Page 70 of Sincerely, Your Inconvenient Wife

I would have recognized Lily as Saoirse’s mother without anyone telling me. Willowy and blonde, she’d passed her looks down to her daughter. She was already seated at a round, wooden table that looked like it belonged on a pirate ship, and she wasn’t alone. A slim, balding man in a navy suit rose to his feet beside her as we approached.

Saoirse turned her head, speaking lowly to me. “That’s Peter, her chief of staff.”

“He looks like a jackhole,” I muttered.

“He is.”

I squeezed her nape, then slid my hand to the small of her back, reminding her I was with her all the way.

Lily pulled Saoirse and Lock into stiff hugs—stiff on her children’s part, her embrace was firm and fierce, which took me by surprise. She offered me a warm handshake and an introduction to Peter that thankfully didn’t involve touching. I got the vibe this guy had perpetually sweaty hands.

We all sat and got ordering out of the way. Saoirse stared at her menu blindly, so I helped her pick out a burger I thought she’d like. I ordered her a beer too. She needed something to take the edge off, or she’d burst.

“So…” Lily folded her hands on the table, her gaze trailing from me to Saoirse, “I’d like to know why I had to read about your marriage in the Denver Times. Cora sent me the clipping, and I thought it was some sort of practical joke.”

I found Saoirse’s hand under the table and brought it to my thigh. She wove her fingers between mine and squeezed.

“Obviously, I’d planned to tell you, but the news got out before we expected it to. I’m sorry for that. It wasn’t intentional.”

“Your mother was very hurt,” Peter chimed in.

Lock glared at him. “Why is he here?”

Lily straightened her shoulders. “I don’t like traveling alone. Peter volunteered to come with me.”

“That doesn’t answer why he’s sitting here at this table. This doesn’t involve him. Saoirse shouldn’t have to reveal personal information in front of your employee,” Lock stated, his thick arms folded over his chest.

“Peter knows everything. In his position, he has to,” Lily answered.

“Bullshit,” Lock uttered.

“Peter isn’t family, Mother. He’s nothing more than a clinger,” Saoirse said.

Peter went crimson from his collar to his receding hairline. “Show some respect, young lady. I know that’s a foreign concept to you. All that matters is ‘living free’ or whatever you call your irresponsible life—”

I slammed my hand down on the table, possibly drawing more attention than any of us wanted, but I was past caring. This piece of shit thought he could sit here, disparaging Saoirse, and get away with it? He had a lot to learn about me if he really believed that.

“That’s enough. I will not sit here and allow you to speak to my wife that way.” I flicked my gaze to her mother. “This ends now, or I am taking my wife out of here, and in the future, you’ll have to go through me to speak to her. No one willeverdisrespect her that way. Not if I have anything to say about it.”

Saoirse slipped her hand from mine to press on my chest, the other curling around the back of my shoulders. “It’s okay,” she whispered next to my ear. “I’m okay.”

I turned to her, our noses grazing. “It’s not okay. You don’t have to accept that.”

She nodded. “I know, I know, it’s just easier—”

“No.”

Lily murmured something to Peter, who then shoved back from the table with a deep scowl on his face. He marched over to the bar on the other side of the room, planting himself where he could watch our table.

Asshole. I knew it at first sight.

“You have to fire that guy,” Lock gritted out. “He’s a piece of shit.”

“He’s good at his job,” Lily said softly. “But you’re right, I shouldn’t have brought him to dinner. I’m sorry, Saoirse. What he said was rooted in truth, but the cruel way he said it was unacceptable.”

“Rooted in truth?” It took a lot for my anger to rise, but these people had pressed all the right buttons. I was riled. “Excuse me for being blunt, but are you fucking kidding me, Lily? You’re telling me you think your daughter is irresponsible…why? Does she live off your dime? Beg for help from anyone? Get herself in trouble? Or does she simply make choices you wouldn’t?”

Lock grunted, which I took as agreement. Saoirse remained stiff and silent beside me.

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