Page 86 of All the Beautiful Things

“Want a drink?”

I sure as hell needed one.

Behind me, Nina kicked off her shoes and removed her coat as well. “Red wine, if you have any would be perfect.”

Talk about a dinner from hell. A night even worse. After Gerald dropped his bombshell, his trap, I’d balked. Adamantly declared no way in hell as I marrying Nina so our families could be united and run the city.

He’d paused my rant with one hand lifted. And I knew enough about business, regardless of how big of bullshit this was, to listen to a man when he was at his breaking point. It was when they were most volatile, when not listening or showing that respect could mean a bigger snowball of hell to deal with later.

So I listened, silently seething, as he continued to describe the benefits of merging our families. And some day, Patrick and I would run both of our family’s companies together.

Like hell that was going to happen. Through it all, Nina stayed silent, a smirk on her lips that reminded me of the times we spent together and the face of a girl who always got what she wanted. It baffled me—both her behavior and that I’d been blind to it for so long.

When Gerald was done, I turned to Nina. “And you’re okay with this? Being used by your own father as a tool?”

A pawn?

She flicked her fingernails together. “It makes sense. Creating a union.”

If I’d ever had believed she had the ability to actually care about another human, all of those hopes were dashed in that one moment.

“Even though you know how I feel?”

She shrugged and reached for her wine. Any hint of pain or embarrassment I’d caught outside was long gone. “Feelings change.”

My lip curled and I drank my own wine. I was done with the dinner but not with Nina. “We need to do some serious talking.”

I didn’t owe her anything. I could storm out of this place without another word. Still, there was a time she and I had grown up as friends. There were times she cried on my shoulder when she was stressed. There were the weeks after Melissa’s death where she heldmeand tried to help me. It was those reminders of when I was so horrible to her, lashing out in my anger and pain and shoving her away so rudely I still wanted to apologize for.

Her father had grinned, delighted. If he thought I was laying down and going to allow him, or his daughter, to lead me by my dick they were sorely mistaken. Besides, throttling her slim little throat at a restaurant with her family at the table wasn’t the place.

I’d pulled away, so much like Brandon accused me of doing, after Melissa’s death. Nina had tried to get through, believing it was Melissa’s death that pulled me away and believed when I was done grieving, I’d come back to her.

Now, I couldn’t recall if it was love for me that made her believe that, or her own arrogance.

Regardless, I couldn’t reconcile the woman I was with tonight with the woman I’d spent so many years thinking I loved.

Now I knew what love was, something that fed you to your marrow, someone you craved any time apart from. It was someone who made you feel bold and reckless and yet peaceful and content at the same time. Lilly gave me all of that without trying, it was justthere,existingbetween us, this new, young love we only had to continue to feed for healthy growth.

For my own peace of mind, while I was trying to not make the same mistakes of my past when faced with potential loss, I had to know.

I chucked my phone and keys to the table, pulled off my coat, and filled two glasses of wine.

Nina curled onto my couch, tucking her feet beneath her like she actually belonged in my home and I despised every single damn second of this pointless crap I had to deal with.

This was all because I was younger. Gerald would never pull this crap with my dad and if he did, Dad would probably handle it better. I couldn’t even call him right now to bitch. Not only was I capable of handling this, but if he was awake at all, he’d be exhausted.

“When you came to my office today to mention you’d be at the dinner with your father, you neglected to tell me you were throwing me into a fire.”

“You’re so dramatic, Hudson. Always have been.”

I briefly wondered how the glass of red wine in my hand would pair with the color of her red dress. Being the gentleman I tried to be, I let it remain a wonder. No sense in shattering glass or spilling the wine on my carpet.

“Why do you want this?” I kept my distance, standing on the other side of the coffee table. If my height intimidated Nina as she leaned forward for her wine and settled back into the couch, she did a damn good job of hiding it.

“I said it at dinner. It’s a good union.”

“And we no longer live in feudal England where women must marry Lords or Dukes to help their family’s status.”

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