I can only tackle so many battles at once. I don’t have enough fucking weapons tofight this one.
“Understood, Holt?” my father presses.
I hesitate but ultimately decide to give in. For now. “Understood.”
Honestly, my mind isn’t completely in this conversation with him anyway. It’s on someone else. While I’ve been tackling the lawsuit and Julianna’s surprise visit to my office all day, plus this random thought about my mother’s murder, I’ve been doing it all with only half a mind. My thoughts are too tangled up in a green-eyed wallflower.
It’s as if kissing her has opened the floodgates. I surrender to the current, allowing the torrent of waves to whisk me away. The feelings I’ve kept bottled inside have exploded, Selene’s luscious lips the key to the lock.
“Listen, Dad,” I blurt out. “I’ll talk to you later.”
“Wait!” he calls out before I pull my phone away. “I can tell you’re pissed at your circumstances, but I didn’t call you to criticize you for what you’ve done in the hours after this media leak about the lawsuit.”
“No?” I bite back a bitter laugh. “I couldn’t tell.”
“No,” my father huffs. “While the lawsuit seems to be the main story, there’s an emerging story coming out about what happened at the charity auction last night with Selene.”
“Seriously?” I ignore the way my pulse skips a beat at the mention of Selene.
“Yeah.” I can practically hear the hope in my father’s voice. “It seems the public has more interest in this mystery woman that caused you to break the rules than the lawsuit.”
Wow. Sounds like Treena was right.
Rome’s lawsuit has been overshadowed by me kissing Selene on stage at the auction.
“Not sure how you’re going to work this out, considering she’s your sister’s close friend.”
“I’ll figure it out,” I tell him, wanting to end this conversation right fucking now.
She’s more than Julianna’s close friend. She’s her best friend—one Julianna hasn’t stopped telling me, practically begging me, to stay away from.
“Talk to her. Maybe take her out just the?—"
“Dad, I said I’ll handle it. I’ll talk to you later and update you about the lawsuit.” I hang up before he has the chance to steer the conversation back to our family rivalry or drudge up any more mistakes I’ve made in my past.
Fuck, what is it with Julianna and my father today?
I don’t need either their help or advice, especially when it comes to Selene. Because the truth is, I don’t need a fucking new storyline to use as an excuse to get close to her.
Truth is, this is what I’ve always wanted. I’ve just been too deep in my own shit to make a move. But I made mine last night, and now there’s no going back, no matter how much Julianna likes to keep me drowning in the past.
I’ve never let Julianna’s nagging get to me, but for some reason, I let her today.
I’m impulsive, I know. It’s been both a strength and a weakness throughout my lifetime—an attribute I’ve learned to live with—but I’m probably allowing her nagging to get to me because she’s sticking her nose into my love life as if I have one.
Truly, I can’t blame her. After what happened with Rebecca, I understand her fear, but that shit bothers me. It’s been eleven years. I was still a kid back then, and there’s so much she doesn’t know. I’ve protected her from hearing the truth about that day she claims I destroyed Rebecca Henry’s life. But she wasn’t the only one hurt that night. I tried to mend things with Rebecca, but it’s difficult when the person you’re trying to help wants nothing more to do with you. So, I let it go,just as she had. That still didn’t stop me from making sure Rebecca was living the life she deserved.
Several years ago, I searched for her on Instagram and raked through a profile filled with images of her wedding day, the birth of her first child, then her second. The most recent pictures at the time were family pictures she’d had taken at the beach, drenched in sunlight and love.
I hardly destroyed Rebecca’s life.
Frustration over the past three days is still blistering beneath my skin when my phone vibrates in my hand, and I read the message bubble.
Cory Editorial Writer: At the docks now. I’m scoping out who to talk to first, keeping an ear out for anything that might give me a lead or hint at where to start.
Holt: Thank you for doing this for me. If it wasn’t for this fucking lawsuit with my name and face plastered all over the news, I would have gone myself.
Cory Editorial Writer: I know you would, Boss. But don’t worry, I’ve got it covered.
