_OceanofPDF

about who ran Crowne. He was concerned with my happiness and my
character.
“She’s really great, Dad,” I said. “She’s talented, and independent, and a
little unpredictable.”
All true. Not what I was looking for in a wife, but all very real and very
charming.
“She seems lovely. I don’t doubt that.”
“What do you doubt?”
He laughed to himself. “Everything but you.”
The one thing he should have doubted was me.
“Thanks, Dad.”
“Listen. I’m going to go back on my word. I need you to stay partnered
with Byron for a while.”
“I was going to say…”
Did I want to fail?
No. I didn’t. I wanted to run Crowne as much as ever, but I didn’t want
to tear up the world doing it. I’d rushed the marriage. Now I’d take my time
convincing my parents I was happy.
“I was going to say,” I restarted, “that we should keep him on. I want a
little time left over in the day for Ella.”
“Good man.” Dad put his hand on my biceps and gave me a confident
squeeze, then looked over my shoulder at the house. “They’re back.”
As I drove Ella to her illegally occupied warehouse on Highland, we went
over everything that had been said that morning, making sure we were
creating a solid story. We were partners in a game, swaddled in secrets,
weaving a comfortable intimacy between us, until she got to the part about
the closet and a dress her father had made.
“And the rest, I can’t tell you,” she said.
“What do you mean?” I asked, making a turn onto Sunset. “How are we
supposed to coordinate?”
“As far as you’re concerned, she showed me a dress my father made,
but the rest? Never. She swore me to secrecy.”
“I don’t approve.”