“So, you acted out like a child in retaliation?”

“I guess you could say that. I saw it more as my grandfather having to keep my father in charge longer, my refusal to settle down riled the board members up though. I wanted them to have to live with the board issuing an order of no confidence that would effectively take me out of the running. It was our stalemate. Either they told Mom about all of it, or I tanked the family’s hold over the Brighton empire.”

“I can understand everything you had going on, but it doesn’t explain where I fall in the middle of all of this?”

“They told my mom, came clean, and she was the one who ordered me to fall in line after she told me I was an idiot if I thought she didn’t already know.”

“Ouch,” I hissed. “So, wait, why didn’t your mom just inherit the empire?”

Sam laughed. “It’s not enough just to be a Brighton, you need to be one born with a penis too.”

“Your family is kind of fucked up.”

“Yep, but yours was ready to marry you off to me, so is it really any better?”

“Um, mine gave me a choice all along, so yes.”

“Touché.”

“So, if you were going to go along with this ruse to gain control of the empire after your mom was informed, then why all the constant partying and acting out in public?”

He ran his hands through his hair and tugged a bit, frustration evident. “I don’t know,” he groaned while dropping right into the leather chair on the opposite side of the giant mahogany desk. Would you believe me if I said I panicked when I thought about having a marriage like what my parents have? I grew up thinking they were happy together. It was the face they always showed. Come to find out, my father is a serial cheater, and as a result, my mother took on a long-term lover. Honestly, I’m not sure if my sister is my full-blooded sister or half. Not that it matters since she’s been away at boarding school most of her life. I barely know her, but now I think I realize why she was sent away.”

My eyes widened at that admission. “And before you ask, I’m strictly forbidden from revealing that information to her or I’ll be completely cut off from the family and the empire. I’d appreciate it if you kept that to yourself.”

“Mums the word,” I told him before miming zipping my lips shut. This man’s family was toxic from the bottom up. Maybe it was for the best that he had been acting out which forced me to come to my senses.

“So, all of your partying and debauchery have been what amounts to a temper tantrum,” I summed up. “If you didn’t want to marry me, you could have just said so.”

“No, I couldn’t, because if I didn’t go through with it then I’m cut off. If you backed out of your own volition, then I was free to do things my way.”