"Sorry I'm late. What did I miss?"
All the heads at the table turn in the newest arrival’s direction.
Wren Caine. Asher's youngest brother is dressed in a fitted black suit with shaggy hair that he pushes back with his hand, not that it does much as more pieces fall onto his forehead.
“Wren.” Leonard shakes his head, and for a moment, I’m thankful that the attention is off me. Wren must see that because he winks at me.
He rounds the table and pauses next to me, extending his hand for me to shake. "I’m Wren, the handsome Caine brother. I’m sorry for your misfortune in choosing the wrong one.”
Asher hisses something beside me.
I've heard about Wren through Kacey, but I've never met the younger Caine brother. I nod, dumbfounded, and shake his hand. I’m not sure what I was expecting, another Asher maybe? And he does resemble his brother, but Wren’s demeanor is so different in comparison.
"Punctuality reflects character," Leonard says coldly, and when he looks away, I can see Wren silently repeat the words, his mouth moving mockingly.
"And obsession with punctuality reflects a desperate need for control." His voice carries the same Caine confidence as Asher's, but edged with something sharper. "Some of us have actualbusinesses to run, not just corporate empires to inherit." He flashes his gaze to Asher, a smirk pulling at the edges of his lips.
Asher doesn’t react, moving his attention from Wren and back to his father. Leonard’s face has hardened from Wren’s witty comment, and he grips his hand tightly around his salad fork.
The tension at the table could be cut with a knife.
"Well," Celeste interjects with forced brightness, "isn't this lovely? The whole family together."
Leonard scoffs. "Not thewholefamily." The comment makes Celeste's lip purse, and she stabs her fork into her salad, not responding.
Wren drops into his chair with deliberate casualness, completely unbothered by the storm clouds gathering around his father. He catches my eye and grins like we're sharing some private joke.
"So, Grace," he says, reaching for his wineglass, "what's it like dating someone who schedules his emotions?"
"Wren," Asher warns.
"What? I'm just curious how you two work. I mean, did he present you with a relationship contract? Timeline for milestones? Performance metrics?"
My face burns. If only he knew how close to the truth he is.
"That's enough," Leonard's voice cuts through the room.
But Wren just shrugs, unrepentant. "I'm just saying, Grace deserves to know what she's getting into with Mr. Perfect over here."
The silence that follows is deafening. Even the staff seem to have frozen in place.
This family is going to eat me alive.
I reach over to squeeze Asher's knee again, hoping it grounds him the way it has for me.
“Actually, I find his perfectionism quite endearing.” I turn to face Asher, a little smile tilting up my lips. He looks at me, shocked at first, and I wonder if anyone has ever defended him before. He places his hand atop mine and squeezes. “And it seems to dissipate when he’s with me. That’s the beauty of relationships, isn’t it? Getting to know someone well enough that their outer shell melts away. I feel honored to be that person for Asher.”
When I look away from him and back to his family, they’re all watching us with varying surprised and annoyed expressions. But Asher’s eyes are only on me, shining with something I can’t quite place, but I think it’s gratitude.
14
ASHER
“You’re fucking perfect.” I have the urge to slam Grace against the elevator wall and kiss her so deeply she forgets my family even exists.
People don’t stand up for me. No one steps in to defend me in front of my parents. I have to go back to childhood to remember it ever happening before. There was a time when Gabe tried to step in during one of my father’s tirades. We were young, five and seven, and in turn, my father backhanded him.
For a few years, we had a nanny who always took the blame for anything my parents were angry at us about. She did so happily, as if she wanted to protect us from them. But we were dumb, and slowly but surely, we all continued to pile our misdeeds onto her until my parents fired her. We didn’t realize back then how much she saved us from until she was gone.
