Chapter Sixteen

The luncheon served on Mason’s private plane was as good as any she’d had in any restaurant Danielle had ever been to, yet she couldn’t muster up enough appetite to finish it. Her stomach was all tied up in knots the closer they approached the West coast and Mason’s father. The thought of having to face that vile man again and be threatened and insulted again left her with a bitter taste in her mouth. And the more she thought about it, the more she’d come to accept that Mason’s plan was hopeless, this sham of a marriage was hopeless and had been from the very beginning.

Mason had been unusually preoccupied as he typed furiously on his laptop, no doubt trying to figure a way to outsmart his father. She wasn’t sure why Mason was prepared to have all out war with his father over their phony marriage. With most men, she would have thought it was nothing more than ego, two men vying for domination over each other like an Alpha wolf defending its lead of the pack. But Mason was different. Despite all his wealth and status, he seemed wholly lacking in ego and even seemed to have a disdain for the spotlight. She supposed that was the reason she’d fell for him. Not that she was in love. It was too soon for that, of course. But it was hard not to be infatuated with a man like Mason Rutherford.

She felt a tender squeeze around her finger and looked up from a book she’d pretended to read. She couldn’t help the smile that skittered across her face, despite her feelings of anxiety. Mason had an effect on her that warmed her down to her toes. His mouth parted to speak just as the pilot came over the intercom.

“Starting decent. Landing at approximately 2:23pm, California time. Temperature 71 degrees Fahrenheit with cloudy skies.”

Mason eyes twinkled as he gave her a wink. “Almost home,” he said. He drew her hand up between his two palms in front of him. “Everything will work out. Don’t worry. I knew this day was coming, one way or another. And I’ve planned for it.”

“You knew he’d try to break up your marriage? Any marriage?” Danielle was confused.

“I knew he’d try to thwart any happiness I found in my adult life. That is his way. He is so miserable with himself, he can’t stand to see anyone else happy.”

“What a terrible way to live,” Danielle said.

Mason nodded. “It is. I do feel sorry for him. But not enough to let him destroy my life, my happiness.”

Danielle’s cheeks flushed as Mason kissed the tips of her fingers. “You make me happy,” he said. “And I want to make you happy.”

Danielle was beaming on the outside but inside her heart was breaking. Could his father be so terrible that he’d want to destroy two lives for no reason other than his own misery? She had no doubt he was just that type of man.

“I want you to be happy too,” Danielle said. And she meant it. Which meant that she’d lied to herself. She was in love with Mason Rutherford. And there wasn’t a single thing she could do about it.

Mason’s driver was waiting for them outside the hanger. He greeted Mason in a hushed voice, flashing Danielle a quick nod before leading them to the limo nearby. The driver opened the door, and Mason gestured for Danielle to climb in first. Mason had driven to the airport so this was the first time they’d rode in the limo together. For that matter, it was only the second time she’d rode in any limo. The first had been on her wedding day. She slid across the leather seat and Mason sunk in beside her. The enormity of the differences between them, their backgrounds, their families hit her hard.

She grew up poor with an absent father, who she only recently learned was in prison. He grew up in wealth and privilege. They couldn’t be any more different. He’d married her in anger at his father without thinking things through, and she’d taken a chance in a moment of despair. But it was pretty clear that this fake marriage was never going to work out the way either of them wanted. There was no possible way she could deal with having Mason’s father demeaning her the rest of her life. And now he wanted to shame her family in the media for all the world to see.

She turned towards Mason, who was preoccupied doing something on his phone. “Mason, I don’t want to see your father again. I can’t endure his treatment of me,” she said.

Mason looked up from his phone with a startled expression on is face. A sad frown settled across his mouth. “I’m sorry for the way he’s treated you. I don’t blame you at all. I’ll take care of him. You don’t have to be there.”

“I think we are dreaming if we think this is going to work out the way we planned.” She looked down at her hands, which were twisting with anxiety. “Your father will never accept me, accept us together.”

Mason gently tipped her chin up to look at him. His blue eyes sparkled with optimism. “I will take care of my father, don’t worry. And I don’t need or want his approval.”

“Every child wants their parent’s approval. It is just human nature.”

“I’m not a child anymore. He is toxic to anyone he comes in contact with. The time is long overdue for me to cut him out of my life. And the company.”

“I don’t want to come between you and your family.”

“You aren’t.” He dropped his arm around her shoulders and gave her a warm hug. “Trust me. Everything will be fine.”

Danielle did not believe everything would be fine, but she didn’t have the heart to pop Mason’s optimism bubble.

He bent forward and slid the glass door open that separated the driver from the limo passengers. “The apartment first,” he said to the driver, and then closed the door. He turned back to Danielle. “I’ll drop you off at home, and I’ll go on to the office and deal with my Dad. Everything will be fine. Don’t worry.”

Danielle gifted him with a smile she didn’t quite feel. “Alright,” she said.

A half an hour later, Danielle stood outside the elevator to Mason’s penthouse apartment with the numeric code in her hand. She started to key in the code to open the private elevator. As she was about to step inside, a familiar and unwelcome voice called out behind her, sending chills down her spine.

“Already acting like you own the place,” Mr. Rutherford said. He placed his arm across the entrance and let the doors close with a menacing swish.

Danielle let her arms fall to her side as she clinched her fists to keep her hands from shaking. Mason’s father unnerved her with his intense dislike. “Mason gave me the code. He was going to the office to see you,” she said.

“Yes, I know,” he said absently. “Which is why I’m here. I wanted to talk to you alone.”

“You mean corner me and try to intimidate me,” she said, in a voice stronger than she felt. “But you are wasting your time. I don’t intimidate so easily.”

“No, dear girl. You are the one wasting your time. You are going to turn around and go home and by home, I mean back to Savannah and never return. You are never to talk to my boy again. Understand?”

“I don’t take orders from anyone. And Mason is hardly a boy. He is a very accomplished man in his own right, despite how you have thwarted his every effort to be independent.”

“He is too naïve, which is exactly why he ended up married to the likes of you. You are never going to see him again. If you don’t do exactly as I say, your father will never get out of prison. I will make sure of it.”

Danielle’s eyes widened. “How would you do that?”

“I’m way ahead of Mason on this. Any evidence to vindicate your father will disappear.” He snapped his fingers a little too close to her face. “Poof. And he will rot in prison, while I destroy your family name. Any children you had with Mason would be shunned by the public. Would you want to do that to your children?”

Danielle’s body shook with rage. “You would do that to your own grandchildren?”

“I would disown any children spawned by you.”

“Why do you hate me so much? Or do you just hate the world? Or maybe it is yourself you truly hate.”

“Spare me the psychobabble. Surely you know, Mason could never love someone like you.”

She felt her eyes flicker with the sting of tears. It shouldn’t hurt so much to hear what she knew in her heart to be true, but it did. And Mason’s father knew with the instinct of a predator who’s made the killing wound, he’d hit his mark.

“Now promise me you’ll leave and never come back,” he said with a smug expression.

“And how will I have any assurance you aren’t lying to me? You don’t seem like the type of person to keep his word.”

“I will. As long as you keep up your end of the bargain.”

Danielle didn’t have much choice. She would not let her father serve a minute more of his life in prison if she could help it. She’d known this phony marriage to Mason wouldn’t work. She’s simply fooled herself into thinking it was a good idea, a mutually beneficial arrangement between two adults. And she’d fooled herself into thinking she was in love with Mason. She couldn’t be because that would make it too hard to walk away. And walk away she would. She couldn’t stay married to a man who would never love her. It was the only option.

She looked Mr. Rutherford directly in the eyes. “I pity you,” she said. She turned and walked away, leaving Mason’s father glaring at her back, no doubt with a feeling of triumph.

And leaving her shattered heart behind her.