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was positioned so that his back was to the bay window. He knew that out the window lay a fantastic view of the harbor and pristine aqua-blue ocean, if he was interested—which he wasn’t at the moment. It was way too bright out there.
    His hotel room at the Stanford hotel was the kind of plush he could only guess would have been considered five stars fifty years ago. Their one big concession to modern life seemed to be the high-speed internet service and the minibars. Otherwise, he might have been on an old movie set.
    There were no flat-screen TVs or high-end bathrooms or, hell, even hairdryers or in-room coffee setups. And yet, there was something quietly…elegant here that no modern hotel could ever hope to claim.
    â€œOkay, fine,” Lucas was telling Rafe. “I’ll listen to Sean if you’ll keep quiet.”
    Sean laughed, then winced as his headache pounded.
    â€œWhat’s this about Sean?” Rafe asked in a quiet, even tone that had Sean silently thanking him.
    â€œI don’t even know where to begin,” he admitted. It hadbeen a wild twenty-four hours and he wasn’t sure even he completely believed what had happened.
    â€œStart with the land,” Lucas prodded. “Do we have the deal or not?”
    Sean pulled in a deep breath, then took another long gulp of water while his brothers waited impatiently.
    â€œWell?” Rafe asked.
    Snorting a choked-off laugh, Sean said, “There’s some good news and some bad news.”
    â€œPerfect,” Rafe muttered.
    â€œStart with the good,” Lucas told him. “It’ll give me strength for the rest of it.
    â€œOkay, good news is, we got the deal.”
    Rafe and Lucas both laughed in relief. “Well, why the hell didn’t you say so?” Rafe crowed.
    â€œI knew you could do it,” Lucas said. “I told Rose just last night that nobody can stand against Sean when he turns on the King charm.”
    â€œHmm…” He would have agreed a couple of days ago. But, since meeting Melinda Stanford, he had to admit that his charm apparently had limits. She hadn’t proposed to him because she was blown away by his wit and seductive powers. And she sure as hell wasn’t tumbling into his bed. Yet.
    â€œOkay,” Rafe said. “Let’s have the bad news.”
    â€œHow bad can it be?” Lucas said, still grinning. “We got the deal. We can start construction right away and—”
    â€œLet him finish,” Rafe said without taking his gaze from Sean’s.
    Sean kept his eyes fixed on Rafe, since there was no point in trying to avoid it anyway. “Okay, the thing is, looks like I’m getting married.”
    Silence.
    His brothers just stared at him. Then they turned to lookat each other before shifting their gazes back to Sean in a move that was so smooth it looked choreographed.
    â€œMarried?” Rafe said.
    â€œAre you nuts?” Lucas asked.
    â€œThe black-haired woman?” Rafe asked.
    â€œThe very one,” Sean told them. “Melinda Stanford.”
    â€œWalter’s granddaughter. That’s why the phone call.”
    Sean looked at Lucas and nodded.
    â€œYou met her, fell in love and proposed all in twenty-four hours?” Rafe demanded, his voice hitching higher with every word.
    Sean stiffened. “Who said anything about love?”
    â€œThen what the hell, Sean?”
    â€œI made a deal with Melinda. We get married, the Kings get the land.”
    â€œOh hell no,” Rafe argued. Clearly outraged, his spine went stiff and his chin jutted out as if he were stepping into a knock-down, drag-out fight.
    â€œThis is ‘taking one for the team’ to a whole new level,” Lucas put in.
    Sean rubbed one hand across his face and prayed again that the aspirin he took would start working before his head exploded. “It’s done. I made the deal, and I’ll stick with it.”
    â€œWhy would you do