“Don’t be so dramatic, darling.” Mom still hadn’t even looked at me again, nodding absently to herself before reaching for another bauble. “Wanting to make something of yourself is wonderful. We just don’t want you to miss out while you’re doing it. You should see the house Justin?—”
“I’ve been to that house, Mom. About four times, actually. Trust me, I’ve seen it. If I wanted to be there now, I would’ve been.”
Dad watched me as I crossed the room, swiping up a bauble from the ottoman to give my hands something to do, and he chuckled as I stuck it on a random branch. “We didn’t bully your brothers into anything, boy. I simply told them what we expected from them. For heaven’s sake, Sterling is thirty-fourand he’d never even been in a serious relationship except with his work.”
“I’m twenty-four,” I said.
Mom suddenly looked at me, another smile spreading her lips. “That’s precisely our point, baby. You’re so young. We just don’t want you to feel like you have to slave away at that office just to prove something to your brothers.”
“Callum’s only twenty-eight, but that didn’t stop you from issuing him the same ultimatum you gave to Sterling and Jameson.”
Dad slowly tilted his head. “Callum also has a seven-year-old son, Harry. Sure, we didn’t know about it at the time, but it worked out for the best for all of them. It will be the same for you when you finally meet someone.”
“Actually,” I said, the word tasting dangerous on my tongue. “I’m seeing someone already. It’s pretty serious.”
I stopped before I told them that I’d already proposed, but Mom still jerked like I’d slapped her and Dad frowned so deeply, his eyebrows swallowed his eyes.
“What?” My mom set down the ornament she’d been holding slowly, like she was dazed and about to faint. “How serious?”
“Don’t go doing anything rash now, Harrison,” Dad said firmly, suddenly looked exasperated. “Just because your brothers have settled doesn’t mean that you should feel pressured to do the same thing. You’ve got time.”
I groaned. “Could you please just stop fucking saying that? I’m not seeing her because I feel pressured. I’m seeing her because I’m ready to settle down and I found someone I want to do that with.”
“Settle down?” Mom echoed after me, stumbling backward and practically collapsing into an armchair. I’d never seen her move so unintentionally before. “You cannot be serious.”
“Why not?” I countered. “Plenty of people my age are married and starting families. I’m gainfully employed. I?—”
“Gainfully employed at your family’s company,” Dad cut me off with a scoff. “Those boys your age who are married and starting families have worked their way up at this point. They?—”
“So what, you’re saying that for as long as I’m working at W&S, I’m not really working? Or is it that I’m never going to work my way up?” I narrowed my eyes at him, my heart pounding and my blood suddenly feeling way too hot. “Well, then I suppose it’s a good thing that I’m thinking of starting my own firm.”
The room went dead quiet. Dad’s brows snapped together, his hand tightening around the glass. “You’re joking.”
“I’m not.” My voice was steady, a lot more confident than I felt, but on the other hand, with Aurelia by my side, I had faith that we could do it. “None of you are ever going to take me seriously, but I’m not naive, stupid, or a baby. I’m not some incapable, trust find kid who’s going to get bored and go snowboarding with his friends while he waits for you to die so he can live off his inheritance.”
Dad leaned forward, his expression steady but his voice firm. “Son, no one is pushing you and no one thinks you’re incapable. We just don’t want you rushing into something you’ll regret. You’ll find the right match eventually, and when you meet her, you’ll know she’s the one you’re going to marry. You’ll prove yourself at the firm.Myfirm. You’re young. Where is all this coming from?”
“I’m not that young,” I said, the heat in my blood rising to my face. “I’m not waiting around for you two to decide what’s best for me, either. I’m good at my job. If I go out on my own, I’ll be able to make a name for myself without everyone thinking that Sterling’s behind everything I do or that he’s in my ear,responsible for every deal I make. As for knowing when I meet the one, I’ve already done that. I already know.”
The silence that followed stretched for so long, the only sound in the room was the faint crackle of the fire. Mom finally spoke, her voice cold now, stripped of the holiday warmth it had held earlier. “This girl. She’s filling your head with this nonsense, isn’t she?”
I clenched my jaw. “This isn’t nonsense.”
Her chin lifted. “Then tell us where this is coming from. Going out on your own. Settling down. You’ve never talked about any of this before.”
I met both their gazes, my heart pounding, but it was time. “I’m getting married.”
Mom gasped. Dad surged out of his chair, blinking furiously. “You’re what?”
“I’m getting married,” I repeated, the word slicing through the tension of the air like a bullet on fire. “That’s all you need to know right now.”
Before either of them could reply, I turned, grabbed my coat, and stormed out into the cold afternoon. Garvey handed me my keys when I reached the stairs, not commenting on what he’d obviously overheard since he’d been waiting here with my keys, and I pulled out of my parents’ driveway with my tires spinning on the gravel.
I didn’t even know where I was going until I found myself parking outside Aurelia’s building. My hands were still shaking with leftover adrenaline when I climbed out. Ducking my head, I jogged through the light drizzle that had started up on my way back into the city.
The doorman stopped me, shaking his head when I asked if she was home, already picturing the way she would remind me not to let my parents get under my skin. She and I could do this.I knew we could be damn successful together—both as a married couple and business partners.
“I’m sorry, sir,” the doorman said, yanking me out of my thoughts. “She’s not in. Would you like me to give her a message?”
