“That doesn’t erase him from existence.”
“Just don’t. Stop it.”
“I might consider it if you tell me something.”
“What?”
“Where have you been, Clarissa? I mean, Aurora.”
“Why should I tell you?”
He tilts his head to the side, watching me for a few seconds without blinking. Being under Jonathan’s brutal scrutiny is like kneeling in a king’s court, waiting to be judged.
“You think you can show up out of nowhere, at my son’s wedding, no less, and pretend like nothing happened?”
Yes.
But now that I hear it in that haughty, almost condescending voice, I feel like I was being childish for ever thinking that.
“Let’s pretend we never met,” I try in my soft tone.
“I don’t pretend.” He steps closer, purposefully invading my personal space as if it’s his God-given right. “So how about you tell me what the fuck you were doing with Ethan?”
“Nothing.”
“Try again, and this time, don’t lie to me. If you do, I’ll take it as in you’re ready to bear the consequences.”
I could lie to him and get myself out of this pinch, but that will only take me so far. I might not have seen Jonathan in person for twenty years, but his name can’t be escaped in this country or even in the international business scene.
He’s an investor. A commander. A ruler.
If he sets his sights on something, there’s no stopping him until he either gets it or ruins it.
Black or white. There’s no grey in his dictionary.
And for that reason, I need to tactfully slip out from under his radar as smoothly as I was trapped within it. I crossed the enemy’s lines by mistake and now, I need to find the safest way out.
I suck in a deep breath. “Business.”
“What type of business?”
“Just business.”
“Did you not hear me ask what type of business it is? I do not like repeating myself, Aurora.”
Damn him and the authoritative way he speaks. It’s like he expects everyone to fall at his feet with a simple command.
I might not want to provoke Jonathan on purpose, but I will not get on my knees in front of him.
Not now. Not ever.
I’m done with kneeling for a lifetime.
“It’s nothing that concerns you.”
“Nothing that concerns me, but it concerns Ethan. Correct?”
“Yes.”