Page 116 of Notorious Park Avenue Prince

It was Friday afternoon, and we were headed to the family estate of East’s mother’s family in Connecticut, where she’d been staying since the news broke. When East called her to check in last night, she’d said it was important that he come for a visit as soon as he could. She didn’t give him any more information than that, and when he’d hung up, he looked pale—probably thinking terrible thoughts, imagining how it could possibly get worse. Both King and I had been about to offer to go with him when East surprised us both by asking us first.

It’d been aholy shitballsmoment when we realized East’s walls were slowly coming down. Not that we’d ever point that out to him, because he was like a skittish animal. You had to creep up on him without his realizing, or even better, let him come to you.

If East knew I was comparing him to an animal of any kind right now, I was sure my role would change to “man I liked to fuck that I just pushed out of the car.”

“Did you growupout here?” I asked as I looked out at the new leaves on the trees passing us by, finding it difficult to imagine a young East running around outside.

“We used to have a house nearby. No need to sound so shocked.”

“I mean, I’m just trying to imagine you in any setting other than the concrete city you seem to love so much.”

“I can become one with nature. Or have you forgotten a certain waterfall?”

I didn’t think anyone in this car wouldeverforget coming in that waterfall, but it was the suburban feel I was having difficulty wrapping my head around.

“It’s just the quietness of it all, I guess. I always imagined young East in a tiny suit surrounded by the sparkly lights of the city. Not all this…greenery.”

King chuckled. “He has a point.”

“That I don’t look good in green? That’s the color of money. I lookfabulousin green. Not that I’ll likely see that shade much longer with the rate my family is going. What about you?” East asked, glancing back at me. “Did you grow up in the city?”

It was hard to believe that after all the time I’d spent with East, this was the first time we were really talking about our families. Not that you’d generally bring them up with a casual hookup. But again, that just proved whatever was happening between us was turning into a whole lot more than casual.

“Yeah, my parents have a place in Brooklyn. It’s where they opened their first restaurant, and they still live there today.”

“Wait. So your parents, the people who own The Cellar, live in the same house you grew up in?”

I laughed at the disbelief on East’s face. It was blowing his mind that someone who owned and ran a multimillion-dollar businesschoseto live in a simple brownstone across the river.

“They do. They’re sentimental like that. Too many memories to just up and leave.”

“You can always make new memories.”

“True, but you can’t replace the height marker on the mudroom wall where they measured me each year.”

“Your parents are wonderful people,” King said. “I knew that by the son they raised, but seeing their business grow over the years only solidifies it. They’re hardworking, proud people, and they care about their community.”

“Oh God, and here I am with a convicted father and an apathetic mother,” East said. “Guess that shows in the son they raised too.”

King reached over and laid a hand on his leg. “You aren’t your parents, just like Zac isn’t his, and every day you’re making decisions that set you apart from them, and that shows a real strength of character.”

East sighed and looked out the window, and I could only hope he took what King said to heart. Over the last few days, we’d seen the old East start to re-emerge, but with a newfound drive to work out a way forward from this mess. He’d been looking into possible opportunities in some of the companies King owned, and really taking an interest in asking about my family’s business. It was as if a fire had been lit inside him, but the second he’d gotten the call from his mother, that flame had started to flicker. My only hope was that this visit with her today didn’t snuff it out completely.

We turned onto a drive with a set of wrought-iron gates fit for a palace, and when East announced himself and they yawned open, the house that came into view nearly fit that description.

“So much for destitute. If this is in the family, can’t you just…get a loan?” I said.

“This belongs to my grandparents. I haven’t been here in years. Neither has my mother, for that matter.”

“Family rift?”

“Let’s just say they never took to my father, and it looks like their instincts were spot-on.”

I glanced at the vintage Rolls-Royce parked in front of the multi-car garage. Yeah, so much for running around in the suburbs. Even though I’d grown up around money, both King and East were in an entirely different stratosphere that should’ve probably made me feel uncomfortable. Instead, I found myself more curious than ever, wanting to knoweverything about them. Their pasts, their wants, what drove them crazy inandout of the bedroom. They were both endlessly fascinating in a way I’d never expected, and one thing was for sure—I’d been kept on my toes since we came together.

When King parked at the front of the circular drive, East reached for the door handle and took in a deep breath. “Here goes nothing.”

“No matter what happens, your life is just beginning,” King said. “Remember that.”

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