Page 55 of In Love and Revenge

He opens the door for me, his eyes hard and impenetrable as he looks down his nose at me.

‘We’ve taken long enough. Let’s go.’

Chapter 14

Rafael

‘How about the Leyton account? Did you get that one?’

I lean back on my office couch, urging the blood in my veins to cool to a simmer, instead of the inferno that’s threatening to ravage through them.

‘It’s being handled,’ I tell my father, keeping my voice calm and even. A hint of hesitation and he’ll be on it like a shark with a drop of blood. Not that he has any need to be. The Leyton accountisbeing handled. There’s nothing for him to pick fault with. Yet I’m still tense to the point of discomfort as I wait for him to find something to criticise.

He leans forward in his seat opposite me, eyes of a brilliant and ruthless – albeit retired – businessman gleaming back at me.

‘You made sure they signed? Got it all watertight?’

‘Of course I did. I learnt from you, didn’t I?’

‘You did, son.’ He smiles for the first time since he waltzed into my office, freshly back from another spiritual health retreat.

My mother told him when people retire their chance of a sudden death skyrockets unless they keep themselves busy. My father would have happily used it as a reason to return to the family business, butMum said she’d waited long enough to spend some quality time with him. It was bougie-sounding trips together, or divorce. And for all my father’s bullish personality in business, with my mother he’s a puppy dog. He adores the earth she walks on and insists he only ever worked as hard and as long as he did because he wanted to give her everything she dreamt of, and for his children to learn how to excel in life.

It doesn’t stop him ‘checking in’ on me every chance he gets, though. My siblings escape his in-depth interrogations about the business because they’re neither the eldest, nor the CEO.

‘Rafe has it handled, Stan. Stop fussing,’ my mother chides. ‘They’re all doing a great job. Have more faith.’

‘Faith. Hm.’ My father grunts at her word choice.

‘I do love what the designers have done!’ my mother exclaims brightly, looking around the room.

I press my lips tightly together, following her gaze, avoiding the giant windows to my left that show the view all the way from here to the Thames. Forty floors up, it’s a view that costs millions. And it’s one I loathe. If I had my way, the shades would be permanently closed. But not when my father’s here. When he’s here, they’re wide open, despite the fact the view makes my stomach roil.

I can’t give him any more reasons to think I’m incapable, or worse ...weak.

‘I fancied a change,’ I say. I’ve had enough of seeing disappointment in my father’s eyes. I don’t need him to know my newly designer-renovated office is the consequence of a tube of crisps, and the urge to prove a certain infuriating blonde wrong.

I’ve not seen much of Aurora since the fire-alarm incident. I’ve been out of the office for much of the time, meeting with clients. She only has three weeks of her contract left, and I’m no closer to getting my money back.

My mother brings her hands together, the bangles on her wrists jangling. ‘And how are things with you, darling? How’s Seraphina?’

The hope in her eyes makes my gut churn. I’m used to my father being disappointed in me, but I’d do anything to keep that same look out of my mother’s eyes. Do anything not to cause her pain.Again.

‘Seraphina’s busy being Seraphina,’ I reply, keeping my tone non-committal.

My mother beams, and even my father joins in.

‘It’s incredible how well she’s doing,’ she continues. ‘So wonderful to see intelligent women being celebrated for their achievements.’

‘She’s a very smart woman,’ I agree.

‘Indeed.’ My mother’s cheeks glow as she gives my father a knowing look. If I didn’t love her so much then I’d scrape the hope straight from her face without hesitation.

‘Harold says she’s excited for the wedding,’ my father says.

I shift forward in my seat. ‘Wedding?’

‘The Beaufort one,’ my father adds. ‘It’s in South Africa, right?’