your grandson.”
The older woman gave her a sweet smile in response but said nothing as they rode the elevator up to the honeymoon suite. Yasmin was surprised when Alice produced a key card that opened the door.
“Forgive me the intrusion,” Alice said, closing the door behind them. “I was merely holding the key for Ilya until after the ceremony.”
Yasmin didn’t know what to say or where to look, so she opted to plunk herself down on one of the sofas in the sitting room. Alice gracefully seated herself opposite.
“You have a right to know what’s going on.”
Damn right she did. Yasmin tightly squeezed the bound stems of her bouquet of pale pink roses and gypsophila to stop the trembling that had begun in her fingers and now threatened to travel up her arms and take over her entire body.
“Let me be frank with you, my dear. When you applied to Match Made in Marriage I immediately knew you and my grandson were compatible. I didn’t need the specialist tests to assure me that you and Ilya would very much be a perfect match.”
“I beg your pardon? You work with Match Made in Marriage? Are you telling me that you make the matches?” Yasmin replied in stunned surprise.
“It’s not widely known, of course, and we do take the tests and interviews into consideration, but more as a confirmation that I’m on the right track with my couples. Trust me when I say I’ve always had a knack for these things. Once I retired from the family firm it was purely common sense to turn my little talent into a business. When my grandson told me he was ready to marry and settle down, it was only natural he would turn to me, but I didn’t expect to find the perfect match for him so promptly. I have to say, getting your application was quite the surprise.”
* * *
Alice Horvath looked at the beautiful but clearly confused and angry young woman sitting opposite her and wished things could have been different between their families. That the painful rift between best friends hadn’t formed when Jim Carter and Eduard Horvath both fell in love with her and, eventually, fallen out forever when she chose Eduard for her husband. But this was her chance to make things right—to heal the wounds of so long ago and to put this stupid feud to bed once and for all.
If only she could persuade Yasmin to go ahead with the wedding.
She drew in a breath and chose her words carefully. If there was anything this young woman seemed to have a grasp of, it was business. Oh, yes, Alice knew that Carter Air was struggling. She also knew that Yasmin, despite having come up with the hefty commitment fee, could not afford to break the terms of the marriage contract she’d signed or attempt to sue Match Made in Marriage to get out of it.
Alice sighed softly and composed herself.
“I repeat, matching you and Ilya is no mistake. The two of you are perfectly suited to each other and are fully compatible when it comes to your values and your hopes and dreams for the future. I have every faith that you belong together and that you could make a long and very satisfying marriage.”
“But—”
Alice raised a hand. “Please, allow me to finish. There comes a time when the past has to be put behind us so we can look to the future. This is your time. I know that there’s been a great deal of bitterness between our families, that your grandfather and my Eduard ceased to have a civil word to say to each other after...” Alice blinked away the emotion, the weakness she couldn’t afford to show. “Suffice it to say that bitterness has tainted too many lives for far too long.”
“It’s not just a family feud, Mrs. Horvath—”
“Please, call me Alice,” she interrupted. “And, yes, I know it goes deeper than that. But I urge you to reconsider and to return to the ceremony. Everyone is waiting.”
“I can’t do it. I can’t go against everything I’ve ever been raised to believe. I can’t marry the man whose business is trying to put me out of business. I owe it to my staff and to my grandfather’s memory to walk away from this. I want to invoke the exit clause in my contract early. Ilya and I are incompatible on far too many levels.”
Yasmin’s gray eyes flashed with emotion, reminding Alice so much of Yasmin’s grandfather.
“Ah, my dear. So often pride comes before a fall. Your beloved grandfather aside, you owe it to your staff to go through with this. Let’s be honest. You’re not in the best position financially, are you?” Alice paused to let her words sink in. To ensure that Yasmin was aware that she knew exactly what the younger woman’s situation was right now. “The figures you provided as proof of your monetary position were inflated, to put it kindly, and before you ask, yes, we checked.”
Yasmin began to protest but Alice cut her off.
“You gave us every right to examine your financial situation when you signed the contract. Let’s be quite honest with each other. We both know you can most certainly do without the negative public fallout of walking away from your contractual obligations, not to mention the financial fallout from attempting to break your contract with Match Made in Marriage. I know you took out a loan to fund your application. A loan secured by the assets of Carter Air, I believe?”
She watched Yasmin grow pale as her words sank in.
“You’re threatening me with ruin? Really? All to make me marry your grandson?”
“Sometimes, my girl, the ends justify the means. Don’t you think your future happiness is worth it?”
“So you want me, specifically, to marry Ilya. Why?”
Alice studied Yasmin, her ashen face, her clear gray eyes, the set of her pretty mouth and the proud posture as she fought a battle she couldn’t win. She recognized the girl’s spirit; after all, hadn’t she been just such a young woman once? And Alice was no different now. She still fought hard for what was best for everyone she loved. This was important and she was convinced, beyond a doubt, that Ilya and Yasmin belonged together. She wouldn’t have made this match if she hadn’t known, deep in her bones, that they were right for each other. That “knack” she’d mentioned earlier—it had manifested early in her life. A knowing that some might call mumbo jumbo and others prescience. Whatever it was, it was her gift and she only used her gift for good.
Alice loved her eldest grandson, the son of her first-born son, more fiercely than she’d ever believed possible. This woman was the key to his long-term happiness—she knew it as surely as she knew she’d made the right decision when she’d chosen Eduard Horvath for her husband. As surely as she’d known every one of the matches she’d engineered was right. She only hoped Yasmin would come to see that, too.
“I love my grandson dearly, but he works too hard and, deep down, I don’t believe he’s happy. You, whether you realize it or not, hold the key to his future happiness. I wish nothing more than to see him and his bride happy together. It’s as simple—and as complicated—as that.” Alice flicked an invisible speck of dust off the sleeve of her impeccably tailored jacket. “Now, shall we return? We both know you can’t afford not to let this wedding go ahead.”
“But what about the clear conflict of interest? Ilya is my business rival. How are we to manage that?”
“That is something you will need to work out together.”
“No,
