Page 20 of My Grumpy Billionaire Protector

“You’re thinking about it, aren’t you?”

With a jolt, I come back to the present to find both of my friends peering at me. Sienna has retrieved a bottle of expensive-looking red wine from the temperature-controlled wine cabinet, and TJ is massaging his ankle.

“Of course, I’m thinking about it.” I run my fingers through my hair and exhale. “It would be stupid not to, but I can’t allow myself to be sucked back in. Weren’t you listening to what I said?”

“I don’t think it’s a big deal that she wanted to help you choose an appropriate dress,” TJ argues before leaning forward and curling his fingers around his glass. He takes a few sips, and his expression relaxes. “Your mom has great taste.”

“She’s trying to control me,” I remind TJ with a sideways look. “You know that. Remember in school when she tried to dictate everything I did with Ben?”

“Ben was hot,” Sienna interrupts with a thoughtful look. She hands a drink to me before grabbing her own. “Whatever happened to him?”

“He’s married and lives in the suburbs,” I reply without looking at her. “Not sure what Ben has to do with anything but anyway… Do you remember how she even planned some of our dates?”

TJ frowns into his drink. “I do remember that.”

“And he went along with it because it is very hard to say no to Alba Coombes.”

“You are saying no though.” Sienna tugs on the edges of her dark green dress with a strange expression on her face. “So that’s something, right? You’ve got to take your wins where you can get them.”

I bring the glass up to my lips and pause. “I know you’re right. It just doesn’t feel like it’s enough, and I really hate Friday night dinners.”

“Can’t you get out of them?”

I glance over at TJ, who stands up and winces. Carefully, he makes his way over to the kitchen and steps behind the marble counter. After rummaging around for a few seconds, he pulls out a large bowl and pours a few nuts into it. “I’m glad your mom still keeps everything in the same place.”

“I do try and get out of family dinners,” I reply, my eyes never leaving his face, “but you know what my family is like, TJ, especially my grandfather.”

And disappointing him is like drinking foul, bitter medicine.

It never quite leaves my mouth, and it stays with me throughout the day.

Mitchel Coombes likes everything to be done in a specific way, and anyone who deviates faces the full force of his disapproval. Unlike many men of his position, he never shouts, nor has he ever raised a hand in anger, but there is this look that he gives people that stops them dead in their tracks. Dinah and I call it, “Catatonic Coombes.”

All he has to do is pursue his lips, adopt a blank expression, and stare.

Even as a child, I did everything I could to avoid being his target, from taking on extra courses during my senior year of high school to volunteering for his campaign in college. Looking back, I know there are too many things I forced myself to do, all in the name of peace. However, I realized a long time ago how fragile and ridiculous the terms were, especially considering how they applied to everyone but my grandfather.

“I know.” TJ presses the bowl against his chest and limps back over to us. When he settles, he turns to me with a sympathetic smile. “I know it’s hard because of everything they expect of you, especially your grandfather, but he means well.”

“I know he does.” The sweet-tasting liquid burns a path down my throat before settling in the pit of my stomach. “And I know my mom does too, but I can’t live my life the way they want me to. If I did, I would be a lawyer right now, miserably working at a desk. I’d be a slave to whatever company they’d chosen for me.”

“It wouldn’t have been that bad.” TJ bumps his shoulders against mine. He sets the bowl down between us, retreats to his corner, and lifts the leg up so his legs are stretched out ahead of him. “I’m enjoying my job.”

“Yeah, but you’re more suited to this lifestyle than I am,” I admit, forcing my gaze away and over to Sienna. “We should be more like you, Si. Nothing scares you.”

Sienna snorts. “Plenty scares me. I just don’t let it get in the way of what I want.”

I lift my glass up and tilt it in her direction. “I’ll drink to that.”

Sienna meets my gaze and holds it. “It’s going to be okay, E. I know things are tense right now. I know you want to have a relationship with your family, but eventually, they’ll get over it.”

I drink the last of my wine and lean forward to pour more, careful not to spill any on Mom’s oak coffee table. “It’s been seven years. You’d think they would have found a way to make their peace with it already.”

“They will,” Sienna insists with a small smile. “It just takes some time and patience.”

“I wish they were a bit more like your family.”

Sienna’s expression falls. “Trust me. You don’t want that. Don’t get me wrong, I love my family, but sometimes they’re a little too detached and uninvolved. Like I get that they were trying to teach me to make it on my own, but they’re taking it a little too far.”

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