“Gabe.”
“I met someone.”
“Good for you. Glad you’re finally getting laid. What the hell does that have to do with ignoring me?”
“Don’t be a bitch, Liv. I didn’t hook up with someone. I met her and…”
I heard something drop before she snarled, “Don’t, Gabe.”
“Liv, listen to me. She’s the one. I can’t walk away from this.”
“Are you shitting me? We have one rule. No relationships past a one-night stand. No attachments, Gabe. That’s what we’ve always done. You can walk away from this, and you will.”
I raked my hand through my hair. “No, I can’t.”
“You can. Just like I did. Or are you forgetting that I had myonewhen we started this thing? We were planning to get married. I walked away from that for us, and you promised it would be worth it.”
I caught the emotional break in her words. She had never admitted it, but I suspected she had never gotten over Hudson, the man she’d dated for four years and turned her back on when she graduated college.
“That wasn’t just us. That was Dad, too. You can’t put all that on me.”
“Yeah, Dad. Think about that one. There is no future with this girl, not if you want to keep your inheritance. Break it off with her. If Dad catches wind of it, he’ll crush it.”
I heard the threat in her voice and picked my head up. “He won’t find out. Let me have this, Liv. I’ve been down here running the business off his radar all these years. Keeping our plan out of his sight. I left everything behind so we could make this happen. Let me have this much.”
As much as she loved to tease me about my living the sunny beach life, Florida had provided enough distance to allow me to stay out of our father’s sight while I continued to build the network of shell companies that hid our identities. Acquiring smaller companies and using them to cover my steps as I strategically set us up to crush my father. With Liv on the inside and me prepping to join in less than two years, we were in place to start demolition. A strategic unraveling of his companies, one by one until we left him no choice but to sell to any bidder willing to risk their neck on his failing business.
“Please, Liv.”
Her sigh came through, and in it, I detected her frustration. “Fine. You can play until it’s time to come home. That’s it. Don’t get serious with her.”Too late.“Don’t think this is anything more than a fling. When your time is up, you return home and leave her in Florida.”
The thought sent a blade through my chest. My silence caused her to continue. “If you can’t do that, Gabe. End it now. Trust me, you don’t want her to get attached. It will haunt you forever.” Her voice cracked, her pain still raw after all these years. Just like I imagined mine would be if I had to leave Tori. “I need to go. Dad has me working on a new project. He’s researching a resort in New Hampshire he wants to bring under his control. Don’t do anything stupid, Gabe. End it if it’s going to hurt too much.”
I clutched the phone in my hands long after she had hung up. I’d gone into this knowing it would crush me. After one day with Tori, I was lost, and I had known there was no coming back from it. Placing the phone on the coffee table, I slumped back into the couch. I couldn’t leave her, couldn’t walk out. I was too far gone. One year and seven months. That was how much time I had left before my father’s deadline for me to return to New York and work for him. One year and seven months to figure out how to make this work. To be selfish and hypocritical. To choose Tori and break my sister’s trust.
“Damn it.” I threw the closest thing, the couch pillow, sending my juice tumbling and spilling all over the carpet. There went my deposit. Storming to the kitchen, I tore a handful of paper towels off the roll. I rested my hands on the counter, fighting the wave of exasperation and anger that battered me. This was my father’s fault. Just like everything in my life had been. It didn’t matter how far I was from him, his shadow lingered, infecting everything I touched.
If it weren’t for Liv, I would have given up the inheritance. I had enough, and the business ventures and investments had made us both millionaires on our own. I didn’t need his money. But Liv and I had made a promise to each other. On the day of my mother’s funeral, with the rain pouring down on us, we had sworn our revenge. I couldn’t turn my back on her, not after all we’d done to get to this point.
My phone buzzed, and I returned to it, tossing the paper towels onto my mess. A text from Tori.
If I have to explain what a browser is to one more person, I’m going to scream.
I chuckled as I texted her back, the stress lifting with just the thought of her.
Patience. In six months, you’ll be on to a better role. You’re earning your stripes.
Easy for you to say.
Yup, get back to work, and I’ll erase the annoyance of the day from you when you get home. I’m thinking spaghetti and meatballs with a side of The Hobbit?
No response, and I knew she’d taken another call. I focused on cleaning up the juice, and the answer came when I was tossing the soaked paper towels into the trash.
With your homemade sauce?
Of course. Nothing but the best for my girl.
It’s a date. Ugh, another call. Love you!
