Page 36 of Reckless
“Long term dating is an unnecessary complication,” he said.“It hurts your business empire.”
“Yes.”
Assessment of the cost to Kelly.I respected that.Even while resenting that I’d walked into a room only to hear my own problem explained back to me by a man who had built empires and somehow still had time to emotionally dismantle his sons.
“I know.”
“Do you.”
I let the question sit there.
He reached for his tea and took a measured sip.“Your mother told me she saw you leave before breakfast.”
“I’m sure she did.”
“And you didn’t stay long there as she’s now out with Britney.”
I gave him a long look.“You’re enjoying this.”
“No.”He set down the glass.“I’m interested.”
He folded his hands over one knee.“What do you want, Xerses?”
“Today?”
“In this.”
I could have answered with the obvious.I want my mother off Kelly’s back.I want graduation weekend not to become a circus.
I looked past him for a moment, out over the city, because saying certain things while meeting my father’s eyes felt too much like stepping onto ground I didn’t intend to defend.
“My business will be fine, but I don’t want her made smaller by something I started,” I said finally.
Silence.
When I looked back, he was still watching me in that quiet, terrible way that made it impossible to forget I’d been raised by a man who had built fortunes by noticing the one true thing under ten false ones and betting on it harder than everyone else.
“And,” he said.
I almost told him away.
Instead I said, “And I don’t like the idea of any another woman taking up the social space I put her in.”
His jaw worked, only slightly.
“Careful,” he said.
That irritated me instantly.“With what?”
“With confusing appetite for conviction.”
I went still.
“Wanting a woman,” he said, “is not the same thing as being prepared to treat her well and to be successful you must treat your wife like a queen.”
I rose before the conversation could become more useful than I wanted it to be.“I have a meeting.”
My father nodded once, as if he had not put a blade directly into the center of the thing I was trying not to name.“Then go.”
