Page 29 of The Price of a Promise

I set the napkin down, swiping my fingers across my cheeks.This conversation was far from finished, but nothing else would come from this for now.“I’ll go get my things.”

“The car will be here shortly,” my father announced, as breezily as though we’d just ended a business meeting.I nodded, excusing myself to go back to my bedroom so I could regroup, drawing deep, cleansing breaths.

But the truth was nothing would fully cleanse me of the disgust and disdain that had poured out of them.

They detested Axel because he wasn’t their kind.Not their kind of person and not their kind of money.

And no amount of time, tears, or conversation would ever help us find common ground.

CHAPTER TEN

CORA

Back in LA, I drifted onward, listless and blank.I couldn’t even bring myself to tell Axel about the encounter with my parents.I didn’t want him to worry—or maybe I just didn’t want him to probe.There were too many big unanswered questions, and all I knew how to do for now was look away.I had no emotional bandwidth left to dive into the quagmire.

Because it wasn’t just about Axel.It was about Chris’s hopes, too.He’d wanted me to take over the family business, a position that had been designated for him.He’d wanted nothing more than to make our father proud, up to and including denying his own sexuality.And if there was anything I wanted in life, it was to honor my brother’s truth.The truth he sought to squash and mute.The guilt that I carried from his suicide was a poison that had been dissolving my insides for years.Joining the family business was a way to atone.I could still live the life that Chris had always dreamt for us.

But I couldn’t turn away from Axel.

There had to be a way to blend the two paths.I just didn’t know what it was.

Monday morning, after a day and a half of tense expectation waiting for the other shoe to drop, they called.

“Cora, we’re both here,” my mother announced after I’d picked up, her voice bland and hollow.“Are you available to chat?”

“Of course,” I said, setting my purse down in the front hallway of my condo.I’d just gotten back from seminar and an immaculate home greeted me.The housekeeper had come and gone during the morning, leaving everything exactly as I liked it—including a bowl of mints near the door for guests.

“Good.We need to get some things clear moving forward,” my father said brusquely.

“About what?”I asked unnecessarily.Like this conversation could be about anything other than the engagement ring still encircling my finger.

“About your involvement with the family,” he said.

Ouch.Emotion clamped my throat straight away this time.At least they weren’t there to see the hurt that had begun stretching itself through my limbs.

“Oh.I didn’t realize my status as a family member was up for debate.”

“Everything is up for debate, at all times,” my father said.“Another thing I thought you’d learned by now.”

“Well, let’s hear it.”I clutched the phone so tightly my knuckles ached.“Let’s hear the new rules.”

“There are no new rules,” he went on.“There is simply a choice.By now I think it is apparent that your mother and I want the best for you.We’ve worked tirelessly our entire lives to offer you the best of the best of everything.You have a personal driver on each coast.You have residences on each coast.Housekeepers, paid schooling, private chefs, personal trainers, a limitless allowance for whatever your heart desires.We are prepared to finance your lifestyle for as long as you require.But that financing only happens if certain conditions are met.”

The knot that had been tightening in my stomach now cinched into a sickening stone.

“I think it’s also clear how we feel about this boy you insist on calling your boyfriend,” my father added.“But in case there was any doubt, I’ll reiterate: he is a neanderthal.We refuse to be associated with someone whose name sounds better suited for the car mechanic he should have become.We would never do business with him, and we certainly will not allow someone like him to become part of our family.”

I made a small noise, but my mother interjected.“Whatever you’re feeling now for him, I promise, it will pass.You will survive without him.I swear it.”

“The key words beingwithout him,” my father said gruffly.“Because we will not allow him to become part of this empire.Your future does not include him, if you wish to continue in this family.”

Tears streamed down my cheeks, but I held back the sobs threatening to escape.

“Continue in this family?”I echoed.“So if I stay with Axel I’ll no longer be your daughter?”I laughed bitterly.“That’s insane.”

“Empire and family are one and the same.”

“So why don’t you invite the board members to our birthdays?”I shot back.

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