My father studied me, something like concern flashing across his features. “You’ve become... involved with her.”
It wasn’t a question.
“It’s complicated,” I said, which was the understatement of the century.
“Hudson.” He set his drink down on a nearby high-top table, his expression unusually serious. “I’m assuming you’ve slept with her?”
“I don’t see how that’s any of your?—”
“She’s a distraction. A good fuck. But she’s not the woman you ruin your life for. I’m sure she was great, but you’ve already had your fill. There is no room for a relationship with someone so…” He paused, searching for a word.
“So what?” I challenged, clenching my hand into a fist at my side. God, if he finished that sentence the way I thought he was going to, I was going to ruin this wedding reception, possibly by being arrested.
“Unsuitable,” he finished. “The Gable name has standards to maintain. Your mother and I have worked too hard to establish our reputation to have you throw it away on some passing slut in a short dress.”
My vision went red. Without a word, I grabbed my father’s arm and yanked him around the corner into a service hallway. The moment we were alone, I spun and slammed him against the wall, my forearm pressed against his chest.
“If you ever speak about Mari like that again,” I growled, barely recognizing my voice, “I will make you regret it.”
My father’s eyes widened, his perfectly coiffed hair disheveled from the impact. For a moment, he looked smaller, older, less like the towering figure who’d controlled my life for so long.
But then his face hardened, jaw setting in that familiar line of disapproval. He didn’t try to break free, didn’t raise a hand against me. Instead, his lips curled into a wintry smile.
“Perhaps the pressure of this event has gotten to you,” he said, voice steady. “But let me make something very clear. If you ever lay hands on me again, if you do anything to tarnish the reputation I’ve built, I will cut you off without a second thought. No more chances, no more reconciliation. You’ll be done. A nobody floundering without a family to back him up.” He shoved me backwards, then pushed past me, straightening his jacket. “Consider this your only warning.”
His footsteps echoed down the hallway as he rejoined the reception, leaving me alone with my rage.
“You’re wrong about her,” I whispered, knowing he couldn’t hear me. “And I’ve fucked up.”
I’d sacrificed something authentic and real for a pale imitation of success.
As the reception wound down and guests departed, the inevitability of confrontation loomed. The perfect execution Mari and I had planned would require us to coordinate the sparkler send-off together. She couldn’t avoid me forever. At least not tonight.
I spotted her near the entrance, tablet in hand, directing staff on the sparkler distribution. Her hair was still perfect, her makeup flawless, her posture impeccable. Only someone who knew her well would notice the tension in her shoulders, the tightness around her eyes.
Someone like me, who had studied every inch of her body, who had memorized her expressions, who had held her while she slept.
I approached cautiously, as if she were a wild animal that might bolt. “Mari.”
“The photographers need to be at the end of the line,” she said without looking up, her voice detached. “And we need two staff members monitoring for safety.”
“I know because I helped plan this, remember?” I tried to keep my voice level, though anxiety pulsed through me like an electrical current. “But that’s not what I need to talk to you about.”
“Is there anything else we need to discuss professionally?” Her fingers moved across the tablet screen, checking items off our timeline.
“Damn it, look at me. Please.”
She finally did, and I almost wished she hadn’t. Her eyes were empty, devoid of the spark that had drawn me to her from the beginning. Even in our worst arguments, Mari had always been vibrantly alive. This cold detachment was worse than any anger.
“What do you want me to say?” She asked, voice low enough that the nearby staff couldn’t hear. “Congratulations on your new job? On stealing my idea? On making me believe we had something real while you were planning your exit strategy?”
“It wasn’t like that.”
“Then what was it like? Explain it to me.” A tiny muscle twitched near her eye, the only outward sign of emotion. “I’m dying to hear how this isn’t exactly what it looks like.”
Before I could answer, Lia appeared at Mari’s side, radiant in her wedding gown.
“There you two are! Everyone’s ready for the send-off. God, I can’t believe the night’s almost over. It’s been absolute perfection.”
