Who am I kidding? Nothing will change. Not with us. The man will never be happy with his offspring, even if he’s happy with his new wife. How can he be? We’re all half him, and the man is impossible. Lina might actually have a chance with him since she doesn’t share any of his genes.
I’m envious and hate that I am.
“Can I ask you one thing?” I’m a fool because I can’t help myself.
Giulia tries to guess where I’m going. “Do I love him?”
I shake my head. “I don’t give a f**k if you love him. The money, the lifestyle, the notoriety—it comes at the price of having to live with him. Honestly, it might not pay enough.”
She’s about to protest, but I meant it when I said I didn’t care, so I tread over her. “Do you think he loves you?”
She seems taken aback by the question and isn’t prepared with an answer. Glancing at him, she considers. “I do think so.”
“Really? How can you tell?” I think I’m looking for something that will tell me something about his relationship with me. As though she has some translator book to Samuel Seymour that I’ve never known about.
“Hm.” It only takes her a beat to come up with an answer. “He lets me control the thermostat.”
My father’s conversation must have wr*pped up because he hears and jumps in. “The damn woman is always freezing. I’m sweating my balls off all night, and she’s got it turned up to seventy-five.”
Giulia waves him off. “He sacrifices his comfort for mine. Does that help?”
It isn’t what I was looking for, but now I’m thinking about Brystin, and thinking about her makes everything better. “Yes, actually it does. Welcome to the family.” Lowering my voice, I add, “I hope it’s not as miserable an experience for you as it has been for the rest of us.”
“What did he say?”
“He’s happy to meet me.” Giulia gives me a conspiratorial smile. “And now he has to get back to work.”
f**k. I might have to like her.
“Until next time. Dad, I’m buying you an Ooler. Google it.” He’s a billionaire, and he can’t figure out how to regulate dueling body temperatures. It was definitely time for the man to retire.
But was I definitely the man for the job?
I walk away half thinking about that and my father and about what I’m eventually going to say to him to explain Brystin’s departure, but mostly I think about how Giulia said that my father gave up his comfort for hers. If that’s how love is proved, what the f**k comfort can I give up for Brystin?
I’m so in my head, I don’t see Scott’s wife, Tessa, until I’ve practically bumped into her. “Hey, stranger.” She gives me a side hug. “It’s been a while.”
“Work.” As if she needs an excuse. “Oh, and congratulations.” I look down at the small bump that has taken the place of her flat stomach. “It’s a ways away still, right? I didn’t miss any gender reveal or shower yet?” I know nothing about how pregnancy works beyond the actual conception.
“Quite a ways. Five months still. Thank you. And we’re not doing a gender reveal.”
Scott sidles in next to his wife. “They’re out of fashion, Hadrian. As your image rep, I recommend you catch up on the current PC trends and lingo.”
“I appreciate the suggestion.” But I give him the fi**ger too because that’s his job, not mine. If I get canceled, he’ll get me out of it.
As if he knows what I’m thinking, he says, “It’s really better not to get canceled in the first place.”
This time I give him two middle fi**gers.
He ignores my inappropriate gestures and nods toward my father. “Is he still pushing you?”
Scott has been the one who’s had to address the public fallout from Brystin’s abrupt departure. While he’s done a fantastic job, there’s only so much he can say or do without delving into subjects that I have flat out said were off-limits. Dad has been to him behind my back, asking for a statement basically claiming Brystin was let go at her fault. In other words, he wants Scott to lie.
Fortunately, Scott knows he works for me now, not my dad.
“Eh.” I think about how I want to answer and land on the truth. “He hasn’t said it yet, but he’s going to threaten to get me fired if I don’t reconsider my approach.”
“Do you think he’d actually go to the board?”
“Yeah. I think he would.”
Tessa frowns. “Yikes.”
Scott, on the other hand, shrugs. “Would it be the worst thing in the world?”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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