What the hell are you doing?โ Alisa hissed.
The two of us wereโpurportedlyโalone, but even with no one visibly listening, I didnโt want to explain anything that could tip my hand to Blake. โWhat I have to,โ I said, hoping Alisa would read so much more in my tone.
I have a plan.
I can do this.
You have to trust me.
Alisa stared at me like Iโd grown horns. โYou absolutely do not have to do this.โ
I wasnโt going to win this argument, so I didnโt even try.
I just waited for her to realize that I wasnโt backing down.
When she did, Alisa swore under her breath and looked away. โDo you know why Nash and I broke off our engagement?โ she asked in a tone that was far too calm for both the words sheโd spoken and our current situation. โHe was so determined that his grandfather wasnโt going to pull his stringsโor mine. He expected me to walk away from all things Hawthorne, too.โ
โAnd you couldnโt.โ I wasnโt sure where she was going with this.
โNash was raised to be extraordinary,โ Alisa said. โBut he wasnโt the only one the old man had a hand in raising, so yes, I stayed.โ Alisa clipped the words, refusing to allow them more importance than she had to. โI did what Nashย shouldย have done. It cost me everything, but before Mr. Hawthorne passed, he stipulated to my father and the other partners that I would be the one who took the lead with
you.โ She looked down. โI can just hear what the old man would say about the mess Iโve made of my job. First, I let myself get kidnapped, and now this.โ
The mess that she thought I was making right now.
โOr maybe,โ I told her in a tone that somehow captured her attention, โyouโve done exactly what he raised you to doโexactly what heย chose youย to do.โ
I willed her to read meaning into my emphasis.ย He didnโt just choose you. He chose me, too, Alisaโand maybe Iโm doing exactly what he chose me for.
Slowly, the expression in her deep brown eyes shifted. She knew that I was telling her to believe that Iโd been chosen for a reason. Thatย thisย was the reason.
This was our play.
โDo you have any idea how risky this is?โ Alisa asked me. โIt always has been,โ I replied, โfrom the moment Tobias
Hawthorne changed his will.โ
This was his very risky gambleโand mine.
