The Mafia Heiress's Comeback: She's More Than You Think novel Chapter 287

Chapter 287 Are You Into

Men

Sawyer remained silent for a moment.

This was clearly a dead end. He even toyed with the idea of urging Maren to stop working with the Marshall

family.

She mattered to him more than anyone else. If she needed to pretend to be intimate with a man, it should be

with him.

Wait, why not him?

A daring notion struck him.

After a brief cough, he turned to Maren and tried to lay out his reasoning.

“This is your chance. The Marshalls are set on pushing you out. If you don’t respond, they might resort to backdoor tactics later. But if you and Lucien act affectionate in front of everyone, they won’t risk crossing him. Their fear of upsetting him will hold them back. If they can’t openly kick you out, it means that publicly, you’re already one of them. Your appearance with Lucien at the banquet would come across as the Marshall family’s stamp of approval.”

If that happened, Maren’s position in Voutsas wouldn’t just remain secure–she could actually turn their power into an advantage.

With the weight the Marshall name carried, she’d have free rein in the city.

“What are you saying?” Maren was taken aback. This so–called strategy boiled down to flaunting closeness with Lucien. “If that was an option for me, do you really think I’d be asking for your input? Did you come here just

to mock me?”

She remembered how they used to be rivals, how he’d tracked her. And now he was suggesting she cozy up to another man? It felt almost like a cruel joke.

“Hold on. Just listen for a second. I’m not telling you to actually get involved with Lucien. What if you used a stand–in?” Sawyer finally revealed his real suggestion.

Naturally, he couldn’t stomach the idea of Maren getting physically close to someone else. Even faking intimacy with Lucien made his skin crawl.

“A stand–in? Sounds promising. But maybe use a woman instead. Where would we find someone on such short notice?”

Even with a female decoy, Maren didn’t feel entirely comfortable with the thought. Still, it looked like their best option.

00%

C

D

7. 7.

16:40

111

O

<

<Chapter 287 Are You Into Men

She trusted her ability to alter appearances. And with Sawyer involved–both of them being experts in disguise -creating a fake Lucien wouldn’t be hard.

“It can’t just be anyone. You’d need someone trustworthy, someone who understands how you operate,”

Sawyer added.

“I don’t know any woman who fits that bill,” Maren replied after a moment, coming up empty.

Her connections in Voutsas were limited. Olivia came to mind at first, but she lacked the polish and poise for something this high–stakes. She’d give herself away immediately.

“Then we don’t have a choice. If no woman qualifies, we’ll have to consider a man,” Sawyer said, pretending to

sound disappointed.

A man? How was that any better than just pretending with Lucien? Maren instinctively rejected the idea. “Don’t dismiss it so quickly. Think about it. Do you know any guy you can tolerate, who follows rules, would collaborate without fuss, and wouldn’t use this as an excuse to cross a line?”

Sawyer’s carefully worded persuasion had successfully led Maren to rule out Lucien completely. A man like him would never pass up the chance to take advantage of her.

Lucien had already proven his weakness–just being around Yvette’s perfume had undone him. There was no way he could keep control in front of a gorgeous woman.

As for other men–ones she didn’t mind being around, who had a moral compass, worked well beside her, and weren’t lecherous–only one face surfaced in her mind.

“Sawyer, standing right in front of her, was the only man who fit all of that.

He had helped her many times before. Though she remained wary of him, she didn’t harbor the same level of mistrust anymore. He always respected limits. They’d sparred for so long, there was an unspoken understanding between them, making teamwork easier.

And finally, Sawyer was a decent man–the word “lecherous” had nothing to do with him.

From everything she’d observed, Sawyer was all business. There were no women around him–not among his employees, not in his private life, nothing romantic at all.

“Sawyer, are you into men?” The thought popped into her head. After all their run–ins, she had never once seen him with a single female associate. Only men filled his circle.

2