CHASE: Complete Series by Cassia Leo Read Free Book Online Page A

discussing your appointments. She didn’t believe me.”
The silence on the other end of the line made me nervous.
“Don’t worry about her. I’ll call her right now.”
“I’m meeting her in thirty minutes to discuss the feature.”
“I’ll tell her you can’t make it because you’re going to lunch with Teddy and me.”
Great. I was ditching one hostile situation for another.
“We’re not really going to lunch with Teddy,” he continued, as he probably sensed my trepidation. “I’m taking you shopping.”
The elevator doors opened on the seventeenth floor and I walked briskly toward my room as if Heather were still trailing me.
“Shopping? But you just took me shopping two days ago. Shouldn’t you be meeting with Teddy to discuss tomorrow’s visit to the hospital?”
“This is a different kind of shopping,” he replied, and I could hear the smile in his voice. “Larissa, I’d like to take you ring shopping, if that’s alright with you.”
I nearly dropped the phone as I entered my room. “What—what kind of ring?”
“I know I’m not legally available to you right now, but it won’t always be that way. I want to take you shopping for an engagement ring. I want you to know I’m serious about keeping you, if you’ll have me.”
My limbs suddenly became very weak. I had to sit cross-legged on the carpet to keep from collapsing.
“Larissa? Are you there?”
“I’m here.”
“I know this isn’t really romantic, asking you over the phone, but I promise I’ll make that up to you soon if you promise to be my first real wife?”
“I… I have to give that some thought.”
“I understand.”
“I do love you,” I blurted. “I just have to make sure I know what I’m getting into.”
“Of course. Would you still like to go ring shopping, just to get a feel for what you’re getting yourself into?”
I smiled as I realized this could be the most difficult and important decision of my life and he was still able to successfully make light of it. “I’d love to.”
     
     

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    Chase
    Part III: Exposure
     

1
“I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.”
My sniveling broke the hush inside the chapel as I watched Isa kiss his new wife, Nina.
“Sorry,” I whispered to the older gentleman on my right as he cast a disapproving look in my direction. “I’m just really happy for them.”
I was happy for Isa and Nina. Just eight weeks after they were both hired to work on Chase’s campaign, they were tying the knot in a swanky chapel in Vegas four days before the election. They were so certain Chase Underwood was going to win the election, they decided to get the wedding over with so they could use their honeymoon as an excuse to celebrate his victory.
As I watched Chase in his dark gray suit embracing Isa and Nina in the aisle, my eyes were drawn to his right: Mrs. Katherine Underwood. She wore an elegant beige sheath dress with tan heels and her dark hair pulled into a neat twist. My gaze fell to my lap where my hands lay clasped over my pink clutch, my left hand still missing the engagement ring I’d picked out with Chase six weeks ago.
I kept going over that day in my mind. Chase had arrived at my hotel room in Baltimore with a jeweler and a suitcase full of rings that each cost more than I made in a year. I didn’t know where he had found a discreet and trustworthy jeweler in such a short amount of time; then again, he was a self-made billionaire who was four days away from being the next president of the United States of America. The countless ways he wielded his power never ceased to amaze me.
“Do you prefer round, oval, marquise, or princess cut?” the jeweler asked in a hushed tone, obviously intimidated by Chase and the circumstances of our meeting.
“Princess,” Chase replied for me, giving my hand a tiny squeeze. “Only the best for my princess,” he continued, as he planted a soft kiss on my cheekbone.
I should have known