“A deposit for her wedding in St. Lucia. She was supposed to pay me back when she sold some paintings in two weeks, and when I asked her about it, she brushed me off and said we would talk about it in person.”
“But you haven’t seen her since then,” he surmises.
“Right,” I say miserably. “I feel like an idiot.”
Phoenix lifts my hand and presses his lips to my knuckles, and I can’t help but wish he’d continue kissing all the way up my arm and to my mouth.
“You’re not an idiot, Jordie. You thought you were helping your mother. How many times has she been married?”
I roll my eyes. “I’m not exactly sure which one this is. She was married to my dad, then Pops. After that, she left for a long while, and I think she had a few more marriages in that time. Then she came back, married Dad again, and had Xander and me before disappearing when I was a baby.” A sigh puffs from my lips. “We had no contact whatsoever since then, but I’m sure she probably had at least one other while she was gone. So I’d say this is her eighth?”
Phoenix grimaces. “She doesn’t exactly sound stable.”
A knot wraps around my windpipe, and I reach for my flavored water and take a long sip. “I thought—Ihoped—she had changed and was trying to make amends.”
His eyes hold mine. “That’s a valid thing to wish for, Jordie. Parental abandonment can be hard on a person, even after they grow up.” There’s an edge to his voice, and I’m sure he’s thinking about Reece’s mother.
“She said some not-so-nice things about my fathers.”
“Like what?”
I wrap two fingers around the end of my ponytail in a nervous gesture. “She said they threatened to bankrupt her with back child support if she didn’t leave and never come back.”
Phoenix’s head tilts to the side. “Maybe they did, or maybe she’s lying. I have no idea, but given her recent behavior, would you blame them if they did make that threat?”
“No,” I say, the word immediate and resolute. “I’m pretty sure she was lying about that, but I understand now and wouldn’t blame them if they did.”
“I think Reece’s biological mother may be coming back to the States,” he says suddenly, and my eyes widen.
“She finally contacted you?”
“No, nothing like that. I saw news articles that her dad gave the CEO position that he promised her to her cousin instead. She was given another position within the company, so I’m guessing she’ll be coming back here from Japan.”
“Whoa. So she left you and Reece so she would be named CEO, and then her father gave it to someone else?” When he nods, my lips tighten in anger that his ex could abandon two of the sweetest people I know. “I can’t say she didn’t deserve to be bitten in the ass like that.”
A hint of humor curves against Phoenix’s lips. “Agreed, and sorry I blurted that out while we were talking about your situation. It just made me think of your fathers and how your mother's leaving affected their actions.”
I lean forward a bit, eager to hear his perspective. “How so?”
He moves his bowl back and rests his forearms on the table, angling toward me as well. “I love my daughter more than my own life and would shred the earth apart for her. I was willing to give up my job and my family here to move to Japan with Beatrice and raise our daughter.” The pain is evident in the bright flare of his eyes, and my heart breaks for him. “My ex rejected every suggestion I offered to make things work, so I had an ironclad contract drawn up stating Beatrice Bettencourt had absolutely no rights to Reece and she would never be able to obtain custody or have any part in her life.”
I’m beginning to understand why he brought up this topic. “You did that to protect Reece,” I state. “Because Beatrice suddenly comingback into her life could do more harm than good.” Sounds kind of familiar, if I’m being honest with myself, because my own mother’s hot-and-cold routine is doing a number on me.
Phoenix nods slowly, his blue irises intent on mine. “Exactly. I never envisioned this would happen—with her father’s company, I mean—but I knew she’d be back in the U.S. at some point. I wanted to make perfectly clear to her that she couldn’t just waltz back intomydaughter’s life once she got what she wanted professionally.” Emphasis onmydaughter.
“When it became convenient for her,” I muse, darting my gaze away as an aching discomfort settles low in my gut. “Like my mother is doing now.”
When I look back at Phoenix, his eyes hold a hint of sorrow. “Yeah, baby. Like she’s doing now.” He gently cups my cheek, and my face leans into the touch without my permission. I’ve craved this soft intimacy from him.
Sure, there has been a lot of touching in our dance classes the past few weeks, but this is on another level. It’s affectionate, almost… loving?
Before I can let that thought take root, Phoenix yanks his hand away and curses, jerking his gaze to the counter. “Fuck. I thought I heard Helix’s voice.”
I swivel my head to see the backs of two men ordering food. One I recognize as Helix, Phoenix’s twin. They have the same dark-brown hair, though Helix is slightly broader than his brother through the chest and shoulders, probably due to being a swimmer.
“Is the other guy Remington?” I ask, eyeing the slightly taller man with hair the color of midnight. He’s built like Phoenix with long, lean muscles that are evident beneath his pale-yellow dress shirt.
“That’s him. He lives in London but has been in town working at the Houston office for the past few weeks.” Phoenix drags a hand over the top of his head, obviously in distress. “I don’t think they saw us.”
