Carrie

Dinner with the man I hate.

Absolutely not.

He ruined my life, more than once. In fact, every time I’d seen him, he gets more obnoxious.

This time my parents are involved though so I’m going to face off against him.

Benny still works out everyday clearly as he’s all muscles and hot. He’d get any woman in his bed. He’d even had me, once.

Now he’s proposing marriage, but there is absolutely no way we’d fit.

He’d broken my heart long ago and he’s not getting a second chance.

I refuse.

Benny

Dawes men don’t fall in love. I’d been reminded of that since I was sent halfway around the world to stay away from Carrie. Then a few years back I tried to see her but she tossed me out of her life for starting a fight with her boyfriend.

Yet no woman has ever come close to sending me into sweet oblivion except Carrie.

Dawes men might not fall in love, but this time I get to have and keep Carrie.

All she has to do is say yes.

Carrie

I typed my last sentence and met my deadline, though no one said much to me. Ever since the newspaper had been sold, the people working there had been walking on eggshells. None of us knew if we would have jobs. I’d reached out to friends from college and had contacts for freelancing. I thought that might be fun. Maybe with more freedom, I’d have time for a life.

As I walked to the elevators, I breathed a little easier. I was heading home to my cat, Sparkles, and ready to order takeout. My life wasn’t much, but it was mine. However, as I made it to the bottom floor of the office building, the editor’s secretary, Cecilia, ran over to me with a handwritten message that said: Come to the restaurant for dinner. Benedetto will be there. We must talk.

My shoulders and body tensed. I reread the note and shook my head. “No way will I ever meet with Benedetto Dawes.”

Cecilia crossed her arms. “Are you sure that’s the message you want me to send to your mother?”

No. My mother had no idea how precarious working for a newspaper could be, but she knew I avoided Ben whenever possible. I rubbed my temples. “I hate him. He hates me. This makes no sense.”

“Your mother says they’ll explain in person.”

“Fine. Tell my mom I’m coming to dinner at Marogoni’s.”

Benedetto Dawes was bad news. It had been two years since I’d laid eyes on him, but it seemed he’d found me again. But I would handle this, and I hadn’t seen my adoptive parents in a while. And at least eating at their restaurant meant I’d get good food.

First, though, Sparkles needed her dinner. I took the train home and headed upstairs to my small apartment in the city. I needed the perfect outfit for slapping the face of the most obnoxious man I’d ever met. A red dress would make him think I wanted him, so I went for all black. I wore pants to show that I was empowered and not there to impress him.

As I finished dressing, I heard a knock at my door. I opened it and saw my older sister. She walked inside.

“Isabella, I didn’t expect you.”

My sister was dark haired and gorgeous. She wore designer clothing and pretended she was a princess. We were different. I was the one with dirt-colored hair and less-than-perfect skin.

She let out a sigh like she hated the lifestyle I’d chosen. I wanted to just be normal. A cat. An apartment. A job where people yelled at me. Most people complained about their lives, but they had no idea how dark life could be.

I’d seen my biological father murdered when I was ten, shot between the eyes right there on the street where I’d been pedaling my bike. Now it was my mission to write articles on crime and ensure that the world saw horrible people for who they were.

She took a seat on my couch and folded her hands on her knee. “Carrie, I told Dad I’d speak to you.”

I let out a sigh. My last name, Marogoni—the name of my adoptive family—had complicated my life. The Marogonis had saved me from going to an orphanage when my father died, but because of my relationship with them, no one gave me the heavy crime cases to follow for fear of bias.

I took my well-worn seat, and Sparkles jumped into my lap, leaving tabby-cat hair on me. “I told my dad not to involve me in his life, and now the Daweses just took over my newspaper.”

Isabella stared at my cat. “I know you said you wanted to expose the truth for a living, but you must see how naive that was. And now that I failed…”

I swallowed and scooted closer. “You failed at something?”

She nodded and let out a sigh. “I was supposed to marry Damon Dawes, but he chose his maid instead. So Benedetto made a deal with our father.”

I felt a rush of adrenaline. If there was one man I would run over with my car, it was Benny, the oldest of the Dawes brothers. I didn’t care how hot he was, with those muscles, or how much money he had. Benny thrived on destroying things. I’d trusted him when I was sixteen, right before he went off to college. I gave him my virginity, and he never called me. I’d hated him for years since then.

I let out a sigh. “Benedetto?”

She smiled like she was happy to speak about him. “We need you to secure our family’s future.”

I stood up, and my cat meowed as she jumped off my lap. I paced the room and crossed my hands as my head began to throb. In no universe did his name and mine belong in the same sentence. He probably assumed I was a done deal.

I stared out at the small, quiet street from my third floor apartment window. “Are you serious right now?”

Isabella came from behind me and put her hand on my shoulder. “You’re to marry Benedetto Dawes.”