Page 26 of Kissed and Missed

I shudder but decide to move past it in the interest of getting them out of here before Julian’s meeting finishes. “I’ll speak with them, alright? But I’m not promising to go along with whatever strategy they have. For what it’s worth, I think Julian’s people are some of the best in the country and?—”

“And they’reJulian’speople,” Dad interjects coolly, folding his arms over his chest as his eyes scan the suite, obviously searching for the man who got me into this mess. “I don’t trust this guy, Honor. You barely know him. You’re half his age.”

I let out a hard, disbelieving laugh as I gesture to Sophie. “Excuse me?Pot? Kettle?”

Dad’s jaw snaps together, and he glowers at me. Ordinarily, the two of us are on the same page, and I can’t remember the last time we had it out like this. “That is a completely different situation.”

“Is it?”

“Okay.” Sophie holds up both hands, stepping between us with an apologetic wince in both directions. “Let’s all sit down? Take a deep breath? You guys do realize you’re forcingmeto be the voice of reason here? Doesn’t that seem irresponsible?”

Neither of us moves. “Where is he?” Dad demands.

“In a board meeting,” I reply, determined to keep calm, “and he isn’t a bad person, Dad. We got to know each other when I was stuck in California, and we kept talking after I left. Believe itor not, this was a long time coming. He didn’t mean for it to get out so soon, and neither did I, but now that it has, we’re going to figure it outtogether. Together is referring to me and Julian, by the way. Not Bram and Bram.”

Dad looks like he’s on the brink of a furious retort when the phone ringing in my pocket draws all of our attention. I pull it out, and all three of us stare down at the name on the caller ID.

“Hi, Len.” I put her on speakerphone. “You’re on?—”

“Heads up,” she interrupts, “I think Dad is on his way to ambush you.”

In the quiet of the hotel room, her voice carries clearly over to where Dad and Sophie are standing. He raises an eyebrow and calls, “Hello, Lenora. Thank you for the solidarity.”

“Fuck. Well, sisters before misters, Dad! Sorry!”

“Okay,” Sophie says again, clearly hell-bent on bringing this conversation back into neutral territory, her voice determinately bright. “We came, we told her, now we need to go to work. Remember, Bram? It’s donut day! We can’t miss donut day!”

Dad glances at her, his expression softening slightly, then, with obvious difficulty, drags his eyes back onto me. “I trust you, Honor, but time is of the essence here. We can’t allow his people to control the narrative you’ll live the rest of your life by.”

What he’s saying makes sense, but at the same time, so does every single thing Julian’s team has presented to us so far. They seem dedicated to getting us out of this with as little lasting damage to our reputations as possible, and I trust Julian.

My heart flutters as the truth settles in, thatI really do trust him.

Wow.

“I’ll speak to your people, Dad,” I manage at last. “If they have any concerns about the plan Julian’s team has put forward, I’ll take it under advisement.”

A nerve twitches in Dad’s forehead, but eventually, he nods. “Fine. You’re an adult,” he says in way of acceptance. Then, because he must be able to sense my poorly concealed frustration, offers an apologetic grimace. “It’s a lot, Honor. I’m trying here, but I can’t say a relationship scandal with a billionaire is something I thought I’d have to help my kid through.”

Yeah, I can only imagine the stuff he’s read online in the wake of this. I’m still pretending my social media accounts don’t exist, and have only used the internet for looking up florists or some of the prestigious names who readily accepted Julian’s last-minute invitation to the gala, drawn in by the promise of his special announcement.

“I understand.” I glance over at the door, behind which Julian is working. He promised to try and finish up early, but right about now, I’m really hoping he’s unsuccessful. “We’re hoping to have answers soon about who took the pictures. His lawyers are throwing around subpoenas and lawsuits like they’re going out of style, something will knock loose soon. I’ll let you know when it does.”

“Okay, this has been a lot of fun, but I’ve got physical therapy in fifteen minutes,” Leni’s voice comes through my speakerphone, and we all bid her a hasty goodbye before plunging right back into tense silence.

Dad scrubs his hand over his stubble, looking worried. “Call if you need anything. I’d like to be kept informed.”

I nod in agreement, but my eyes have moved to Sophie as something inside me seems to curl in on itself. “Is it bad? What are they saying?”

She hesitates. “Honestly, not as terrible as you’re thinking. A few girls who Riley cheated on you with went on their social media accounts and posted videos basically using her own words against her. I guess she told them you guys were just hangingout and had never been together officially. It’s only been a day, and people are already bored of the story. I know it seems like the end of the world, and itisshitty, don’t get me wrong, but the internet moves on.”

Some of the tension bleeds from my shoulders and I offer her a grateful smile, feeling the tiniest bit better. “Has Riley said anything about it?”

“Not a word. I’ve been checking her accounts, too.” Sophie rolls her eyes. “I mean, would you say anything if you were her? Her choices are either to play the victim and risk looking like a liar when it inevitably comes out that she treated you like shit and slept around. Or, to suck it up and say she doesn’t care and wish you guys the best, which I’m sure would go against her selfish bitch sensibilities.”

“Soph.” I wince, hating the possibility of Julian overhearing my best friend talking about his daughter like that. “Please.”

“Sorry, sorry.” Sophie reaches out to take Dad’s hand. “Okay. Come on, grumpy, you came and saw everything is fine. Donut day is waiting.” He nods reluctantly, but before they can leave, the unmistakable sound of footsteps makes my heart sink.

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