“Yeah, well, you all scared me a little too by engaging in illegal activities. I think faking a faint is barely a misdemeanor considering you all are committing felonies,” Julien said.

  “What are you talking about?” Mr. Brite demanded, his face red and angry.

  “We’ll get to that in a second,” Remi said. “The second thing you need to know is that Julien and I are together. And that’s the least of your problems.”

  “Problems?” Mrs. Brite repeated, looking nervously at her husband.

  “Big problems,” Julien said. “Remi, you know this stuff better than I do. Can you explain it?”

  “Happily,” she said. “You see, Tyson Balt owns Verona Downs. And Hijinks and Shenanigans are the favorites for the Verona Downs Stakes race. Everybody bets on the favorites. If they lose and one of the long-shots wins, Tyson Balt and Verona Downs will be swimming in money. Mr. Balt paid our parents ten million dollars each to whip the press into a frenzy over the biggest horseracing rivalry in decades and then throw the race. Neither Shenanigans nor Hijinks will win and Balt will be richer than God.”

  Remi held up a series of emails Merrick had printed out.

  “I’ve got emails from Balt to everyone in this room about the race fix. Don’t even bother to deny it.”

  “Remi, honey,” her mom began.

  Remi held up her hand.

  “I don’t want to hear any excuses,” she said. “Do you know how much trouble you all could be in if the racing commission found out about this? Do you?”

  All four parents remained silent.

  “Do you have any idea how humiliating this would be if the scandal broke? It would be all over the racing news for weeks. Arden and Capital would become laughingstocks and pariahs. Pariahs,” she repeated, knowing how much her family and Julien’s cared about public opinion.

  “And all for what?” she continued. “Money.”

  “That money is your money too,” her father said. “We did this for you and the farm. Do you have any idea how expensive it is to run a Thoroughbred Farm?”

  “Of course I do,” she said, pointing at herself. “I’m the damn farm manager, Dad. I know we’re doing fine. We’re not billionaires, but nobody’s starving around here. And did you really think I wouldn’t notice what an ass you all were being in the news? That stupid feud should have never started to begin with. Julien and I got a little carried away, but it was nobody’s business but ours. Did you think I would just stand by and let you all drag our good names through the mud? Did you think I wouldn’t notice you all bought the new farm and paid cash? Do you all think I wouldn’t notice the Brites dropping ten million at the auctions? How stupid do you all think I am?”

  She waited. No one wanted to touch that question. Wise decision.

  “Here’s the thing,” Remi said, and took Julien’s hand in hers. “I had my suspicions, and I needed someone in the Brite family to help me confirm them. Julien did. And in addition to helping us get all this lovely evidence, he and I, well, how would you put it?”

  “We’re in love,” Julien said. “Madly and completely in love. For starters.”

  “What do you want with us?” Mr. Brite, Julien’s stern father, asked.

  “That is a fantastic question,” Remi said. “And luckily we have a fantastic answer. Capital Hills has a nice crop of yearlings. Arden just bought a second farm. You’re going to give me and Julien the yearlings and the farm. We’ll sell the yearlings and you all can call it a donation. Oh, and we want Shenanigans and Hijinks too. You all don’t deserve those horses.”

  “You want what?” Mr. Brite asked, utterly aghast.

  “A plague on both your horses!” Merrick shouted.

  Remi turned around and glared at him.

  “Sorry,” he said. “I always wanted to say that.”

  “We want your ill-gotten gains,” Julien said. “And we’re going to use them for good. Remi and I are going to turn the farm into an equine therapy non-profit to help sick, disabled, and poor teenagers. And you all are funding it. Congrats. Criminals to philanthropists in one afternoon.”

  “We are, are we?” her father asked, sounding both angry and skeptical. “I’m not entirely sure I’m on board with this plan.”

  “Tough shit,” Remi said. “You lost your vote in this matter when you put our entire farm and our family’s reputation at risk. You all should be ashamed of yourselves. And even if you’re not, you’re going to make amends for it anyway.”

  “She’s so sexy when she gets tough like this,” Merrick said.

  “Totally agree,” Julien said, and he and Merrick fist-bumped.

  “The Brites and the Montgomerys can’t simply start a non-profit together,” Mrs. Brite said. “We’re incorporated businesses. And the rivalry in the press-”

  “Is over,” Remi said. “Done. Finished. Kaput. It’s history. Now and forever. And you all will be holding a press conference in one week to announce to the world that the feud is over. The Brites and the Montgomerys have forgiven each other. The press will eat it up. Then you’ll announce that the creation of Shenanigans—a day camp that will be funded by Arden Farms and Capital Hills for needy, sick, and disabled teenagers. And you won’t be taking another cent from Tyson Balt ever again. You won’t be betting money on horse-racing ever again. And you won’t be throwing another race. Ever. Again.”

  Remi paused and let the words sink in.

  “And if we don’t?” Mr. Brite asked after a minute’s pause.

  “Your son and I will be giving the racing commission a call.”

  “You’d turn on us? Your own family?” her father asked.

  “Me? I’m the one turning on the family?” Remi was aghast. “You got greedy and put our good name and reputation at stake. Julien and I could have just called the commission. Instead we’re giving you all a way to exit this idiocy with grace and dignity.”

  “I don’t even know who you are anymore. This isn’t the Remi Montgomery I know and love,” her mother said in her most scolding tone.

  “No, it isn’t,” Remi said. “Because I’m not Remi Montgomery.”

  “What?” her mother gasped.

  “She’s Remi Brite,” Julien said with a wide victorious smile. “We got married in Paris. Merrick took pictures.”

  “They’re right here,” Merrick said and held up his iPhone. “Doesn’t Remi look pretty in her dress? I picked it out. Oh, and here’s the marriage document-license-thingie.” He held the certificate up for the room to see. “Voila! That’s French for ‘Voila!’.”

  “It’s a good thing we did get married,” Remi said, turning to kiss him quick on the mouth. “The nurse said family only was allowed in your room. I wrote her a little note that said I’m your wife and these are your in-laws.”

  “Hi, in-laws,” Julien waved at the room.

  “You got married?” Mrs. Brite breathed, staring bug-eyed at her son.

  “I know it’s a little sudden,” Julien admitted, wincing. “But it was the best way to guarantee…What did you call it, Merrick?”

  “A merger,” Merrick said. “And these two crazy kids have been merging like crazy. In your house last night even.”

  “I can’t help it,” Remi said without apology. “I missed my husband.”

  “My daughter and Julien Brite got married,” her mother repeated. “Married? Married to Julien Brite?”

  “Say ‘married’ a few more times,” Merrick said. “It’s starting to sound like ‘Merrick.’”

  “It was definitely a wedding. There was a French minister, and we were in a church and it was all quite romantic,” Remi said, her voice strong and true. True because it was true—the church, the flowers, the ceremony. “Sorry you missed it.”

  Her mother looked at Remi, then Julien, then back at Remi, and sat back down in her chair. But she didn’t faint so that was good.

  “Are you telling us the truth?” her father demanded. He stared her straight in the eyes. Everyone knew she always choked when she had to lie to anyone.

  Remi calmly faced her father.

  “Church. Minister. Wedding ceremony. Me. Julien. Vows. Document signed, sealed, and…” She grabbed the document from Merrick’s hand. “And delivered.”

  She gave the marriage certificate to her father.

  “You’re not lying,” her mother said, looking wild-eyed at the document.

  “Mom, you’ve been telling me for two years to find a nice guy and settle down. I found the nice guy. We’re settling down. And yes, it is sudden and shocking, but it is also the smartest thing I’ve ever done.”

  “Can’t wait for the honeymoon,” Julien said.

  “Will you marry me?” Merrick said to Salena.

  “Absolutely not,” Salena said.

  “Why not?”

  “You’re bizarre, arrogant, and insufferable.”

  Merrick didn’t seem at all surprised or disappointed.

  “We can keep fucking though, right?”

  “That goes without saying.”

  Remi’s mother had her hand on her forehead. Her father looked like he might throw up. Julien’s father and mother were arguing with each other. No one was having a heart attack.

  She’d call it a win.

  “Want to get out of here, Mr. Brite?” she asked Julien.

  “I’ve made a miraculous recovery overnight, Mrs. Brite,” Julien said.

  “And you did say something about a honeymoon,” Remi said.

  “Any suggestions?” Julien asked as he shoved his feet into his shoes and grabbed his jacket.

  By the next morning, all four of them were on their way back to Paris.

  Epilogue

  Shenanigans

  Remi and Julien’s parents didn’t speak to them for nearly three months. It wasn’t so much that Remi and Julien had extorted million of dollars from them. The families admitted they’d been greedy and in the wrong. But Remi and Julien had waited until the day after the press conference to tell their parents the truth—their wedding in Paris hadn’t been legally binding.

  Remi was never quite sure what Merrick had said to the French minister or how much he’d bribed him to perform the wedding and sign off on a semi-official-looking document. She didn’t know and she didn’t want to know. The ruse of the wedding had been for her sake anyway. Merrick knew Remi would never be able to lie to her parents with a straight face and say she’d gotten married if she hadn’t actually gotten married. She knew they weren’t legally married but it was enough that she could look her mother in the eyes and say she and Julien had a wedding. It was a dirty trick to convince their parents that they had no choice but to give up the rivalry now that the only Montgomery daughter had married the only Brite son. If the two families had merged, the two businesses were merged whether they liked it or not. Remi and Julien considered this little hoax of theirs nothing more than payback for the high-priced and dangerous fraud their parents had been perpetuating.

  With their parents still not speaking to them, Remi and Julien spent Christmas Day alone together. But the privacy suited them just fine as Julien asked her to marry him on Christmas Eve. They celebrated her “yes, yes, absolutely yes” by making love under the tree. Twice.

  By New Year’s, their families jointly forgave them at a dinner party Remi hosted. Remi wanted to believe this forgiveness was born of their parents seeing the error of their ways, repenting, and turning over a new leaf. In truth, she knew it was the reams of good press that Capital Hills and Arden Farms had gotten all over the world that had changed their minds. The “moving, touching, awe-inspiring” decision to bury the hatchet and create a children’s charity that would let sick, disabled, and needy children spend time riding and caring for horses would cement the Brites’ and the Montgomerys’ legacy of giving and service to Kentucky and the horse-racing world. Every racing family in the tri-state area had stepped up and pledged money to the cause. The Raileys had already written them a check for five million that their parents accepted in an embarrassingly staged photo op at Verona Downs.

  Remi didn’t take it too personally that her parents and Julien’s parents were taking all the credit for the idea of the charity and acting as if this merger had been their plan all along. All Remi cared about was Julien, her horses, Merrick and Salena, and their plans for the future.

  And getting her fiancé into bed.

  Right now.

  In November, they’d moved into their new place—the farm her parents had, against their will, given them for the non-profit. By January it already felt like home. Julien had started school again at the University of Kentucky and was working toward a degree in psychology so he could better help the kids who would be served by their charity. At age twenty-six, she was officially engaged to a college freshman and she couldn’t be happier about it. Remi had set up an office for him in the rambling Victorian house that had come with the acreage. He looked so cute sitting at his desk, hunched over his textbook and laptop that all she could do was stroll in and stand there waiting for him to notice her.

  The wait lasted about one second.

  “Oh damn,” Julien said, sitting back in his chair. He stared at her wide-eyed.

  “I told you I still had the outfit.” She’d put on her old dressage clothes for him—tan jodhpurs, leather gloves, velvet coat, white shirt with tie, and of course, the riding boots.

  “I can’t breathe,” Julien said.

  “Should I call Salena?” Remi batted her eyelashes. “Or should I just take the outfit off?”

  “Option B, please.” Julien got out of his chair and came to her. He cupped the back of her neck and kissed her with bruising force.

  She pulled away and grabbed him by the hand. They’d had office sex shortly after moving in. Some things were better left to a big comfortable bed.

  Once in their bedroom, Remi shut and locked the door behind her. Merrick had been wandering around earlier, and she didn’t want him wandering into their bedroom by accident. Knowing him, it wouldn’t be an accident. She pushed Julien down onto his back and straddled his hips.

  He put up no fight whatsoever.

  “I love the braid.” Julien tugged on the end of her French braid.

  “Easiest hairstyle to fit under a helmet,” she said as she unbuttoned his shirt. She ran her gloved hands all over his bare chest.

  “Plus I can do this,” he said, gently tugging on her braid to pull her head back. He rose up and kissed the exposed flesh of her neck.

  “Even better.” She purred the words as she kissed him again, long and deep and with all the love and passion she felt for him. And she did love and knew she would love him forever. The stars would burn out long before her love for him did.

  Once more she pushed him onto his back. She unzipped his jeans and wrapped her gloved hand around him.

  “That is weird,” he said, gasping slightly.

  “Never had leather on your cock before?”

  He shook his head.

  “Never. I kind of like it though. Maybe.” He narrowed his eyes. “No, wait. I definitely like it. No, I love it.”

  She rubbed him gently, feeling him getting harder and harder with every long stroke. Julien propped up on his elbows and watched her touch him. Well…if he wanted a good show, she could give him a good show.

  Remi sat back and lowered her head, taking him into her mouth.

  Julien collapsed onto his back with a groan.

  “Oh my God…” he breathed. “Blow job with you in riding clothes…Teenaged-Julien is somewhere in the past with a massive hard-on and a smile on his face and he has no idea why.”

  Remi didn’t answer. Her mouth was a bit too busy to speak at the moment. She ravished him with her tongue, licking him from base to tip and back down again. She tasted the first drops of his semen. Good. She wanted him to come in her mouth. He’d been working so hard today. He deserved it.

  She gripped the base and worked her mouth up and down his length. At first she went slowly to tease him. Once his breathing hastened, she moved faster to coax him to the edge. She loved hearing him pant for her, loved seeing his eyes closed and his lips parted and his fingers digging into the sheets of the bed they shared and made love in nearly every night. She hoped that somewhere out there their parents were quietly fuming that she and Julien had won. Life was undeniably good right now and was only getting better.

  In a few months, life would get even better than it was right now, and she couldn’t wait to tell him why.

  Julien’s breathing quickened as she sucked him deep into her mouth. He said her name once and then came with a rush, his shoulders coming off the bed from the reflex of pleasure.

  She swallowed every drop of him and wiped off her lips with the back of her gloved hand.

  “You are the sexiest woman alive,” Julien breathed. “It’s ridiculous. If you got any sexier, I don’t think I’d make it.”

  “No?” she asked, as she got off the bed and unzipped her boots. “What if I did this?”

  She slipped out of her jodhpurs.

  “The world becomes a better place when you take your pants off,” Julien said, watching her every move.

  “What if I did this?” She slipped her feet back into her boots and zipped them again.

  “You without pants on and wearing boots is…” Julien paused.

  “What?”

  “Well, it could only get better if-”

  Remi slithered out of her panties and tossed them onto Julien’s chest.

  “That,” he said.

  She straddled his hips again and rubbed herself gently against him.

  “I’m going,” he sighed. “I’m not going to make it. You’re so sexy it’s killing me…I’m going…going…”

  On the “gone” he grabbed her and flipped her onto her back. In a tangle of arms and legs and laughing, Remi ended up with her head hanging off the bed and Julien between her thighs. Good place for him to be, the perfect place even.

  With quick rough fingers, Julien unbuttoned her coat and the white shirt underneath. He kissed her breasts as he gently teased her clitoris. When he’d grown hard again, he pushed deep into her.