Page 113 of Forbidden Dark Vows

“I have Julia.”

“You know what I mean. Look how happy your brother is. All I ever wanted was to see you both happy and content.”

“I know, Mom.”

Satisfied that she has made her point, she sits back again. “I don’t want the celebrations spoiled by business talk. I’m relying on you to steer the party the right way if your father is getting drawn into a serious conversation. You know what he’s like.”

I do, and so does she. If the chat turns to business, a bunch of wild horses won’t drag him away.

“Kelly has been helping me with the theme. We’re keeping it theatrical. Your father lovedHamiltonwhen we saw it on Broadway…”

I tune out. My shirt collar feels two sizes too small, and the back of the car is starting to feel claustrophobic, my mom’s perfume clinging to every available surface. Of course, Kelly has been helping her. She’s the perfect daughter-in-law, a good mom, a loving wife, and never misses a family event.

“Stop the car.” I’m already reaching for the handle as the Bentley draws to a smooth halt. “Sorry, Mom,” I say. “But I’m running late.”

I climb out and close the door behind me. My mother slides across the seat and peers out through the lowered window. “Brandon, next time you use an important meeting as an excuse to avoid talking to me, can you at least make sure your pants are clean?”

She sits back in her seat as the tinted window glides up and the car moves on.

Chapter2

Rose

“Okay, this is beyond a joke.” I toss my dinner plate into the frothy water in the sink and wipe bubbles from my cheek with the back of my arm.

I know where the instruction came from without waiting for my dad to elaborate.

Mr. Weiss.

The man in the gray silk suit.

The man who was horrified by a few fingerprints on his goddamned perfectly pressed pants. I’d bet his kids only get to speak to him from a safe distance. I can picture him standing in the doorway of their bedrooms and wishing them goodnight with a relieved smile at surviving another day without getting his hands dirty.

“He looked at Izzie like she was something I’d dragged in off the sidewalk,” I grumble over my shoulder. Something smelly. Something that he would no doubt have his assistant remove from the soles of his shoes to save him from getting his fingers soiled.

No, scratch all the above—Mr. Weiss isn’t the paternal type. I’d bet he never ate watermelon without a fork either.

I’m angry at myself for wasting any emotion on the guy, but seriously, who does he think he is? He could’ve asked me politely to take Izzie outside, but instead, he gets his assistant to suggest that Dad use the café across the street the next time he forgets his lunch.

“Hey, Rosie, it’s okay,” Dad says. “Mr. Weiss has an image to maintain. It’s my fault. I shouldn’t be so forgetful in the mornings.”

“Don’t apologize for him, Dad.”

I inhale deeply and plunge my hands into the hot water. I don’t like it when my dad bows down to his bosses like this. Running a corporation is one thing, and sure, the guy is probably under a lot of stress, but it doesn’t give him the prerogative to treat people unkindly.

“He can’t dictate what you eat, Dad,” I say, swallowing my initial response. “Izzie wasn’t even being noisy. Thirty seconds later, and we’d have been out of there, and Mr. Weiss would’ve been none the wiser.”

“Bad timing, Rosie. That’s all it was. You can’t diss the man for doing his job.” Dad cleans ketchup from Izzie’s face with a baby wipe and gets her down from the table.

Maybe Dad’s right. The guy probably didn’t give the incident a second thought while he sat through his dull afternoon meetings, and scrolled through his emails, and added his illegible signature to a ream of classified documents. He probably doesn’t even remember the call he asked his assistant to make.

Maybe this anger bubbling inside my chest isn’t even about him.

The doorbell rings. I grab a towel to dry my hands and take it with me to the front door, Izzie almost tripping me up along the way.

It’s Jess, Izzie’s mom. “Sorry I’m so late,” she says. She bends down, scoops her little girl into her arms, and smothers her face in kisses while Izzie squirms and tries to push her away. “Have you been a good girl for Auntie Rose?”

“Yes, Mommy.” She wraps her arms around her mom’s neck and rests her cheek on Jess’s.

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