Once we’re alone, Luce and I go to the kitchen. I make more coffee. “Sorry about that,” I say as the aroma of the well-roasted beans fills the air.
“It’s okay. I’m surprised your mom is so unfair about you and Preston.”
“He’s her favorite. Everyone in the family loves him because he’s the fun one.”
“He is…?” Her eyebrows pull together in confusion. “Then why did your family refuse to let me marry you?”
“They wanted him to have Sebastian Jewelry. If he didn’t marry you, he wouldn’t have had anything.” My fury with my family surges again. The idea of Luce with Preston is profane. I’ll break his face if he dares to touch her.
“But that isn’t what they said. They told me you were ‘too good’ for me, and offered Preston. If they wanted to justify giving Preston Sebastian Jewelry, they didn’t have to put it that way. Same thing if they cared about him more than you.”
“That’s true, they didn’t.”Hmm.My family acknowledges I’m an excellent executive, and they love the money I make. But they never think I’m “too good.” They didn’t think it was big deal to throw me to Luce when Preston screwed up. “There must’ve been some kind of misunderstanding.” I shake my head. “Nobody’s ‘too good.’ Everyone gets what they deserve.” I serve her coffee.
“Thanks.” She takes a few sips. “Regardless, it isn’t right they don’t treat you fairly. Even if Preston hadn’t cheated on me, I wouldn’t have wanted him to be anywhere near the Sebastian Peery collaboration.”
“You would’ve married him if he hadn’t cheated on you.” The idea immediately roots itself in my head, a mental worm impossible to dislodge.
She gives me a look. “That isn’t even close to what I just said. But yes. I might’ve gone ahead even if he’d cheated, so long as he wasn’t caught with my half-sister.”
“You want him that much?” Searing acid eats away at my belly. I shouldn’t have settled for just cutting Preston off. I should’ve wrung his neck for being an idiot and a generally irritating presence in my life.
“Wantedhim? No. What I needed was a husband who’d sign the paper you did after the wedding. My so-called ‘family’ has been living well off my trust fund, and I wanted to put a stop to it. Surely you can understand that.”
Karl and her half-sister are both pieces of work, but that doesn’t lessen the burning sensation in my gut. “I do, but I don’t have to like it that you were engaged to my half-brother.”
She runs a soothing hand down my arm. “Then let’s thank God that I married you instead. To be honest, I like you better.” She smiles, then sips the coffee.
As I mull over her motivation for this marriage, something else strikes me. “What about your father?” From what I can gather, Roderick seems somewhat decent.
Her expression cools. “He’s a sperm donor. If I could, I’d give back the genetic material I got from him.”
“Why do you hate him so much? His devotion to your mother is legendary. He won’t even remarry because he can’t forget her.”
She laughs humorlessly. “People don’t know what he’s really like. He cheated on my mom ever since I was a little kid. Probably even before. She just looked the other way because she wanted to feel loved.”
Jesus.“I’m sorry.” My initial distrust of him was warranted. I hate him for his unfaithfulness and hurting not only his wife but Luce throughout the years. At least my father never married. It’s sad when somebody can make Ted Lasker look like a decent human being by comparison.
Luce shrugs. “I’m never going to let myself be blind to a man’s disrespect because of love. When I give my love to someone, it’ll be a man who deserves it.”
“Like who?” She must have someone in mind.
“I don’t know.” Her wedding band winks under the light. I remember when we exchanged vows…and how brilliantly and openly she smiled…
Jason the Judge. She claimed he was just a friend, but friends don’t smile at friends the way she did.
“But you were thinking about marrying Preston anyway,” I say, although what I really want to know is why she didn’t marry Jason Choi in the first place. Was he not rich enough? Too much history?
The question lodges in my throat. It’s like I’m apprehensive about her response.
Me? Fearful of a few words?Ridiculous!
“I would’ve divorced him as soon as I got what I wanted,” Luce says. “The marriage was just a means to an end.”
So she was planning to divorce Preston.It should make me happy, but my mood sinks lower. To her, this marriage is just a convenient way to get something. A legal necessity.
I don’t know why the idea bothers me so much when I already understood that. You’d have to be a fool to think this union was meant to last forever.
But it disturbs me anyway, and I hate it that I’m bothered at all.
