Tangled Vows

“Ah, my dear. So often pride comes before a fall. Your beloved grandfather aside, you owe it to your staff to go through with this. Let’s be honest. You’re not in the best position financially, are you?” Alice paused to let her words sink in. To ensure that Yasmin was aware that she knew exactly what the younger woman’s situation was right now. “The figures you provided as proof of your monetary position were inflated, to put it kindly, and before you ask, yes, we checked.”

Yasmin began to protest but Alice cut her off.

“You gave us every right to examine your financial situation when you signed the contract. Let’s be quite honest with each other. We both know you can most certainly do without the negative public fallout of walking away from your contractual obligations, not to mention the financial fallout from attempting to break your contract with Match Made in Marriage. I know you took out a loan to fund your application. A loan secured by the assets of Carter Air, I believe?”

She watched Yasmin grow pale as her words sank in.

“You’re threatening me with ruin? Really? All to make me marry your grandson?”

“Sometimes, my girl, the ends justify the means. Don’t you think your future happiness is worth it?”

“So you want me, specifically, to marry Ilya. Why?”

Alice studied Yasmin, her ashen face, her clear gray eyes, the set of her pretty mouth and the proud posture as she fought a battle she couldn’t win. She recognized the girl’s spirit; after all, hadn’t she been just such a young woman once? And Alice was no different now. She still fought hard for what was best for everyone she loved. This was important and she was convinced, beyond a doubt, that Ilya and Yasmin belonged together. She wouldn’t have made this match if she hadn’t known, deep in her bones, that they were right for each other. That “knack” she’d mentioned earlier—it had manifested early in her life. A knowing that some might call mumbo jumbo and others prescience. Whatever it was, it was her gift and she only used her gift for good.

Alice loved her eldest grandson, the son of her first-born son, more fiercely than she’d ever believed possible. This woman was the key to his long-term happiness—she knew it as surely as she knew she’d made the right decision when she’d chosen Eduard Horvath for her husband. As surely as she’d known every one of the matches she’d engineered was right. She only hoped Yasmin would come to see that, too.

“I love my grandson dearly, but he works too hard and, deep down, I don’t believe he’s happy. You, whether you realize it or not, hold the key to his future happiness. I wish nothing more than to see him and his bride happy together. It’s as simple—and as complicated—as that.” Alice flicked an invisible speck of dust off the sleeve of her impeccably tailored jacket. “Now, shall we return? We both know you can’t afford not to let this wedding go ahead.”

“But what about the clear conflict of interest? Ilya is my business rival. How are we to manage that?”

“That is something you will need to work out together.”

“No, that’s not enough for me. I need to know that the Horvaths will not interfere with Carter Air. Ilya’s company has either bought or driven out of business every other small charter company at the airfield. I will not let that happen to Carter Air. I made a promise to my grandfather that I would keep his legacy safe.”

Alice nodded and gave Yasmin a small smile of compassion. “Dear girl, I know you loved your grandfather dearly. For all his bluster and noise, he was a man who cared deeply. But sometimes promises made in the heat of the moment should be broken. Is Carter Air truly your passion, or are you merely holding onto an old man’s dream...and his bitterness?”

“How dare you say such a thing? His bitterness? You dumped him! In fact, you didn’t even have the decency to tell him yourself at the time. He had to read your engagement notice in the local paper.”

Alice felt a pang in her chest. “It was for the best.”

“You’ll have to forgive me if I disagree.” Yasmin got up from the sofa and began to pace the floor, the layers of her gown swirling around her like a cloud.

“Fine, I know I can’t afford to break the contract. I’ll go ahead with the wedding, but on one condition.”

“And that is?”

“That our companies remain as two separate entities and Ilya and I never discuss business.”

Alice rose and went to stand in front of Yasmin. “Your businesses are a big part of both your lives. Not being able to share and discuss your day’s work, your challenges and successes, means you’ll only be sharing half a life together. Are you sure this is a wise decision?”

Yasmin’s eyes darkened and her mouth firmed into a straight line before she spoke.

“It’s the only way. If he won’t agree to it then the wedding is off and you will release me from my contract with no penalty because while it would definitely harm my business if it was to be widely known I broke my contract with you, wouldn’t the same be true for Match Made in Marriage? After all, Ilya is your grandson. In itself that would raise eyebrows if your involvement in this was made public, wouldn’t it?”

Alice had to admire the girl’s mettle. She inclined her head slightly. “And you’ll accept my grandson’s word that he will honor your request? I’m sure you’ve heard that his word is his bond.”

Yasmin nodded.

“Fine. I will discuss it with my grandson.”

* * *

“I have to say I’m surprised at how well you’re coping,” Valentin Horvath leaned over and whispered in Ilya’s ear. “After all, it’s not every day a man is rejected by his bride on first sight. Maybe I’m biased, being family and all, but I didn’t think you were that ugly.”

Ilya clenched his jaw and deliberately counted to ten before answering his cousin, who also happened to be one of his closest friends. Valentin headed up Horvath Pharmaceuticals in New York and was generally more serious in nature than his younger, more carefree brother, Galen.

“It’s only to be expected that she would be nervous.”

“And if she doesn’t return?” asked Galen.

“She’ll return.”

“With Nagymama frog-marching her from behind, no doubt,” Valentin said, using the family’s Hungarian nickname for their grandmother.

Galen stifled a laugh. “Can’t say I’ve seen Nagy move quite so quickly in the past few years.”

“Protecting her investment, perhaps,” his brother replied archly. “You know how personally she takes her matches.”

Ilya rolled his eyes. Family ribbing was all very well and good—to be expected under the circumstances—but he was getting impatient. Where the hell was his bride?

He’d recognized Yasmin Carter the moment he’d turned around. So many thoughts had crossed his mind, the first being how stunningly beautiful she was in her wedding gown. Who knew that beneath the flight suits or jeans and a T-shirt he’d seen her wearing at the airfield, she could be so incredibly feminine, or so vulnerably fragile. That first glimpse of her today had appealed to an instinct his family constantly teased him about—his need to protect and provide for those he cared for. He hadn’t expected to feel that for his bride immediately, but he had—deeply and viscerally. His response had made him want to follow her when she’d turned and left after her awkward pronouncement. It was only his grandmother’s hurried whisper that she would deal with it that had prevented him from chasing Yasmin as she’d bolted from the room, even though every cell in his body had called on him to do so.

He looked at his watch again and fought not to start tapping his foot in impatience. The women had been gone twenty minutes now.

“The natives are getting restless,” Valentin observed as he cast his eyes over the assembled family and friends who’d been able to make it on short notice. “It’s a good thing you have the champagne flowing, Galen.”

Galen was the head of Horvath’s hotel and resort chain. He’d automatically switched into damage control mode the moment the wedding had gone off the rails. Ilya refused the offer of a waiter passing by with a tray of beverages. He needed a clear head today.

A movement in the doorway attracted his attention and he started toward his grandmother before anyone else noticed her.

“Is Yasmin all right?” he asked as his grandmother tugged him into the hallway.

“You recognized her?”

“Of course I did. While I’m left wondering what madness possessed you to match her to me, I’ve learned to trust you. But does she? She’s more skittish than I would have thought.”

“And so you ought to trust your grandmother. I only ever have your best interests at heart,” Alice said, patting him fondly on the cheek. “We have a small problem.”

A small problem? He would have thought his bride running away from the ceremony was a bit more than that.

“She has a stipulation if the wedding is to proceed,” his grandmother continued.

“And that is?”

“She’s very protective of Carter Air. She will go ahead with this, provided that you two never discuss business together and that your companies remain two separate entities. Therefore, no mergers, no buyouts, no sharing of information.”

“And that’s it?”