Chapter 3

OLIVER

I followed Mari and Pierce to his house and watched her ass sway as she walked up the steps of the second floor headed to her bedroom. My cousin stuck her in the same hallway as him—a private section of his home, which he didn't grant most people access to see.

The gesture didn't go unnoticed, at least for me.

Mari disappeared from sight, and Pierce turned to me. "What do you think?" he asked, like she was a prized horse and he wanted to get my opinion on her pedigree. But he'd already purchased her, and for a hefty sum if I knew Pierce.

My stomach flopped, something I'd eaten for lunch not settling right. "Get her in the right outfit and she can definitely look the part."

Mari was gorgeous. Long red hair brushed her shoulders, and a petite frame made her appear soft, but it only took one look into her eyes to see she was anything but a kitten. If the eyes were a window to the soul, Mari's soul carried fire. She held herself with a certain grace that only came from a woman who understood she was in control and had power.

When my cousin told me his plans of asking her to be a fake fiancé, he hadn't mentioned her beauty. Or the way my heart would skip a beat when I spotted her beside Pierce on the sidewalk. The two of them looked like a cute pair, like two mega-wealthy people out surveying their land.

I didn't like it.

But I couldn't figure out why. Who cared what games Pierce played with Pelican Bay? He owned most of the small town and did what he wanted.

"How much did you offer her?" I asked, walking into his kitchen and searching for a bottle of water to calm my stomach.

Pierce shrugged. "Two million for six months of her time. I'm fairly positive it's an overestimate from the reports I've seen from her volunteer site in Guatemala, but if she pulls this off, it will be worth every penny."

Two million was only a drop in the bucket to Pierce. I'd seen him spend more in a single night in a charity event with a good cause. He didn't need to force Mari to be his fake fiancée for a measly two million. He'd give that money because he woke up extra generous one morning. Was something more going on behind the curtain? Did Pierce find Mari as appealing as I did? Did he think he had six months to woo her?

We didn't have the same taste in women often, but growing up we'd both been singularly in love with Drew Barrymore. Maybe he hadn't lost his love for a redheaded woman.

I untwisted the top of a water bottle and took a drink. "What are your plans?"

If he outlined exactly what he wanted to do with Mari, I'd gain relief to the weird ache in my chest. Nothing would be happening between them under the sheets, but I wanted to learn what he'd cooked up in that devilish brain of his.

Everyone knew Pierce for his ability to make a long-term plan and follow it through to the end.

He caught the water bottle I tossed him and leaned against his kitchen island. "For your solar project? I figured we'd tour a few locations while you're here. I have a good prospect picked out in Clearwater that you'll enjoy."

Right, solar power—the primary reason I stopped by Pelican Bay.

"No, I trust you with that. I mean with Mari." Sometimes Pierce, even with his genius brain for strategy, could be dense.

He looked at the table after processing my question, which meant he wasn't about to tell the whole truth. It was a horrible tell, but I didn't plan to inform him of the tic.

"Morgan, my real estate agent and I will close on the bed-and-breakfast property in two weeks. I've made a cash offer, which will speed things up, but I need to do another walk-through before I sign the final papers. After that, I plan to use Mari as a point of contact. I'll be making the decisions for the property, but they will come through her. Everything must look like she's heavily involved. I'm hoping she'll soften a few hearts over the changes I want to make, and the city will be more willing to accept them."

I didn't appreciate the way he said "he planned to use her," but it wasn't the time to nitpick. "Why do you think the town will have a better response to Mari than you?"

Pierce's attention slipped for a moment as he stared out into the ocean. "There's been quite a few protests after your brother demolished the building downtown and started putting up his skyscraper. Everything I do is scrutinized."

My brother Jerome didn't understand why anyone cared for the old building.

"How do you know you aren't guaranteeing her to a fate of being hated just for associating with you?"

"I don't, but it's worth a shot and there are other perks to having her here."

My fist clenched. "Explain."

Pierce only smirked and took a sip from his water. "Those are private."

"But you have no plans to shower her with gifts and win her over?" He was planning to win her affection.

"Mari?" Pierce asked after swallowing and wiping water away from the corner of his lips.

"Yes." Who else would we be talking about? Did he not find her as attractive as I did?

He laughed, recapped the water bottle and leaned across the counter, slapping me on the back. "No, she seems very determined, but not my style. Mari is just a tool—a little help to get the job done around here."

How did Pierce talk so cavalierly regarding another human being? Sometimes I understood why he had a shit reputation in this town. He was a wonderful philanthropist, but he let his quest to win and play a game based on his own rules impede being a decent human being.

"Be nice, cousin. She is a person."

He rolled his eyes and walked out of the kitchen, finding his way up to the second-floor office with me trailing behind him. "I'll provide what she needs while she's here. Food, clothing, shelter. You have nothing to worry about for her sake."

Mari's basic needs weren't what concerned me. Pierce could be a bulldozer who plowed over everyone in his path if they stood in the way of what he wanted. My trip to Pelican Bay wouldn't be a long detour from my operations in Africa, but I wanted to pop in, meet Pierce's new fiancée, and then put him in charge of the decisions on the East Coast.

But maybe that needed to change.

Someone needed to monitor him. Pierce had a great business mind, but I was better at oversight, meeting with the people at locations. I didn't have it in me to spend long hours at a desk. I needed the wind on my face and the surrounding community. Pierce played in the boardroom while I played in the field and in the dirt.

Now, the thought of leaving Pelican Bay didn't sit well. I needed to protect Mari from Pierce, and possibly the town. She would need an ally in her corner when Pierce locked himself away in his office for days at a time while working through the final details of acquiring the bed-and-breakfast. And after that would come his next conquest. There was always something else.

"You cool if I stay here while we look over these factories?" I asked, taking the seat in one chair in front of Pierce's office and propping my feet up on his desk.

Pierce scowled at my foot placement but didn't push them off. "I thought you wanted to stay on your yacht? Isn't that the reason you gave me for buying the ostentatious thing? So you'd always have a place to lay your head?"

"I'm ready for a little dry land."

Pierce smiled. "Sure, Oliver. You're always welcome here. Your room is available."

I frowned and flicked my ring finger with my thumb. I forgot my standard room at Pierce's home was on the other side of the mansion, away from where he and Mari were saying.

"Thanks," I said, unwilling to let Pierce see my disappointment.

Mari was Pierce's fiancée, even if she was a fake one, and I didn't want to get in the way of my cousin's plans. Peirce had never been good with sharing.