Page 101 of The Paradise Problem

I lean back, looking into his eyes, searching. “What happens now?”

“I’m not sure yet,” he admits, shaking his head. “Dad got up in there and tried his best to make Alex look drunk and unreliable, and everyone wants to keep eating caviar, so it seems like most guests are laughing it off and planning to gossip their guts out later.” He inhales, steadying himself. “I’m sure they’re all still in there. And when the guests are gone, that’s when the real shit will go down.”

* * *

HE’S NOT WRONG.

The guests drift back to their villas, cheerfully drunk and sated in both caviar and gossip. Once everyone’s gone, and the staff has mostly cleared the tent, Liam and I link hands, exchange a brief kiss of solidarity, and walk inside to find a miserable assortment of Westons. Alex is slumped in a chair, his elbows on his knees, staring grimly at the floor. Ray stands near the bar, face red and neck veins bulging. Next to him is a man I don’t know. They talk quietly, each slowly spinning a highball glass filled with what looks like whiskey. Jake leans against a tent pole on the far side of the room, scrolling on his phone. Janet fussily tidies while Charlie whispers angrily to Kellan in the corner. Only Blaire, who I’m guessing has gone to get the kids to bed, is missing. Lucky her.

The chandeliers are still lit overhead, Charlie’s elaborate cake, half-eaten, sits on a heavy crystal stand, waiting to be boxed up. Gold streamers litter the floor. It’s a beautiful mess and we’re walking right into the middle of it. How fitting.

As we enter, all eyes turn our way.

“Nice of you to join us,” Alex mumbles.

“I’m surprised they even came back,” Ray says. “That little stunt was un-fucking-believable.”

Alex looks up in surprise, as if trying to read his father’s tone. “Which one?”

Ray laughs humorlessly, pushing off the bar to walk over. “Which one? Your speech, you moron.”

And I truly never imagined a situation in which I’d ever feel bad for Alex Weston again, but this manages to penetrate my anger. Yes, Alex is annoying and intense and an enormous asshole and I suspect not very effective at his job and, while we’re at it, probably a terrible lay, but objectively Ray deserves a majority of the blame.

But Liam steps deeper into the room and addresses his father. “Don’t blame him. Blame me.”

“I’ll blame whoever I want,” Ray says, still staring at Alex. “Clearly Alex thought I didn’t know about Liam and Anna and decided sharing it with the world at the same time he was telling me was the way to go.” My jaw ratchets slowly open. He knew? This whole time?

“At my wedding,” Charlie sobs. “My wedding, Alex.”

Alex looks around, incredulous. “Does no one care that Liam has been lying for years? That he brought a literal gas station attendant to your wedding, Charlie?”

Oh, fuck him. “I think you mean a former gas station attendant,” I say, giving him the finger. Liam turns to look at me, laughing despite himself.

“You think this is funny?” Ray asks Liam. “You think this is all a game?”

“No, Dad.” Liam turns back, sobering. “I think this is a very serious, very aggravating situation, and one entirely of your own making. I’ve told you in every way I can that I didn’t want to be part of this company. And still, you keep pushing, you led us right here, when Alex is standing there, wanting this.”

“He’s a finance nerd,” Ray says, exasperated, like he’s said this every day of his adult life. “It’s not a good fit.”

“If you didn’t think it was a good fit, you could have trained him to be a better one. You could have sent him elsewhere to gain the experience you thought he lacked. But you didn’t do that.”

“Because it makes sense for you to take over.”

“And I don’t want the job!”

“Because of the fucking Pisa nonsense?”

Pisa. The word sparks a memory: Ray and Liam shouting that word on the trail the day of their groomsmen fitting.

I feel the room go still, and everyone looks at Liam, who very slowly walks closer to his father and calmly says, “Because of a lot of things. But yes, Dad. Because of the Pisa nonsense.”

I glance around the room, looking for a clue as to what Pisa is. Everyone is pointedly looking somewhere else. Charlie lets out a frustrated growl that mirrors the confused aggravation building in my chest. “What is that?” she yells. “What is Pisa? Just tell me! I’ve been hearing about this stupid thing for years!”

“Not now, Charlie,” Ray says with seething quiet, his eyes never wavering from Liam.

“Why?” she says, standing in her beautiful wedding gown on what should be the most magical night of her life. Her new husband sits at her side, and I wonder if Kellan had any idea what he was getting into. Are all those houses and private islands worth it? “Why not right now?” she presses. “It feels like everything else is coming out tonight so why not—”

“NOT NOW, CHARLOTTE!” Ray roars, turning his eyes to her.

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