Emily POV
"You don't know me." I say, evidencing the obviousness of the situation. Nathan's gaze then leaves my face and travels to Michael's, looking suspicious. "You don't know me, do you?"
I see him swallow dryly, he hesitates for a few seconds before looking at me again and confesses: "When you called and gave me your name, I asked someone to check you out."
No, this was already too much.
"In less than an hour? You managed to investigate me in less than an hour?" Without waiting for his answer, I get up from the couch and pick up my things ready to leave: "I'm sorry I can't help you with your rich problem, but this situation already seems crazy to me, I'm leaving."
I walk once to the elevator, but Nathan doesn't hesitate to stop me quickly.
"How could I ask you to move into my house without knowing you?" He asks me obviously.
"Then why were you surprised that I said I worked in a coffee shop?"
"That wasn't in the report." The fact that he mentioned that there was a whole report with my personal data, gave me the creeps: "Please, think about it a little."
Again he looks at me with those pleading eyes, enrapturing me a little in the depths of his brown eyes.
"But I don't know you." I whisper to him, easing my bad temper a little as I could see the urgency in his expressions. "This sounds so crazy."
I sigh exhaustedly, bury my face in my hands and restrain my urge to throw myself out of one of the windows.
"I offer you something else. If you accept my proposal, I will give you the amount of money you ask for" Nathan suddenly say, and I take my face out of my hands and look at him without being able to believe him. Before I could respond to his proposal he adds: "And no, I don't want to buy you. I'm only willing to do whatever it takes to get that inheritance, Emily."
I could not deny it. With money on the table, the proposal sounded more tempting, I could use what I got to pay off my parents' debts and even buy them a house of their own. However, something in me would not allow me to say yes.
"Give me time to think." I ask.
He shakes his head and replies: "I don't have much time."
I lift my shoulders, downplaying his demands.
"Two days at the most, I need to meditate all this" I pass him leaving him motionless, I press the elevator button and with my head, I indicate Lana that it was time to go: "If you need me urgently call me, I guess you must already know even where I live."
The elevator finally arrives, and without looking at him I leave.
***
Nathan's POV
When the elevator doors close, I turn around feeling totally dejected. I walk over to the couches and throw myself onto them, hiding my face with the inside of my arm.
"That came out of the shit." I exclaim, feeling embarrassed: "I have never in my life pushed someone so hard Mike."
Michael appears in the living room with a glass of water and holds it out to me, setting it down on the coffee table.
"In my opinion, it wasn't so bad." He confesses and I look at him incredulously. "Yes, the girl was upset at first, my friend, but if she had wanted to, she would have refused from the very first moment, and I don't think that happened."
His words give me some hope, but I still prefer not to get my hopes up.
"I don't know Michael, I didn't see her very convinced either." I curse with a shout full of frustration, I get up from the couch and start walking around the apartment: "None of this would be happening if it wasn't for that stupid clause. At what point did it occur to us that this would be a good idea?"
"If that clause didn't exist, they would have voted for your brother in the first place. It just buys you time to show your family that you're worth it too."
By putting things another way, I reevaluated the situation and realize that what you say is true. If this had gone any other way, Harry would have been riding in that position by now.
Yet I still wasn't getting the other half vital to my plan.
"Now that I think about all this a bit, you didn't mention to the girl about the marriage, or did you?" He questions with a frown: "I didn't hear you mention it."
I rub my hair with both hands obviously stressed: "If she got that hysterical just asking her to be my fake girlfriend for a while, imagine what would happen if I had told her I needed her as my fiancée too."
Hearing me, Michael raises his eyebrows and shoulders simultaneously looking prejudiced.
"It was something you should have mentioned to her, man. If not, what's the plan?" He asks.
I'm silent for a moment, considering my options.
"Get to know each other, become really good friends. And then, when she feels a little sorry for me, let her know the news" Again my answers don't seem to convince him.
He exhales sharply and announces his departure without touching the subject further.
We bump fists, he gathers his things and heads for the elevator. "It's been long days of fruitless searching, but I think we've finally found the girl, brother, we just need to convince her."
He winks at me and disappears from my sight, entering the elevator.
Once I'm alone, I take my phone out of my back pants pocket and look for the document that my good investigator friend had sent me with all of Emily's information.
Even if he had missed the small detail that the girl worked in a coffee shop, he had done a good job. I poked around in the attachments, and then maxed out some photos they had taken from her social networks.
Yes, she was definitely the right girl for the job. She was young, humble in character, and a perfect stranger to my family, so they would buy any story I told them. Besides, I could bet my entire fortune that my mother would love the simplicity of her beauty. Those brown hairs, that small but well-endowed body, those full lips, that small nose, and those beautiful green eyes.
Yes, for sure my mother would love her.