Page 28 of Scandal
Either way, I don’t think this woman will relent on her request.
“Okay. I’ll be right back, though. Find Mac,” he instructs. “He’s around here somewhere.”
“I’ll be fine,” I lie. My heart pounds as I watch him walk away. I look around the room. So many unfamiliar faces. I take a step back, hoping to melt into the background. But then I hear someone say, “So tell me,” a familiar voice says behind me. “What do you really want from my son?”
Is this family for real?
Chapter Seven
ASHER
I should have known my mother would do something like this.
Dinner with my parents is never normal.
What ordinary family has a dress code and an entire waitstaff? Silver platters and four-course meals? Most of these practices faded away when modern life made them inconvenient and costly.
But not in our family.
When I was young, my parents drilled into me that we were fortunate to afford the luxuries enjoyed by our ancestors. They said that someday I would inherit the Dunloch legacy and that it would be my responsibility to ensure all of this fanfare and frivolity continued.
But I didn’t want it.
I never had.
My mother guides me down the hall and into the library. It’s a room I spent a lot of time in as a child. I would sit here, reading tales of pirates and sea creatures. I’d imagine living in a world beyond this old house. At the time, it seemed more far-fetched than sea monsters.
“Why are all these people here?” I ask as soon as the door clicks shut behind us. I know she asked to talk to me, but I have questions too.
She shrugs, her diamond earrings glinting under the lights. “We can’t have parties anymore?”
“Father never mentioned anything about a party, Mum. Did it slip his mind? Or is it a coincidence that you just happen to invite a woman here tonight you’d like me to meet?”
“I do think you’ll like her once you get to know each other,” she says, ignoring my obvious frustration completely.
“I’m not dating her. I’m not dating anyone you throw at me.”
“Because of your girlfriend?” Her nose scrunches up as if the very idea is distasteful.
“Yes,” I try to sound convincing. “Because of Mercury.”
She rolls her eyes. “Oh, please, Asher. If you had a girlfriend, don’t you think we would have found out by now? You’ve been home a month, and you haven’t said a word about this girl. Not even when we mentioned marriage or?—”
“It’s none of your business who I date,” I reply. Merc was right. We really should have planned this out better.
“Of course it’s my business. Everything you do is my business.”
I snort out a pained laugh, my eyes drifting to the window and the garden below. I would stare out that window, wishing there were a secret garden below that would transport me somewhere else. “Could have fooled me.”
“Let me correct myself.” She straightens her spine while smoothing out a non-existent wrinkle in her dress. “Everything you donowis my business.”
I shoot her a dubious glare. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“It means now that you’ve left your old life behind—” I wince. If she notices, she doesn’t react. “Now that you’re home, it’s time to take your responsibilities seriously.”
“I’m not?—”
“You are,” she answers firmly.
