"I'm serious. You only come here when you want something." She turned to me, one eyebrow raised. "What does he want?"
"He wants me to go to a party."
"God, no. Don't do that to yourself." Isabelle perched on the arm of the sofa, crossing her ankles. "The Henderson thing? I heard about it. Phillip's going through some kind of crisis. Bought a sports car last week. It was red."
Xavier pointed at her with his glass. "You should come instead. If Sebastian insists on being boring."
"I just got back from Milan. I'm exhausted." She took a sip of her water, eyeing me over the rim of her glass. "Besides, someone needs to have dinner with my favorite niece. Where is Evie?"
I hesitated. Just a fraction of a second, but Isabelle caught it. She always caught everything.
"Sebastian. Where is Evie?"
I downed the last of my whiskey and filled the glass again. "Upstairs."
"And?"
I turned back to the window. The garden was falling into shadow, the late afternoon light fading toward evening. "There was an incident at school today."
"What kind of incident?"
"I don't know.” I ran a hand through my hair. “Evie won’t tell me what happened."
Silence. I could feel Isabelle's gaze on my back, but I had no idea what she was thinking. Xavier, I could read like a book. Isabelle was a different story entirely.
"Is she okay?"
I let out a breath. "She's fine. She has a small cut on her forehead, but it’s nothing serious."
"Then why are you drinking alone in the dark and not back at work? You shouldn’t even be here."
"It's complicated," I said and turned to face her. That was the easy version.
Xavier stood, draining the last of his whiskey. "Well, this sounds like family drama I want no part of. I'll leave you to it." He set the glass on the cart with a clink. "Last chance, Seb. Beautiful women. Expensive champagne. A drama-free night."
"Goodbye, Xavier."
He shrugged, already moving toward the door. "Your loss. Isabelle, always a pleasure."
She rolled her eyes. "Go make bad decisions somewhere else."
Xavier laughed and disappeared into the hallway. A moment later, the front door opened and closed.
The study fell quiet.
Isabelle was still watching me. She and I had a different relationship from myself and Xavier. Isabelle had a certain type of perception that even my mother didn’t have. You didn’t have to say anything. From the feel of the room, she could tell if something was wrong.
"Sebastian." She didn’t move from the chair. "What happened?"
"I told you, I don’t know."
Isabelle just stared at me. I couldn’t help but wonder what she saw. A stubborn man? An exhausted man? Or perhaps, a man who had no idea how to reach his daughter?
Isabelle set down her water glass on the vintage stool in front of her. She stood and smoothed her slacks. "I'm going to check on her."
Relief flooded through me. I’d wanted her to, but I didn’t want to ask for fear of seeming desperate or incapable of taking care of my own child. If anyone could reach her, it was Isabelle.Evie loved her aunt dearly. She told her things she would never say to me in this lifetime or the next.
I couldn’t complain. I was glad Evie had someone she could trust.
