Page 46 of Beyond Expectations

As soon as the door closed behind them, I stood and went to where Serena was packing her files.

“Serena, please, will you give me just five minutes? I need to speak with you,” I pleaded.

“Rhett, no. Everything that needed to be said has been said. It would be best if you stopped calling. I don’t even know how you got my unlisted number. Like I said at the beginning, let’s keep things professional. You are my client. You are engaged to be married. There is nothing more to say.”

I watched as she continued packing her things away, still avoiding my gaze.

“For fuck’s sake, how many times do I have to say this to you? I am not engaged. I never have and never will be engaged to Verity Lancaster.”

“I don’t know what kind of games you two play, but I don’t want any part of this.”

“Serena, please just hear me out.”

“What for? What happened with us was a mistake. A slip on my part, it shouldn’t have happened. Trust me, it won’t happen again. Now I have said all I need to say.”

Her eyes never left her bag as she picked it up and went to walk out.

I grabbed her by the waist, spun her around, and looked straight into her beautiful eyes.

“Verity tracked me down. We dated in college, but I broke things off years ago. Her family and mine have been friends for decades. She, along with the help of my mother, has tried to get us back together. I have never given her any reason to imagine anything would come of it. She is, however, used to getting her way. And I think she felt that if she pushed the idea of an engagement to my mother, I would eventually give in.”

“So, what was the announcement at your parents’ house?”

Part of me was surprised. First, because she’d allowed me to talk, and secondly, that Ruby didn’t tell her about what my father had said at dinner. To which I was both grateful and respectful.

“Ruby didn’t tell you? My father wanted to get us all together to tell us that he had a brain tumor. Serena, my father is dying.”

Chapter 13

Serena

“Oh my god!” I gasped.

I instantly felt terrible. Poor Rhett. Why didn’t Ruby tell me? Goddamn, now I feel awful for not answering his calls.

Fuck!

Why hadn’t I given him a chance to talk? He called me every day. But I knew why. For days, I hated him. I hated that he had lied to me. I hated that he made me feel like a cheap side piece.

What kind of woman was this Verity? Seriously, who did that?

All this time, I’d been angry and ignored him, and he’d been dealing with the terrible news of his father. I might not have known Rhett for long, but I could see in his eyes that he was telling the truth.

The man standing in front of me was hurt. He wasn’t the robust and in-control bachelor that was a regular feature on page six. He was a man used to control and things working to his advantage, yet now he was facing something out of his control. And I’d only made everything worse.

“I am so sorry. I don’t know what to say… how are you doing?”

“To say I am dealing with it would be a lie.”

“How long has your father known?”

“He’d found out a few weeks before telling us. I guess he was in shock. I know I would be if I had been told I only have months to live.”

I let out a gasp and covered my mouth with my hand.

“Rhett, I’m so sorry. Is there anything I can do?”

I knew I couldn’t do anything about his father’s health, but it just felt like one of those things you’re meant to say.

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