Page 96 of Break

“I never agreed to have you marry Mason’sbrother. Scarlett went off the rails that night at the gala, and I’ve never forgiven her for it. You and Jackson would have been a hideous couple.”

I think that was her attempt at a joke, but I’m too scared to laugh. “Are you saying you’re fine with me being with two men at once?” That came out wrong, didn’t it? Shit.

“Are you saying they’re going to treat you like a princess and give you the life you deserve?”

I swallow past the lump in my throat. “Yes. God, yes, Mom. That’s all they want to do.”

“Then that’s all we want for you, darling. Your happiness is all we’ve cared about.”

I think I’m still sleeping, and this is all a dream. Has to be. The fact that Landon and Kerrington are nowhere to be seen in the suite is yet another clue that this isn’t real. So, I go for gold. “I don’t want to work for Greystone anymore, either. I don’t want to work at all.”

“I think that’s best as well,” she responds with tension in her tone.

“Why? Because I haven’t done a good enough job?”

“No.” I hear her take a sip of her drink. Bet its whisky, neat. From Kerrington’s family’s distillery. He sends her a bottle of it every year for her birthday. “We think you’ve done a fine job, Nicole. But you’ve run yourself into the ground, and that is not okay.”

My defenses go up. “I’m only doing what Dad asks of me.”

“Which has been a bone of contention between us these past six months. He’s allowed you to work yourself into a tailspin.”

“And yetyouwere the one to suggest I relocate to Japan for our business!”

“Only because I could see you were so unhappy here, Niki. My god, you’re like a machine with no soul.”

Tears prick my eyes, because that hurts.

“I’ve watched you waste away ever since the gala. You’re pushing yourself too far. Proving yourself to God knows who and for no good reason.”

“No good reason?” My temper flares and the first tear falls. “I was humiliated that night! And have been blackmailed ever since.” Before she can ask about it, I talk over her. “I gave up my chance at happiness to be wedded to Mason motherfucking Finch, all because you and his family are so greedy and untrusting.”

“Nicole,” she warns with her mom voice.

“I’m not done.” Standing up, I pace. “Why would you force me to move to the other end of the world if you’re this upset that I’m working so much to begin with? Is it because you’re ashamed of me, too? All those articles got scrubbed from the internet but not from your brain, is that it?”

“Absolutely not.” Her tone and pitch match mine with hostility. “I don’t give a damn what the articles say. They’re click bait and no one cares.”

“Your friends care. The country clubmembers care. Dad’s partners care.”

“Is that what you think?” she huffs.

“I heard dad call me a whore.”

“He’d never call you such a thing.”

“He did. I heard him. It broke my fucking heart.”

“Then he and I will have words once I hang up.”

Silence spreads between us.

“Niki, I don’t give a damn about any of that gala nonsense. I only wish you would be the same way.”

I’m struck stupid. “Mom.” This dream has gone off the rails. Leaving the suddenly too tiny bedroom, I pace in the living room instead. “You said you paid to have the articles wiped.”

“I certainly would have, but Kerrington and Landon took care of it before I even had the chance. They refused to accept money for their service, too.”

“I know,” I say, pinching the bridge of my nose. “But why go through all that effort if you don’t care what people think?”

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