This time there’s no talking father down.“You lied to me.”
In the background I hear my mother’s sharp warning, “Christian!”
“Nothing’s going to happen to Moira.”I inhale deeply, drawing on calm.“She wasn’t even involved.She passed me a name.”
“Yeah.Then why did she cut us off?”
Fuck.
“I’ll reach out.”
“Yeah?How’re you going to do that?You used me to find her.”He breathes through the phone and it’s not hard to visualize him…skin flushed with barely controlled anger.“You.Used.Me.Your father.”
There’s no real defense here.I could counterattack.Tell him he’s not the creative genius, or even the business virtuoso I grew up believing in.
“I apologize.”I leave it at that.My mother always said an apology with a but isn’t an apology, it’s an excuse.
“You’re so fucking stubborn.”He curses under his breath.I can’t decipher it all but he’s definitely not speaking English—maybe a blended mix of French and Italian obscenities.
“Christian!”Mom’s shout is so loud it sounds like she’s standing over him.
“I can’t do this,” he mutters.“Let me calm down.”
And with that, the call ends.
I hold the edge of the phone to my lips and look up to Brie, those blue eyes filled with concern.
“You okay?”
“I will be.There’s a good chance I’m officially cut out of his will, but my mother rules the house.”
“You’re his son.”
“I am.Underneath all that anger, he still loves me.”
“And you love him.”
I nod.
“Love doesn’t require perfection.”
“No, but it does require work.”I’ll have to reach out to Margot tomorrow.Given I handed her the keys to the family business–literally–I expect her to come around.With luck, the worst of her concerns–the d’Avricourt name getting dragged through the papers–won’t happen.“Have you heard anything about a French government investigation?”
Brie chews on the corner of her lip.“No.So far all the interest is on Elena Vasquez.”
“And she’s been targeting me.”
“I don’t think she’d go after Magpie.Moira may lead it, but our sources claim it’s an organization, meaning a group.”
My head tilts back and I eye the ceiling, envisioning the heavens above.“With luck, all my sister’s worst worries won’t come to pass.”
“I’d say that’s likely.”She gives me a soft smile—because that’s all she can give.There are so many entities involved now, what happens is out of our control.“Hudson and Jake left for the day.Macon was closing up when I left.It’s just us.”
The club is closed to members for an undetermined period as I sort through the exposure.
She slides onto my lap and I inhale deeply, breathing in her subtle floral scent—not a single note I can name, just the particular alchemy of her skin and the products she uses.I know this because I rummaged through the cosmetics she unpacked in my bathroom to sate my curiosity, to learn if she’d changed perfumes, but the scent will forever bring memories of comfort, of heaven, of Brie.
“Have many withdrawn membership?”
