Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 106001 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 530(@200wpm)___ 424(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 106001 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 530(@200wpm)___ 424(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
Silence coats the room for another few seconds, then Dominic laughs from the stage. “And they say all of the action happens on TV. I guess sometimes art imitates life,” he says, trying valiantly to detract attention away from us once again.
He’s not the only one aiming to steal control. As Harlow rises, squeezes my hand, Ian stalks over to me, getting in my face. “Where the hell is this coming from? Are you fucking delusional too?”
I’m not sure I’ve ever heard him swear. He doesn’t rely on curses. He relies on charm.
But tonight, his smooth, affable persona has burned to smoke. He’s livid. And I just don’t care. He’s not my priority. I’ve said my piece. I’m done having this conversation in public.
I turn to my brave woman. “Can I take you home?”
“Yes,” she says, breathing hard, like she’s run a race.
We leave, cutting through the ballroom hand in hand, all eyes on us. I don’t tug on my cuffs. I don’t practice steadying breaths. I simply go, feeling more centered than the moment calls for. Because she is with me.
Trouble is, Ian is right behind us, stalking us beyond the French doors. “What in the bloody hell?” he asks, his eyes flickering with both fury and utter bewilderment.
Fine. We’ll have tomorrow’s talk now. Out in the hallway, away from our colleagues, where I asked him to take this conversation moments ago.
I turn around and grab the conversation before he can take over. “We planned to tell you this tomorrow. That’s why Harlow asked you to come to lunch at her place. I was going to be there to tell you—”
“—That you’ve been fucking my daughter?”
“Watch your mouth,” I spit out.
“I won’t watch my mouth. I brought you into my world.”
I scoff at his revisionist history. “We’re equal partners. We built this together.”
“And then what did you do? You seduced my daughter—my daughter—behind my back,” he lashes out.
Harlow steps closer. “Not that it’s any of your business, but I pursued Bridger.”
“Poppet,” he says, softening. He’ll probably always have a soft spot for her. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
She levels him with an intense gaze. “I know exactly what I’m talking about. I’m twenty-one. This is my choice. Bridger is my choice.”
He holds out his hands and huffs like this is all unbelievable. “How can you even know? You’re too young.”
She lifts her chin high. “Mom married you when she was twenty-two,” she says. Take that, Dad.
I want to cheer her on. My woman could be a badass attorney right now. I also want to tell Ian where he can shove his opinions, but for better or worse, he’ll always be her father. He’ll be in her life, and by extension, he’ll be in mine. So, I wait, patiently, as she continues. The floor is hers right now.
“I know what I want.” She reaches for his arm, squeezing it. With both strength and grace, she says, “I didn’t want you to find out like this. I wanted to tell you in private at my home, tomorrow. We wanted to talk to you then. Not in public like this. I never imagined Isla would storm in.”
Ian flinches at the mention of his lover, or perhaps at his own culpability in the meltdown tonight. “Nor did I,” he says, then he purses his lips like he’s holding in his own thoughts about Isla. He didn’t expect this from her either. Usually, he’s able to juggle like an expert street performer, tossing knives in the air and catching them all.
Then, he shakes his head, parts his lips like he’s hunting for more words, but nothing comes. Maybe our fortitude has thrown him completely off.
Or maybe not. He snaps his gaze to me, finding a new head of steam. “I trusted you. I relied on you. I can’t believe you’d do this to me,” he seethes. “I can’t believe you’d go behind my back while we were working on deals, refining scripts, wooing business partners and do…this.”
He says it like it’s a dirty act.
Like it’s unforgivable.
“To my daughter,” he adds, to emphasize his point. “I can’t believe you’d go behind my back and take my daughter.”
That’s my unforgivable crime. She’s the one he adores. She’s the one true thing in his life. She’s his pure love, especially once Felicity was gone.
I crossed a line he’ll never forgive.
I saw this coming. I saw the end when Harlow and I began, and I did it anyway. Ian is who he is, and I don’t believe he will ever trust me again. We certainly won’t be friends since we were never truly close to begin with.
So, here I am, exactly where I was once terrified to be. There is no choice but the nuclear option.
But I’m not scared of the consequences.
And I don’t need his forgiveness or his permission.