Page 117 of Notorious Park Avenue Prince

East didn’t respond with a sarcastic comeback, only nodded, and we followed him into the estate. The parlor exuded an old-money aesthetic, with its rich velvet floor-to-ceiling curtains pulled open to let in the sun, and not one speck of dust on any of the polished surfaces. As King and I took up spots on one of the upholstered loveseats and East took the one opposite us, I nodded toward the grand piano in the corner.

“Do you play?” I asked.

East smirked at the question. “Are you implying I’ve got talented fingers?”

I looked back at the doorway, hoping like hell his family hadn’t overheard that. It didn’t exactly fit my role as “friend and emotional support.”

East started to chuckle, but it died off as his mother entered the parlor and he got to his feet.

It was instantly clear where East got his flair for the dramatic. She looked like royalty with her dark hair pinned up high, gorgeous jewels hanging from her ears and neck, and her cream silk dress flowing after her as she swept inside and greeted her son with a double air kiss. Then she turned to us and held her hand out—not to shake, but to kiss.

King didn’t miss a beat, lifting the back of her hand to his mouth in greeting, and I mimicked the move, even though itfelt completely weird to do so. What happened to a good old-fashioned hand shake or even a hug?

“I’m so happy you’re here, James,” she said, perching on the end of the couch beside him and fluffing her outfit out around her. “Have you shown your guests the grounds?”

“No, we just got here. You made it sound like it was urgent for me to come, so”—he spread his hands wide—“here I am.”

“Tea,” she said suddenly, and rang a little bell on the coffee table between us. One of the house staff appeared almost immediately. “Provisions for my guests, please, Tara.”

“Yes, Mrs. Easton.”

East’s mother visibly cringed at the title but then put on a tight smile for her son. “It’s been a dreadful week, darling. How are you?”

“I’m fine.”

“Are you? Are you not just devastated by what your father’s done? Ruined us both.” She plucked a tissue from an ornate box on the table and dabbed at nonexistent tears.

East surprised me then by covering his mother’s hand with his. “We’ll figure it out. We won’t let that bastard win.”

Her eyes widened slightly, and then Tara came back with a tray, and East’s mother pulled her hand free from his.Tara prepared coffee and tea for each of us to our specifications, and then gestured for us to help ourselves to the assortment of canapes on several levels of a mini tower.

Once we’d selected a few—though East didn’t touch anything—his mother rang the bell again, only this time it was a different woman, this one in a suit and carrying a briefcase, who entered.

“James, this is one of my lawyers, Marcia. She’s been drawing up the divorce papers?—”

“Divorce?” he said. “You’re leaving him?”

“You don’t think I’d stay to further sully my name?”

I glanced at King, wondering if we should maybe remove ourselves from the conversation, but the second I shifted on the seat, East shot me a look that said,Stay.

“No. I think you’re doing the right thing.”

“Of course I am. He made this mess; he can be the one to clean it up.” She pretended to pick at some imaginary lint on her skirt, and I thought it sweet that her and her son shared the same nervous habit.

“I couldn’t agree more. But—” East stopped himself and shook his head.

His mother took a tiny sip of tea and carefully placed it on the saucer before bringing it to her lap. “You have questions. Perhaps wondering how it is we’re back here.”

East nodded. “We haven’t exactly had family time here in years.”

“Well, understandably their disdain for your father was apparent even before we married, but they tolerated him when you were young. Only because he became successful enough to provide for us, but…” She glanced at King and me and seemed to rethink her words. “Well, the cause of our drifting apart is neither here nor there. They wanted me to leave your father, and of course I wasn’t going to do that.”

My first instinct was that she didn’t leave East’s father because she didn’t need her family’s money if she was married to a billionaire. I wasn’t sure about King, but I was utterly engrossed in her story, so much so my cucumber sandwich was still half eaten in my hand. I popped the rest of it in my mouth as she continued.

“It was unfortunate that they cut off my inheritance, as well as your own, James, but I never imagined your father would put us in such a precarious position.”

“I had an inheritance through your parents? Why didn’t you ever tell me that?”

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