“It’s not much what we’re asking, and it’s a potentially advantageous move for you, too.” Peter leveled his gaze on her. “We have paved a great path for you in life, Kimberley. We’ve always given you everything you could want—definitely more than most. Now it’s your turn to make a move that could affect your future and ours, too, of course.” He spoke as if he were giving her a choice, whereas Kim knew better. “And, honey, you know, like your mom pointed out, you’re really not getting any younger. That pretty face won’t last forever.”

Kim was floored, not to mention wounded to the core. In all her life she’d never been made to feel like nothing more than a piece of ass. And by her own father!

Whenever she did take his business prospects out on the town to show them a good time, she never just left it at that. Instead she talked to them about their hopes and intentions, teased out their strategies, and subtly influenced them to choose Weston Inc.

She’d thought her father knew this and quietly appreciated it. But he hadn’t even noticed.

“You actually expect me to do this? You actually expect me to coldly pursue a guy I barely know? With marriage as the endgame? I’ve never even been in a proper relationship with someone I like, so why would I want to be involved with someone I don’t?”

She was trying her best to contain her anger and dismay. This was like something from a horror movie, playing out before her eyes. People didn’t do this in real life. They didn’t just pimp out their daughters as part of a freakin’...business move!

But, Kim realized, it was basically what her folks had always done. Except this time they wanted her to go a step further and actually try to land this English guy as a potential husband, taking her off their hands in the process.

“Dad,” she pleaded softly. “Please, don’t ask me to do this.”

“Kim, don’t act like a child,” Gloria tsked. “Do you think the life this family has comes free of cost? There’s a price and we all have to pay it. Your father paid it. I paid it. Now it’s your turn. You can’t expect us to bankroll you forever. It’s high time you had a plan for the rest of your life and we think this is the perfect start.”

Why had she thought her father would help her? He never had before. Whatever her mother wanted she got. It was clear that what Gloria wanted now was a familial connection with some kind of gentry and her father the backing of this English bigwig’s multibillion company.

Capitalism at its finest. A merger of the purest kind and all it would cost was Kim’s sanity.