He held my gaze long enough for me to see the pain, and then he looked down. “What happened yesterday?”
“I went to see Mike.”
“At a party. Alone. Why?”
I studied his expression. Was he… “Nothing happened between me and him.”If you see the girls he parties with every night, you’ll know nothing will ever happen.
His forehead wrinkled. “That never crossed my mind. I’m surprised that you felt the need to point that out.” He swallowed, his face growing pale. “I thought Mike was your friend. Why would you say that?”
I blinked. “Because I thought… I don’t know. Your face is accusing me of something. I thought that was it.”
“What exactly happened at the party?”
“I…got heavily intoxicated.” I chuckled. “Too many drinks and too much weed. That’s all.”
He narrowed his eyes, his expression disappointed. “That’s all?”
“Yes. I’m sorry I called you Mike, but that was just the booze talking. I wasn’t thinking clearly. I’d been talking to him all night. I didn’t expect you to be home. My tongue just—”
“What about this?” he interrupted, sliding a hand in his pocket.
I glanced down to a white piece of paper in his hand. Mike’s stupid check.
“Why did he give you a blank check?” He held it in my face.
I got off him, my lungs tightening. My eyes found my purse on the desk, the contents strewn on the cherry wood top. “You went through my stuff?”
“No. It fell off the desk along with everything inside your purse when you tossed it. You were too drunk to remember.”
I chewed on my cheek. “Fine. Mike gave it to me when I told him I might go back to my old job. What else do you wanna know?”
“So you’d ask him for money and not me? Had you asked, I’d have been more than happy to give you the money.”
“I didn’t ask him, and I’m not taking anybody’s money. He put that thing in my purse when I refused to take it.” I rubbed my damp hair. “I didn’t even tell him about the movie.”
He rose. “So he just gave you a blank check, without knowing what it’s for or how much you need?” His face reddened. “Who does that? What kind offrienddoes that?”
“The kind that doesn’t need to interrogate me or question my intentions to help.”
“Maggie, would you please—”
“Do you know how I became an architect?” I stared at him.
He folded his arms across his chest, letting out an impatient sigh, his eyes hard. “No.”
For a moment, I regretted opening the subject. It was one of those memories I pushed to the back of my head. Maybe I should’ve let him win the argument and apologized to end this.
“I’m listening. How did you become an architect? And what does it have to do with Gennaro giving you a blank check?”
Hot rage flushed through my body. “Fuck this shit. Okay. When I had to choose a major, I couldn’t. You know me. I suck at making decisions. So, under Andrea’s pressure, I decided to become like Dad.”
I sat on the bed, taking deep breaths. My gaze shifted to the bay window as I sought refuge in the calming view. “Feasible. That’s what she called it. I wouldn’t have to look for a job. The only thing I’d have to do was pass, which to her was questionable, of course.”
I clutched at my arm. “I hated every moment of it, but I sucked it up and passed. I was so good I graduated in four years instead of five. All that just to prove her wrong.” I glanced over to him. “When I returned home, she didn’t congratulate me or give me the ‘I’m proud of you’ speech, or do anything any mother would do. She just chuckled and said she hoped I didn’t bring Dad’s company to the ground when I worked there.”
Kyle moved to my side, his brows hooked, mumbling something I couldn’t hear. My lips curled in disgust as my mind replayed Andrea’s reaction in agonizing details. The cold eyes. The scoff. Everything.
“Again and again, I found myself burying my every need, my every wish to prove her wrong,” I continued. “I worked for Dad for a year, one of the most successful years the company has had.” I shook my head. “But that was it. That was all I could take.”
