“We had another uncle?” Ares shudders. “I can’t decide if I should be grateful or sad that he’s out of the picture.”
“Are we supposed to shed some tears for poor Vincent’s loss?” Josh sneers. “Given how Mom and Harvey turned out, I’m sure he would’ve been just as cold-blooded and ruthless.”
“Are you okay, though? What did Mom want from Fiona? Did she try to bribe her into betraying you?”
I frown at the direction Ares’s mind has gone. “Why do you say that?”
“She betrayed you before with Jude. Why wouldn’t she sell you out?”
I shoot a quick glance in Josh’s direction. He must’ve shared every detail he knew with Ares, who didn’t really know much about what happened between me and Fiona. Back then he was busy applying to law schools, among other things.
“Second time’s easier,” Josh says.
“She dumped Jude at the wedding.” The incident hasn’t remained a secret. After all, Jude is a minor celebrity of sorts. It’s just that The Fogeys haven’t had time to get nosy yet. Dad’s leading a high-profile class-action lawsuit against some pharmaceutical company that lied about the side effects of an entire class of their drugs. Jeremiah’s busy with two high-maintenance clients who refuse to understand that calling and texting her every hour isn’t conducive to winning.
“So? Maybe Jude made her sign a shitty prenup,” Ares says uncharitably. “After all, people like her only care about herself.”
“You’ll never get us to feel anything sympathetic toward her, not after she hurt you the way she did. Had you on a bender for a week. Bitch.”
I pull my lips in. My brothers’ hostile expressions say that it’s my turn to tear her down, but for some inexplicable reason, I don’t want to.
Have the fiery depths of my rage against her lessened in the last few days? I frown, but I can’t shake off my heartache at the hollowness in her eyes when she said nobody would notice or care if she went missing. She wasn’t faking that.
“I really fucked things up with her.” I knock back another Hibiki and explain what happened with the redhead and then Fiona. “It put her on Mom’s radar.”
Ares sighs heavily. “Ah, geez.”
“Yeah.”
“At least Fiona hasn’t been blinded.” Josh sounds like he’s torn between relief, horror, sympathy and old grudges. “So what’s the plan?”
“Well, I’m proposing to marry Fiona—”
Josh erupts instantly. “Are you out of your fucking mind?”
“—because that way, both of us are protected from Mom’s machinations.”
“She must’ve jumped at that,” Ares mutters.
“Yeah, she did. Jumped to the toilet and threw up.” I scowl.
Ares and Josh high-five each other and laugh.
“Who’s she trying to fool?” Ares says. “Everyone knows you’re her best option. Her family’s gone bankrupt and Jude obviously isn’t going to marry her.”
Josh puffs on his cigar. “Is she playing hard to get?”
“No, she—”
Ares snaps his fingers. “Maybe she couldn’t keep her breakfast down because she suddenly got pregnant from your proposal.”
“No.” I exhale with exasperation. “She heaved until nothing came out, then ran out, asking me not to follow because she needed to gather her thoughts before we could talk.”
“Did she text youyesafter a couple of minutes?” Josh says.
I shake my head. “She hasn’t texted or called.” I hate it that I’m worried about her. I don’t want any part of the tender feelings that were there for her before. I’ll be damned if I let myself be vulnerable to her again.
“You aren’t serious about marryingher, though, right? If you just want Mom to quit sending you drug girls, you could marry anybody.” Ares leans forward eagerly. “Actually, my wife’s friend has an assistant who might work out. A nice Korean woman. Speaks great English and is highly capable. Graduated from a top women’s university in Seoul. You’d probably hit it off.”
