“That might confuse him,” she said solemnly.
“You think?”
“We might need to find him a pet rock therapist.”
I paused for a moment. “There’s not such a thing, is there?”
“I’m sure I could find someone to pretend to be a pet rock therapist. The bigger question is are you going to believe it?”
Matt slid a bowl of soup in front of me.
“It’s lobster bisque,” Lexi said. “It’s freaking amazing, and I’m ordering a whole vat of it to go.” She smiled at me. “I’m so proud of you.”
“Thanks,” I said, meaning it.
“And I have one more surprise—well, not a surprise because it’s not like I dragged him over here in chains or something.” She made a face. “Sorry, that is extremely off-color.” She grabbed my hand.
“I’m organizing a meeting for you to visit your father.”
I yanked my hand back.
“No,” I snarled, low in my throat.
“Grayson,” she said, dropping her voice. “You need closure. You need to be able to move on. You need to face this demon. Marcus Aurelius would want you to look fear in the face.”
“Marcus Aurelius was a basement dweller who spent all his time studying Greek and Latin and navel-gazing.” I bared my teeth, feeling trapped, like I was back in the cellar.
“That’s no way to talk about a man whose bust lives in your office.”
“I can’t see my father; he doesn’t deserve visitors.”
“You’re a CEO, a major player in real estate development, and your net worth is a credit card number,” Lexi argued. “Believe in your infinite potential. This is going to be good for you; it’s going to be healing. Trust me.”
I still had nightmares about my father. The last thing on earth I wanted to do was see him. I couldn’t believe Lexi would do this.
She’s just trying to help.
Not to mention she said she was proud of my progress.
It’s just one quick meeting. Five minutes, and then I can live happily ever after with Lexi.
Shit, I could just create a job for her out of thin air at my covert investment fund. She would never leave me. I didn’t want her to leave me. But now she was back, and I would do anything—crawl over hot coals, eat broken glass, see my father—to make sure she never left again.
“Okay,” I said faintly. “Okay, I’ll see him. Just tell me when it’s scheduled.”
Her face lit up.
“Oh, Grayson.” She smiled at me. “You won’t regret this.”
I would, but the pain would be worth it, if it meant I could have her.
57
LEXI
“We need to talk about your commitment to this job,” Anthym said to me. “And to this company and to Grayson.”
“I’m very committed,” I said, hastily stuffing the note I was writing to Grayson under my laptop.
