didn’t want any problems, Bernard."

He spun on me and put his finger in my face.

"You shouldn’t be marrying her, you should be marrying Jessica," he hissed. "Hannah was mine and you knew that when you took her."

"I’ve told you on several occasions that I will never marry your sister, Bernard," I said. "And what Hannah and I are doing is none of your concern."

"You will regret taking my girl and refusing my sister," Bernard said angrily. "I will remember this, Roman, and I will make sure that justice is

served."

"Listen," I said, curling my fists and uncurling them, trying to maintain my composure. "If you do anything to expose the contract between me and Hannah, or say anything about that place, we will both go down because of your petty jealousy."

"You think you have all the answers, billionaire boy," Bernard spat the last two words at me like acid.

"I’m going to have dinner with my friends now," I said to Bernard. "Join us if you’d like, but I don’t want to hear anything from you about me and my fiance." Bernard grunted in anger, flinging his hands out to the side, but I turned away from him to rejoin the others before he could say anything else about me, Hannah, or his obsessed sister, Jessica.

I chatted with Wade, Gabe, and Nick throughout dinner, but Bernard said little to nothing as he ate and glared at me occasionally. Clearly, my friends didn’t buy my story of how I met Hannah, but I doted on her enough for them to believe that I truly did care for Hannah and that I wanted to marry her.