sandals, sundress and God only knew what underneath, rather than jeans, sneakers and hot pink knickers—he knew the girl he’d loved was gone, too. The Thea he’d fallen in love with would never have agreed to marry his brother, whatever their respective fathers’ arguments for why it was a good idea. She’d wanted love—true love. And for a few brief months he’d thought she’d found it.
He’d been wrong again, though.
Lengthening his own stride, he caught up to her easily. She might have long legs, but his were longer. ‘So,’ he asked casually, ‘how many people are coming to this shindig, anyway?’
‘Shindig?’ Thea stopped walking. ‘Did you just call my wedding a shindig?’
Zeke shrugged. Nice to know he could still get under her skin so easily. It might make the next couple of days a little more fun. Something had to. ‘Sorry. I meant to say your fairytale-worthy perfect day, when thou shalt join your body in heavenly communion with the deepest love of your heart and soul. How many people are coming to that?’
Colour rose in her cheeks, filling him with a strange sense of satisfaction. It was childish, maybe. But he wasn’t going to let her get away with pretending that this was a real, true love-match. It was business, just like everything else the Morrisons and the Ashtons held dear.
Including him, these days. Even if his business wasn’t the family one any more.
‘Two hundred and sixty-eight,’ Thea said, her tone crisp. ‘At the last count.’
‘Small and intimate, then?’ Zeke said. ‘Just how my father likes things. Where are you putting them all up? I mean, I get that this place is enormous, but still...I can’t imagine your guests doubling up on camp beds on the veranda.’
‘We’ve booked out the hotel down the road. There’ll be executive coaches and cabs running back and forth on the day.’
A small line had formed between her eyebrows, highlighting her irritation. That was new, too.
‘Why do you care, anyway?’
‘I’m the best man,’ he reminded her. ‘It’s my job to know these things.’
That, apparently, was the line that did it. Spinning round to face him straight on, Thea planted her hands on her hips and scowled at him. ‘Why are you here, Zeke? And don’t give me some line about brotherly duties. I know full well what you think about Flynn.’
Did she? Maybe she could enlighten him, then. Zeke had long since given up trying to make sense of his relationship with his adopted brother. After he’d left home he’d spent months lying awake thinking about it. Wondering if he could have changed things if he’d realised sooner, before that last conversation with his father that had driven him away for good... But in the end the past was the past. He’d had to move on. Besides, this wasn’t about him and Flynn. It was about Flynn and Thea.
‘Well, if you’re not going to buy brotherly affection, I doubt you’ll go for family loyalty either.’ He shrugged. ‘I’m far more interested in what our fathers said to get you to agree to marry the Great Pretender.’
‘Don’t call him that,’ Thea snapped. ‘It wasn’t funny when we were kids, and it’s not funny now. And is it so hard to believe that I might actually want to marry Flynn?’
‘Yes,’ Zeke said automatically. And not just because she wasn’t marrying him, whatever his business partner, Deb, said.
‘Well, I do.’ Thea stared at him mulishly, as if she were barely resisting the urge to add, So there!
Zeke leant back against the sunny yellow stone of the hallway, staring down through the arches towards the terrace beyond and the green vines snaking up the trellis. Clearly they were no longer in a hurry to get to the meeting, which gave him a chance to find out what had been going on around here lately.
‘Really?’ he said, folding his arms across his chest. ‘So you’re saying that the fact that your marriage will merge both sides of the business for all time, and give your heirs total control, hasn’t even crossed your mind?’
Thea pulled a face. ‘Of course it has.’
‘And if it hadn’t I’m sure your father would have made it very clear.’ Thomas Morrison was always very good about making his daughter understand the implications of her actions, as Zeke remembered it. Especially when they could benefit him—or threatened to inconvenience him.
‘But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t my decision,’ Thea said.
And suddenly all Zeke could think about was the last decision Thea had made, right before he’d skipped out on the family, the business and the rest of his life.
‘Of course not,’ he said, with a sharp, bitter taste in his mouth at the words. ‘I know you like to weigh your decisions very carefully. Make sure you’re choosing the most beneficial option.’
Thea’s jaw dropped slightly. What? Had she expected him not to notice exactly how mercenary her behaviour was? Maybe eight years ago she might have fooled him, but he knew better now. He knew exactly what mattered to her—and it wasn’t him.
‘What, exactly, are you trying to say?’ She bit the words out, as if she were barely holding back a tirade of insulted pride. ‘And I’d think very carefully before answering.’
Zeke gave her his most blinding smile. ‘Exactly what you think I’m trying to say. That suddenly it makes an awful lot of sense why you chose to stay here instead of coming away with me eight years ago. What was the point once you knew I wasn’t the heir any more?’ He shrugged, nonchalantly, knowing it would irritate her even more. ‘Gotta say, though...I’m surprised it took you this long to bag Flynn.’
* * *
She was going to explode. Literally just pop with rage and frustration, spilling bitterness and anger all over the expensively rustic scrubbed walls of this beautiful villa.
Except that would probably make Zeke Ashton smirk even more. So, instead, Thea took a deep breath and prepared to lie.
‘As hard as it may be for you to believe, I am in love with your brother.’ Her voice came out calm and cool, and Thea felt a small bubble of pride swelling up amongst all the fury. There’d been a time when any words Zeke had spoken to her had provoked an extreme reaction. When they were kids it had usually been annoyance, or anger. Then, when they were teenagers, that annoyance had suddenly become attraction, and then anger, arousal... By the time he’d left...all sorts of other complicated reactions had come into play.
But not any more. Now she was an adult, in control of her own life and making her own decisions. Zeke Ashton’s barbs and comments had no power over her any longer. It felt incredibly freeing.
‘Love?’ Zeke raised an eyebrow. ‘You know, I’m starting to think you’ve got your definition of that word wrong.’
‘Trust me, I know exactly what it means.’ Love meant the incredible pain of loss when it was gone. Or the uncertainty of never knowing if it was returned. It baffled Thea why so many people thought love was a good thing.
‘Really? Well, I’m sure I’m just thrilled that you’ve finally found true love. Guess I was just a practice run.’
Thea’s
