“Of course.” Emilia gave him a smile that didn’t put him at ease. “I just wanted her to know that she didn’t have to fake anything around us.”
Julian put his hands on his hips. “What do you mean by that?”
“Oh, just that we all know that you only married her because she was pregnant. And I congratulated her on being able to accomplish what so many women had failed to do.”
“Emilia, why would you do something like that?” he demanded. “Kiara’s done nothing to you. She doesn’t deserve to be the target of your pettiness.”
“Maybe you should have just kept her out of sight,” Emilia said with a shrug. “You brought her into our world. She has a right to know that people are aware of the circumstances.”
Julian was furious, but not just at Emilia. He was angry with himself for not realizing that this would happen.
“Oh, and I don’t know if you’re aware, but I think your… wife… might have fallen in love with you,” Emilia said with a smirk. “She had some lovely things to say about you. I didn’t tell her that she was wasting her time. She’ll figure that out soon enough.”
“Why are you so hateful?” Julian demanded. “It’s not like I rejected you for her.”
“She isn’t a part of our world, Julian,” Emilia said as she crossed her arms, her expression sobering. “You need someone who knows how to support you. Who knows how to protect the Burke name.”
“Are you assuming that my father is opposed to Kiara?” Julian asked. “Because I can assure you that he is not.”
Her eyebrows lifted at that. “I think you’re just saying that.”
“Let’s go find him, and you can ask him yourself.”
“If he truly does feel that way, then you both need help protecting the Burke name from people who might take advantage of you.”
Julian laughed. “You know nothing about my family. Nothing at all. And from this point on, you need to stay away from me and every member of my family.”
Emilia looked like she was going to argue, but then she spun around and walked away.
This wasn’t the first time he’d dealt with stuff like this. And it wasn’t even the first time Emilia or one of her friends had tried to warn him away from a woman.
But this time around, there was more at stake. There was a baby on the way, and Julian needed to make sure that the world he came into was filled with people who loved and cared for him.
Sometimes it felt like some rich people had nothing better to do with their time than to meddle in other people's lives. Or they felt like they had to gatekeep the wealthy world from anyone they deemed as less worthy than them. Just like his mother had done to Elizabeth.
Julian had to be honest that it hadn’t really bothered him in the past. In fact, he really hadn’t cared. His world had revolved around his job and drinking, and the women he’d dated had all been from his social circle.
He stared down at the glass he held, hating that it was ginger ale and not something stronger. The evening had gone horribly, and he was to blame.
He’d been so focused on his own struggles that he’d been oblivious to what was going on around him. That had been a mistake. Yet another one.
With a glance at the bar, Julian felt a strong urge to go swap out the glass he held for something with more substance.
But as he moved in that direction, Anthony appeared at his elbow.
“What is it?” Julian muttered.
“Everything okay?”
Julian gave him a sideways glance. “Why shouldn’t it be?”
Anthony didn’t say anything, just remained in step with him as Julian headed back to the table. The man’s role was to protect him from outward security threats, but apparently, he’d decided he needed to protect Julian from himself as well. And he wasn’t wrong.
“Did you see where Kiara and Lucy went?” Julian asked when they reached the still empty table.
“They went up to their suite.”
Julian turned to frown at the man, more concerned now that he was aware of what had transpired between Emilia and Kiara.
