Page 116 of Dr. Stone
“Yeah, but he’s easier to train.” I smirked. “Good to see you again, Captain.”
I glanced down at Duke, who was watching me expectantly. “You’ve got legs, you know.”
He looked up the stairs, then back at me, blinked once, and sat. I didn’t bother looking at Reiner. The last time he’d seen me, he was flying me, my friends, and a handful of gorgeous women to St. Moritz with enough champagne to flood a chalet. Now here I was, toting a purse pooch like a woman auditioning for a Real Housewives spinoff.
I sighed, scooped Duke up, and trotted up the stairs with him tucked under one arm like I was hauling royalty into first class.
Once inside the jet, I saw that my parents were already settled; my father was reading something on his tablet, while my mother looked up from her drink just in time to see us enter.
Her gaze shifted from me to the dog and back to me again. “Well,” she said, her voice clipped and amused. “This is new.”
My father raised an eyebrow without looking up. “What the hell is that, and why doyou,of all people, have it?”
I dropped into the seat across from them, Duke hopping onto my lap with practiced ease like this was his jet, his seat, and his afternoon itinerary, not my parents’.
“This,” I said dryly, pointing at the dog, “is Duke. He’s a Yorkie with a superiority complex, and he believes he outranks everyone on this plane.” I looked at my dad, “Including your ass.”
Duke gave a tiny sneeze and settled in like I’d just confirmed his royal lineage.
My mother’s lips twitched. “And why, son, are you traveling with a Yorkie? Is ityours?”
For the first time in my life, I witnessed both my parents trying not to laugh. I understood why, and God onlyknewwhat I looked like as a bachelor with his bark-sized Birkin accessory.
“He’s not mine,” I said. “Technically. He belongs to Andie. Though he’s decided I’m his property now, so here we are.”
“Is this the same woman from the celebration?” my father asked, still watching Duke as if trying to determine whether he was a biter.
“Yes, and the same woman you met in Costa Rica,” I said, leveling my gaze at him. “The one you assumed was with Titus.”
“And now she’s with you,” my mother said, drawing the connection.
“Was with me. That’s the reason I’m traveling to this wedding,” I looked down at Duke, “and also why I’m bringing this rat along with me.”
My mother leaned forward slightly. “Sheended things withyou?”
I gave a short laugh at the insinuation that I was some treasure because of my station in life. The truth was that if I hadn’t become a changed man, Andie should’ve run away from me long ago like she was on fire. “Yeah. She did.”
Silence settled between us like cabin pressure shifting, while Duke added to the drama by sighing theatrically.
“Interesting,” my father said, seemingly bored with the relationship talk.
His reaction was everything I had always feared about being in a relationship—feeling absolutely nothing, even when I had everything. It wasn’t like my mom was unattractive or difficult; there just didn’t seem to be any chemistry between them. They were so emotionally distant. Both were ambivalent to the point that they didn’t even have anything to say—either to each other or, evidently, even to me about what felt like the biggest thing in my life. The idea of ending up like that baffled me. They lived like strangers who happened to share a house, a bank account, kids, and nice things, but I honestly don’t know if they everlovedeach other. Their marriage had always seemed more like a merger of two powerful families than anything built on love.
Whatever they felt, if anything, didn’t come close to what I felt with Andie. She made my heart race with something I hadn’t had in years—hope. The possibility of a future with her and her son lit me up from the inside out. That’s why I wasn’t afraid to bring her up to my parents. I didn’t care if they approved. But Ididcare enough to draw the line: I wouldn’t tolerate them disrespecting her just because she didn’t grow up the way I did. If I were going to pursue her, then I was damn sure not going to let my family hurt her the way her ex did.
“Let me clarify,” I said, my voice low and steady. “She didn’t walk away because she didn’t care. She walked away because she was trying to protect me.”
“Protectyou?” my father asked skeptically. “What the hell would you need protection from that you or your family couldn’t provide?”
“She was protecting me from a man who threatened to take away her son and destroy my career if she didn’t cut ties with me,” I answered, locked on his gaze. “She didn’t tell me because she thought walking away from our relationship would keep both of us safe.”
My mother’s expression shifted, concern overtaking her curiosity.Thiswas my mother’s arena. She understood what it meant to be a woman protecting her man and her family. In her mind, there was nothing more important. “That is very admirable of her,” she said. “So, it seems serious.”
“Yeah, it is,” I said. “Or it was.”
“And you’re on your way to…?”
“Show up at the wedding party yacht celebration Seb is hosting and get her back.” Then I smirked, “Hopefully, she’ll let me be her plus one at the wedding since I declined my RSVP.”
