“I have a ton of work to do on the book I was contracted for.”
She sighs. “Okay. But first, you need to shower and sleep. I’ll be here for a couple more days.”
“Thank you,” I whisper.
“You know I always have your back. I’m sorry it didn’t work out the way you wanted it to.”
“Yeah,” my voice cracks, “me too.”
Buzz. Buzz. My phone vibrates in my pocket. I pull it out and roll my eyes at Weston’s name.
“He’s calling you?”
“Has been since he found out I left.”
“What did he say?”
I shrug. “I don’t know. I’m not ready to talk to him.”
“At least let him know you arrived here safely, Adora.” Jenay snatches the phone from me and texts a quick message. “I told him you arrived safely, and you’d contact him when you were ready to talk.”
I give a hollow laugh. “I hope he doesn’t hold his breath.”
WESTON
I can’t believe she fucking left. I’m furious. I pace back and forth, spearing my fingers through my hair. I haven’t talked to her in over twenty-four hours. Priscila is mooning at me, and Alby is a smug little prick. I want to smash his face in. I’m trapped. I grab the tumbler of whiskey and sling it across the room. The shattering of the glass is pleasant, but it’s not nearly enough. This is not happiness. All this time, I thought of Adora is my compass. The instrument that kept me flying straight. In the end, she was my heart. I open another whiskey and shoot it directly from the bottle. Sliding down the wall, I take out my phone and call the one person I know I can count on when shit hits the fan.
Closing my eyes, I wait.
“Weston? Do you know what time it is?” the snarly voice asks.
“Dad. I think I really fucked up.”
“Are you drunk? Where are you?”
“In a hotel room in London. She’s gone, Dad. I let her think I cared more about money than her, and I love her. But I didn’t know it.”
“Jesus, kid. You’re a damn mess.”
“What’s going on?” my mother asks in the background.
“Our son is showing just how much he’s like his old man.”
“Great. I’ll brew coffee. ’Cause I get the feeling it’s going to be a long night.” Her wry tone makes me smile despite the hopeless situation.
“Alby is going to take everything I’ve worked for away if I don’t go along with him.”
“The hell he is. What does he want you to do, West? I told you I didn’t like the cut of his jib. He’s one slippery bastard.”
“I know. I think I have for a while. I just ... I wanted you to be proud of me,” I admit. Growing up in the long shadow he cast had done a number on my self-esteem.
“Hell, we’re already proud of you, kid. Why would you think otherwise?”
“You were never interested in what I was working on. You only wanted me to come back and work for Rebel.”
“Rebel is the legacy I built for you. It’s not going to do me any good when I’m in the ground. I wanted to see you at the helm because I knew you could handle it. I always hoped eventually you’d want to come back and run it. But I stopped pushing for that when I saw how upset you got when I mentioned it.”
I close my eyes. I got it all twisted up in my head. Dad and I never communicated well, and my mother was always focused on this charity or that one, trying to uphold the family name and standards. Her father had been a wealthy socialite who demanded perfection and never quite agreed with her marriage to my father. It left me a little lost and wondering where my place in the world was.