The next day, Parker woke up mercifully alone. She had been worried she would drink too much and end up in bed with Cox. She had a hangover but that was a small price to pay to dull the memory of their first date. She made a pot of coffee and drank down half of it before she took a shower.
Parker dressed for the day, a short skirt, tight blouse, 4 inch heels. She drank another cup of coffee and checked her mail from the day before. There was a message on her machine. She considered leaving it for after work, but she never knew what time she'd be home and it could be important. It wasn't. It was her evil twin calling to see how her date went. She rolled her eyes and deleted the message.
She thought about the coming changes to her life. Raines had made it crystal clear what he expected. Cox… he didn't really discuss any of that last night. Their dinner was more about getting to know each other. But they didn't discuss any specifics about the marriage or what he wanted from her. If he would want her to keep working or quit and take care of the kids they were supposed to have. Where would they live? Any other changes that came with married life and kids.
Parker was not prepared to think about this right now. She had a meeting with some clients about a research contract and it would mean a lot of money if she nailed it. It would certainly win her some points with the Chairman.
She arrived in her office at 7:30 sharp. She was already wired from the caffeine. She needed to eat something. Her evil twin came in as she sat down and set a bag in front of her. Lyle winked and sat across from her. "You look like you need something to eat."
Parker raised an eyebrow and silently ate her cinnamon roll while her brother droned on about something Cox had told him the day before about upgrades to the medical wing. The Centre wasn't exactly flush with cash at this point but this contract she was negotiating would go a long way to helping with that. Upgrades, new equipment, better personnel. A lot was riding on this contract. She knew all this, of course. Raines had given them the lecture the day before during the meeting where he had given them their orders to get married.
Parker knew what was at stake. Her head, for one. But she was prepared. She was unflappable. She was a Parker, damn it, and she would nail this contract. She would get the money and knock her slimy twin brother down a peg or two.
She rolled her eyes as Lyle continued to talk and she pretended that she was listening. He wasn't even looking at her. He was looking at papers he had brought down, hoping to get in on the meeting himself. Too bad, baby brother, this meeting is all mine.
Miss Parker left Lyle in her office, looking like a kicked puppy. She didn't believe his wounded look for a second though and went off to make her deal. She was glad the meeting did not take as long as she feared. They knew what they wanted and the Centre got more money than Parker had anticipated.
Her meeting with Raines afterwards was not as fulfilling but he didn't have anything truly disparaging to say to her. Only that she should have let Lyle come to the meeting. She should have known that he would whine to the Chairman about it. She still refused to refer to Raines as her father. She would rather die than acknowledge that horrifying fact about her family tree.
Parker returned to her office and found a bouquet of flowers waiting for her. There wasn't a card but she had a feeling they were from Cox. She rolled her eyes and told her assistant to find her a vase. She wanted to throw them away but he was making an effort. She supposed she should too. It was thoughtful. Especially since she pointedly rejected any attempt at physical contact aside from a guiding hand on her back. He had once again kissed her hand at the end of their evening together, apparently getting the message that anything more was ill-advised at this point.
Sydney came in around lunch and dragged her out to celebrate her contract. He was happy for her. He only hoped there would be more to celebrate in the coming months.
"How was dinner with Dr. Cox last night?"
"Not as terrible as expected. I found out that he does not always drive a pick up truck, so that's a positive." She took a drink of her wine. She knew she shouldn't drink at lunch but she had just made $105 million for the Centre. She may just take the rest of the day off.
"When is the ceremony?"
Parker shrugged. "We did not discuss that. We just… talked. About college mostly. But he insinuated that he was going to move into my house. I hope he doesn't think he's bringing his little friends into my house. Those things creep me out."
Sydney smiled gently at his young friend. She was so spirited. He hoped that would never change. "Miss Parker, just remember that you will need to give in to some of his requests. He is dangerous. Right now, he may be politely courting you but that could change at any moment. And when you marry…" He didn't go on. She already knew and he didn't want to say it out loud.
Parker closed her eyes. "I know, Syd. I don't want to think about all this. It's too much. Cox is such a wild card. I know this, but I have no other option at this point. I am sure we can reach some sort of compromise about his hobby and his friends. Maybe a building in the backyard. I just need time, but that is not something I have a lot of." She drank more of her wine. She wouldn't drink too much wine like she had with the coffee - she was still wired from that.
"What about this requirement to have children?"
"I really do not want to think about that. My skin crawls where he touches it. Even when he touches my back…" Parker shuddered. She didn't continue. Sydney was worried about her. She would need to get over her aversion soon. The end of the summer was quickly approaching. And he had heard from Lyle that there was a deadline to produce a child.
"Do not resist him for long, Miss Parker. I do not wish for you to end up like your mother."
Parker had already thought of that. She had woken with a start that morning from a terrible dream about her married life with Cox. He had been endearing in public but at home with her and the children, he had been just like Raines. He had been cruel, manipulative. He pitted the children against each other and against her. It was possibly what she feared most about this. She didn't want innocent children to suffer because of her husband - their father. Like she and her brother.
"I know, Syd. I won't. I just need a week or so to take it all in. It was so sudden, this time yesterday, I would never have thought about marrying Cox. Now, it is all I can think about. He sent me flowers. They're in my office."
"I saw them. They are lovely. He seems like he wants to treat you right."
"I am choosing to be cautiously optimistic." Sydney raised an eyebrow at that. "I can be optimistic. Don't give me that look, Sydney."
Sydney smirked. He had hope that she could be happy with Cox. If she didn't kill him first.
Sydney took her home with the promise that someone would bring her car to the house later that evening. There would be hell to pay with Raines the next day for leaving after lunch but she would deal with that tomorrow. Today she wanted to drink some more and be away from everyone. Especially Lyle and Cox.
Parker was surprised when they both came to her house later that evening with her car. Lyle had driven her car and Cox had come to drive him home. They both came into the house. Parker had not really stopped drinking since she came home and was more than drunk. Lyle scolded her and told her she needed to stop and go to bed. Cox, on the other hand, insisted that they should feed her and try to sober her up before sending her to bed. He found something light for her to eat and Lyle convinced her to eat while Cox drew her a bath.
Lyle smirked as Cox led his sister to the bathroom and shut her in. He didn't go in with her but kept talking to her while she was in there to make sure she didn't drown in the bathtub.
After tucking her in for the night and hiding the rest of the alcohol, they left her to sleep it off. Lyle set her clock to go off at 5 AM because he had missed out on tormenting her as they grew up and wanted to make up for it.
Lyle followed Cox out to his car. Lyle was tired but Cox, ever the night owl, was planning to go back to the Centre to work on a side project for a few hours. He said he could concentrate better with fewer people around.
"Why didn't you go into the bathroom with her?"
Cox looked over at Lyle in the passenger's seat. The two worked well together but they weren't exactly friends. One does not make friends of their coworkers at the Centre. "Because she was drunk and has made it abundantly clear how uncomfortable she is with me. It would not have been appropriate."
Lyle considered that. His views on appropriateness were so skewed that he didn't even have any sort of metric that would compare to anything a normal person would consider moral or right. Lyle did what he wanted without any regard to what anyone else wanted. Apparently Cox did not feel the same.
"You're getting married. You're going to see her naked. What's the difference?"
"Mr. Lyle, I may be a lot of things, but a rapist is not one of them. If Miss Parker is not comfortable with my advances then I will not pressure her or deliberately try to make her uncomfortable. Of course, I do understand there are certain expectations that are to be met, but we aren't even married yet. We have time."
That hit Lyle- if he had wanted it, he would have taken it without any regard to the woman's feelings. He routinely kidnapped women and held them in his shed.
"Lyle, I plan to treat your sister with respect and kindness. She didn't ask for this but I did. I wanted Mr. Raines to put me on her list. Miss Parker is a lovely woman. Any man would be lucky to have her in his life." Lyle couldn't argue with that - he was fascinated with Miss Parker the day he met her. It really was a shame she was his sister.
"I don't think respect and kindness were what Raines had in mind when he put you on that list. I saw that list- nothing but sociopath sweepers and a few degenerates in research. I'm glad she picked you. Dad would have been happy. I think he really liked you."
Cox pulled into the parking lot at Lyle's complex and parked the car. "Lyle, your father wanted me to protect his children. All of them. The baby as well as you and your sister. The biology did not matter to him. You were born of his beloved wife. He raised Miss Parker and then he found out that you were her brother. He really wanted to care for you as he cared for her. In his own way, of course. I want to protect Miss Parker from Mr. Raines."
"Thanks for the ride. And for the other thing too, Cox." Lyle left without another word. He had his own thinking to do. Cox watched him go into his apartment and not for the first time, he wondered what would have happened if he had not applied for that Centre-sponsored scholarship for medical school.