“That’s a lot of people…”
“Yeah, no kidding.”
“So would you keep it if your dad tried to give you trust fund money?” Darcy asked.
“Is this part of the interview?”
“Would you?”
I shook my head. She already knew I hated my old man, so there was no use in pretending. “No, probably not.”
“Do you just not approve of the way he runs his businesses, or is it more than that?”
“It’s none of your business.”
Darcy grinned. “You know, I’ve been thinking a lot about my dad ever since you stood up to him at dinner. It was like a switch kind of flicked on for me. I realized you were completely right. I’ve been carrying this guilt like he was doing me a favor by pushing me so hard. But when I think about it as him trying to use me to live out some dream he never could, all the guilt goes away.”
I grunted.
“So, thank you. You were right.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Do you think if you flatter me, I’ll suddenly open up to you?”
She shrugged. “It was worth a try.”
I looked out the window, grinning despite myself.So far, so good.
We had to circle Ally’s block for a few minutes before Darcy found a parking spot big enough for her tank of a car. She was surprisingly good at parallel parking. She dusted her hands and gave me a satisfied smile. “Ready?”
“Yeah. I know the way to Ally’s place. Come on.”
Ally Fitzroy lived in an old mansion that she’d spent a fortune renovating and modernizing. Now it was all clean lines, underlit cabinetry, and matte black countertops. They’d kept some of the original mansion, like a few brick walls and some intricate wood moulding they’d restored. The combination was admittedly appealing.
Inside, I was surprised to find she really had only invited people from work. Christine Fitzroy was there, along with Ezzie and Lizzie Fitzroy, the nineteen-year-old twins. They both had the typical Fitzroy jet black hair and good looks.
I planned to split off from Darcy as soon as I could, but we were practically ambushed as we came inside. Ally hugged and kissed us on the cheeks, asking questions such as if we’d come together as a couple. Then Christine followed her and the twins came immediately after.
“I’m going to head up to the roof,” I said once we’d finally escaped Marcus’ sisters. I knew Ally’s place had a huge rooftop patio and hoped maybe I could catch my breath up there. Hell, maybe I could just wait out the evening and keep myself away from Darcy until this thing was over.
“Okay, I’ll come,” Darcy said. She had to practically jog to keep up with me, but that didn’t stop her. We passed Farhad and Kirk–the new hire I’d assigned to work politics with him–chatting by a spread of finger foods and drinks at the base of a long floating staircase. Darcy yelled a quick greeting as she passed, laughing a little in her effort to keep up with me.
Upstairs, we passed Pollie and Elizabeth, who were waiting in line for the bathroom, even though I knew there were at least five bathrooms in this place.
“Mr. Lockwood!” Elizabeth called, reaching out to touch my arm. “I’m so glad you made it here. Have you seen Tristan?”
“No,” I said tightly. “We just arrived.”We. I’d said “we”.I could see the gears in Pollie and Elizabeth’s heads already turning.
“Oh,” Elizabeth said, eyes darting between us. “I didn’t realize.”
“There’s nothing to realize,” I snapped.
“So you gave Darcy a ride?” Pollie asked.
“I gave him a ride, actually,” Darcy said. “It was my turn. He drove last time.”
This fucking woman was going to start the rumor to end all rumors.
“We were both at the office late. That’s all,” I said.