I was awake but I didn't want to open my eyes. I knew that Eddy wasn't lying next to me. I knew that trying to text or call her would be useless. I knew that going over to the estate would be even more useless. Last night had really happened, hadn't it? I could remember it far too clearly. Was this what heartbreak felt like? I hated it.
I wanted to go to her. I felt like if I did, if we had one chance to talk again, something would be different but how could I do that when she was pushing back so hard? I had to accept it. It was finally over.
So what? Was I just supposed to give up?
It just didn't feel like the right thing to do. Things between us felt and finished. Something, I couldn't even say what it was because I didn't know, but something was telling me that things weren't right. The only way they would be right was when we were back together but how the hell was I going to swing that?
Maybe she was right about needing to go to London for a while. I could always come back. It didn’t even have to be London. A little circuit around the Med maybe. Head to Dubai or Singapore. Just somewhere I could clear my head. I had a feeling it wouldn’t be happening here. It wasn’t like she was going anywhere. I knew where she was. Some time to let the dust settle and then we could get a good feel of how things were. I looked around the room, dimly illuminated by the weak sunshine. I would actually miss this place a little bit. I thought about getting out of bed and finally getting packed when I heard a knock at the door.
Speak of the devil? I got out of bed and pulled on my underwear then went to answer the door. Could it really be her? I swung the door open, then deflated.
“For fuck's sake,” I said. I couldn't hold back a laugh. There was Patrick Bridges, my father, standing there in a Brioni suit and crocodile skin shoes at a fucking tavern in Belshire village. How in the world? He looked me up and down with his usual look of disapproval.
“Why aren't you dressed?” I had a better question. Why did he keep showing up at my rooms first thing in the morning when I woke up and act shocked when I wasn't dressed yet?
“Good morning to you too, father,” I said. “How did you find me?”
“Is that all you have to say for yourself?” He barged into the room pushing past me. He looked around in disgust. “What is this place? Why are you staying here?”
“Is there something you came here to say, father? As you can see, you interrupted me during some very important business.”
“Important business my foot. You insulted Lisbeth and then you tried to run away. She told me all about the woman that you followed here. I can't believe your behavior, Niall. I know I raised you better than this.”
“You didn't raise me at all father. Now, why are you here?”
“I'm here to stop you from making a mistake.” The only mistake I had made was letting him in, and technically I hadn't even done that. He had barged in unannounced. He couldn’t have gotten up here without meeting Ben somewhere. I had to tell him not to let this madman near me again.
“Lucky me. You got here in the nick of time.”
“Surely you know the truth about the baroness. She's flat broke. She's a gold-digging widow who only wants you for your money since her husband drank theirs all away.”
“Father, I never took you as one to gossip.”
“I'll be damned if you are fraternizing with that woman.”
I laughed. It was hilarious that my father thought he could dictate my dating choices. I really didn't know where he got off doing that. First Lisbeth, now Eddy. “Is that all you came to tell me?”
“You must return to London at once and you are going to marry Lisbeth Lane.”
“Me and Lisbeth had this conversation already, she knows that it's not going to happen.”
“She’s a good woman, Niall. She's from a good family. She'll make a good wife.”
I snorted. All that might have been true, but I wasn't interested. She was ready to be a wife, but it wouldn’t be mine. “Weren't you just talking about gold diggers, father? Lisbeth only wants me for my title. I don't know what you call that, but I call it gold-digging.”
“Lisbeth is not gold-digging; she's marrying someone of her own stature. She has no need to dig for gold. She's a woman of means herself. Now this other woman that you've chased into the countryside…”
“What about her?” I challenged him. I wanted him to say something about Eddy. The way things stood between my father and me, I was not above fighting him to defend the woman I loved; physically or otherwise.
“She's in dire need of money. In a few months she’s going to be homeless. Landing a man like you would be the jackpot for her. She's obviously tricked you into believing that she's after something else. Somehow you’ve tricked yourself into believing you have something more to offer than that.”
I felt my fists clenched. “Thank you for your concern father, you show it so rarely but you're wrong about Eddy.”
“Is that her name? I know a whore when I see one.”
I rounded on the man, getting into his personal space. If it did come to blows, I was giving him plenty of time to apologize first but if he didn't, I was finishing this fight. “Never speak about her again.”
“Or what? Why are you defending trash like that?”<