Page 63 of Forbidden Dark Vows

“Fix it?” Her voice rises a notch. “This isn’t something you can patch up with a spot of glue and some sticky tape. Don’t you think your father has suffered enough?”

It’s a low blow that catches me straight in the gut, winding me momentarily. But if Harry and I are going to stand a chance of making this work, I can’t leave it. “I want to resolve it for hissake. It was a long while ago. Why can’t we all move on? Maybe Harry was meant to come into my life for a reason.”

“Ha! Don’t you dare pretend that you’re doing this for your father. There’s only one person you’re thinking of, and that’s Ruby Jackson.”

I could bite. I could remind her that she was only thinking of herself when she tried to set me up with Alessandro Russo. But that’s not going to achieve anything, and there’s too much at stake here for us to start hurling insults at one another like teenagers.

“Please, Mom. I only want to understand what happened. You and Dad never speak about it, and it shouldn’t be this taboo subject that everyone is too scared to mention.”

“There’s a reason for that, Ruby, and he’s lying in a hospital bed again.” She stands on the curb, waiting for the traffic signals to change.

“Fine.” I stand next to her. “If you won’t tell me, I’ll ask Karl Weiss to give me his version of events.”

Her cheeks grow hot and pink despite the icy chill in the air. “You wouldn’t dare.”

“Try me.” After this reaction, I’m even more determined to find out what happened. She should know by now that I can never refuse a challenge like this.

The pedestrian light turns green, the signal to walk beeping above our heads, but we don’t move. People crossing in the opposite direction skirt around us, huffing because we’re blocking the sidewalk. The light turns red again, and still, I’m waiting for my mom to speak to me.

“Go right ahead, Ruby. Good luck with getting him to tell you the truth.” She carries on walking and doesn’t wait for me to follow.

I walk around the city, the conversation with my mom churning around inside my head. It’s obvious that she isn’t going to tell me, but I don’t understand why, unless she’s trying to protect my dad. Did he do something to Karl Weiss that caused him to retaliate? It’s hard to connect my dad to that kind of ruthless businessman, but perhaps the first stroke changed him, softened him around the edges, made him the man I’ve always looked up to. Perhaps it took the stress of losing his company to make him realize what was important.

It would explain Karl’s reaction when he discovered who I was.

Lizzie warned me that his bark was worse than his bite though. I’d caught him unawares. Perhaps now that he’s had time to calm down and think about it, he’ll be willing to talk.

I’ve made up my mind. I’m going to invite Karl Weiss and my mom to dinner with me and Harry, and the four of us are going to resolve this like mature adults.

I go home and call Lizzie before my mom comes home. She gives me Karl’s number and, heart thumping, I tap it into the phone before I can talk myself out of it.

“Karl Weiss.” He still sounds like a thick-necked dog wearing a studded collar.

My heart lurches. What if Lizzie is wrong and his bite is way worse than his bark?

“Mr. Weiss, this is Ruby Jackson. We met in Harry’s office a couple of days ago.”

Silence.

“I wanted to invite you to dinner with me, my mom, and Harry when he’s back.”

“Back?”

Shit!He doesn’t know that Harry is trying to find his sister.

My cheeks grow inflamed, and I’m so glad that he can’t see me. “I’ll get Harry to arrange the flights. I think it will be good for us to all sit down over dinner and clear the air.”

I can hear him breathing, but he’s milking the grumpy father-in-law role.

“I’d really like it if we could all get along. I’m going to marry your son, Mr. Weiss.”

Silence.

I shouldn’t have called him. Will he blame Harry for putting me up to this? Right now, I think that anything is possible.

Finally, he says, “I can’t stop him from marrying you, but don’t expect me to pretend I’m happy about it.”

“Even for Harry’s sake?”

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