“Nope. Not for a couple of weeks now.”
Tristan and Logan had always been inseparable on these annual lake trips. It was like I didn’t exist when they were together. I wasn’t even allowed to hang around with them. I’d complained to Logan about it before. When it was just the two of us, he was my best friend, but when Tristan was around, it was like he turned into a different person.
When Dad told me Logan had a boyfriend, I’d suspected it might have been Tristan, but for them to not be in contact? Something wasn’t right.
“Just messing with you,” Tristan laughed, reaching for my hair to ruffle it like he always did, and like always, I dodged him and reclaimed my personal space. “Of course I’ve heard from him. He’s fine, by the way.”
Of coursehe’dheard from him. I hated that Logan talked to him and not me.
“Whatever,” I sighed, marching away from him before he could talk to me about my brother any more. Tristan reacted to weakness like a shark to blood in the water. I needed to get away before he saw the hurt inside me and poked at it.
With every step I took, the heat behind my eyes burned stronger. Why hadn’t Logan just told me he had a boyfriend? Did he think I’d react like our parents? That I wouldn’t love him anymore? He hadn’t messaged me once since leaving, and I hadn’t messaged him either, because why should I be the one to chase him when he was the one who’d decided to leave? It wasn’t fair.
I pulled my phone from my pocket, opening it to our message history, confirming once again that he hadn’t said a word. Was I that easy to leave behind?
“It’s you and me always, Harpy,” he’d tell me.
Well, it wasn’t now. It was just me.
Resentment bubbled over, my fingers typing over the keys, and I sent the message before I could think twice about it.
What happened to you and me always?
The screen blurred as I stared at it. Waiting for a reply. Waiting for something.
“Harper,” a low voice said a short distance away, one I definitely didn’t want to be hearing right now.
I pocketed the phone and turned to face my father. He was with someone I didn’t recognize, an older man with a stern face. It wasn’t unusual. Leon Lorens always invited new “friends” on these annual trips. Packaged as a vacation, it was all just one big business meeting he and his connections dragged their families along to as they pretended to like each other.
Neither man smiled as I approached. “Andor, this is my son, Harper. My heir.”
Heir.
The word dropped like an anvil in my gut. I wasn’t the heir, Logan was.
Andor held his hand out to shake, and my father subtly pinched the back of my arm when I remained frozen in place. I raised my hand, trying not to throw up with the way my stomach twisted and my eyes burned.
“Harper, this is Andor Kovats,” said my father, as if he hadn’t just changed the course of my life in casual conversation.
“Pleasure,” said Andor, a thick accent hanging over the word. “I have sons about your age. They are here as well. Have you met them yet?”
“No, sir.” My mouth was dry as I responded.
“Later, I will introduce you.”
“Yes, sir.”
Andor started speaking to Dad about something I could barely focus on. My mind was spinning and my chest was tightening, and I just wanted to run. I wasn’t sure how much time passed, but eventually I was being pulled away by a firm hand on my arm until we were alone.
“Give me your phone.”
Dad’s words reached me. I’d expected to be scolded over something, because there was always something, but not to have my phone taken away from me. “Why?”
“Because you are here to network, just as I am. As the heir, you need to form strong relationships with these people. I don’t want you distracted.”
“But Logan is the—”
“Not anymore. Logan made his choice. He wanted out, and now he’s out. Give me the phone.”
