Chapter 5 #2
“I don’t trust him or his invitation. He doesn’t do things unless they benefit him in some way. So, I’m wondering how he plans on using me. It’s not as if I can offer him more money or a higher social status.
“The only way to find out is to show up.”
“Why do you need to find out?” Konni asked. “Can’t you just tell him no?”
“That’s an option. However, if there’s a chance to use him like he used my mom, I’d like to take it. He owes her. But the only way for me to use him is to find out how he plans to use me first.”
“Leverage?”
“Exactly. But only if it’s worth the trade-off and only if it doesn’t violate my rich people principles.”
“Rich people principles?”
“I refuse to associate with anyone rich. I will not be my father. There’s nothing good about the upper echelons in the city, and I have no aspirations to ever rub shoulders with them.
Except for my friend, Wrenly, who doesn’t care about status.
I’ll rub her shoulders any day.” I spread my hands theatrically.
“So that’s my daddy issue. He’s never loved me, or anyone else, but only what a person might be able to do for him.
Now it’s your turn. What’s troubling you? ”
“There’s this person I like who’s really hard to read. I want to pursue them, but I’m afraid of scaring them off too.”
I didn’t miss how he used the “them” pronoun. Shit. Was he actually that interested in me?
“Is this person looking for a relationship? If not, pursuing them would definitely scare them off.”
He nodded slowly, considering me.
“Is that really the extent of your troubles? Dating? I wish that were the extent of my—”
He stood suddenly and reached over the bar, capturing the back of my head, bringing us so close together that I could feel his exhale as he spoke.
“It can be.”
The skin on my arms pebbled from the feel of the heat of his fingers. His lips were so close. If I leaned in just a little, I could—
“Get your hands off my staff or lose them,” Uncle Jay called.
Konni released me and sat back down, not once looking away from me. I resisted the urge to place my hand over my heart like Mom had this morning, but just barely.
“Did I scare you?” he asked after a moment, back to looking concerned.
“No. You reaffirmed my suspicion, though.”
“What suspicion?”
“You're dangerous.”
“Never to you.”
I shrugged. “Enjoy your drink.”
That was the last thing I said before walking away and avoiding him for the rest of my shift. When it was time to leave, Uncle Jay walked me to my car.
“I think you’re overreacting,” I said.
“And I don’t like the way he moved. That was too aggressive, Sophie-girl. He does something like that again, and he’s blacklisted. I promise you that.”
“Thank you for caring about me,” I said sincerely. Uncle Jay was the only male in my life who ever had.
“Always. Go home and get some sleep.” He started to close my door for me, then paused. “Text me once you’re inside and safe.”
I grinned and waved before pulling away.
Mom wasn’t home when I arrived. She’d left a note on the table that she’d picked up a shift and that she’d left the plate of food in the fridge for me. I took out the food to reheat it and sent two texts.
Me: I made it home safe. No head-snatching hottie followed me.
Uncle Jay: You need a keeper.
Me: Tell me what you want for breakfast, and I’ll have it waiting for you.
Mom: I’ll make myself some instant oatmeal. Sleep well!
I set out the bowl with a packet in it so she wouldn’t forget, then ate my own meal and went to bed.
If she made any noise when she got home, I never heard her. I remained oblivious to the world until eleven when my watch woke me.
With a groan, I left my bed and started getting ready for lunch with the donor and his sparkly new family. Knowing the type of clothes people wore to the high-end restaurant my father selected, I chose the opposite. Jeans, a nice but bargain budget top, and flats that had visible miles on them.
After fluffing my hair and putting on the bare minimum makeup, I left the house quietly.
Although I wanted to be indifferent to the upcoming introduction, I wasn’t. My stomach danced with nervous energy and anger as I drove downtown.
“Don’t let it get to you, Soph,” I coached myself as I pulled up to the restaurant. “Be the person who reads the people in the room, not the person being read.”
The valet opened my door, and I pretended not to notice his glance at my clothes as we switched places.
As he pulled away, I faced a restaurant I vaguely remembered.
The old building with its giant marble columns and arched windows screamed money even with its antique facade. And that same old-world charm extended inside, but with a lot more polish and expense.
The marble floors gleamed under the soft lights. Gold and crystal fixtures hung overhead, showing both money and taste, making me painfully aware that I only had one of those things, not the other. Dusky reds and twilight blues warmed the cream walls and whispered elegance.
I walked up to the reception desk, and the hostess smiled at me.
“Welcome to Seventeen Twenty-One. Can I help you?”
“I’m meeting Denis Elmantas at twelve-thirty. He reserved a room.”
“Ah. Yes. This way.”
She led me down the wide hallway to the right, where closely spaced doors numbered like a hotel dotted the length. Stopping at the third door, she knocked, waited a few seconds, then opened the door for me.
Inside, I saw Dad, a woman around my mom’s age, who dripped with high-end clothes, jewelry, and flawless blonde hair, and a boy young enough to be in primary school, who looked like a carbon copy of Dad.
“Sophia,” Dad said, standing. “Come in.”
As I entered, I considered him. Standing showed deference. He would only do that for someone important to him.
He gestured to the seat beside him at the round table.
As I took the seat, I glanced at the healthy-looking kid playing a game on his phone.
His apparent health didn’t reassure me. People could appear healthy on the outside and still require an organ.
Though I’d been kidding with Mom about selling kidneys, I wouldn’t put it past Dad to seek me out if his other kid needed one.
I looked at Dad expectantly.
“Sophia, this is your stepmother, Charlotte Hildcrask—”
“Mrs. Denis Elmantas now,” she interrupted.
“Yes,” Dad said, “and your half-brother, Charles.”
Charlotte watched me, assessing me, and Charles didn’t bother looking up. I glanced at Dad, not bothering to acknowledge them either.
“Why don’t you tell me what you really want?” I said.
“I just want to have a nice lunch with you, Sophia,” he said. “We’re family.”
“Only when it’s convenient for you. If there’s nothing else, I’ll go.” I started to stand, but he motioned for me to stay.
“All right. All right. I have a business proposal for you. You would be set for life and never have to work again.”
“That sounds like a boring life,” I said.
“Not at all. You could shop, golf, mingle at social gatherings that you can’t even imagine now.”
I didn’t react to any of that, but waited.
A hint of frustration crept into his gaze.
“The CEO of Hestian Global is looking for a wife to give him an heir,” he said finally.
“And?”
“And we think you would suit him perfectly,” Charlotte said, speaking for the first time. “It’s a chance for you to gain something from Denis. You’re young, pretty, and smart. Mr. Hestian was specific about intelligence.”
“Why? So his heir will be smart?” I asked. “Let me guess. He’s older, has a string of beautiful but simple exes, and equally intellectually unimpressive offspring he’d gladly shove to the side in favor of a smarter one. Am I right?”
She tilted her head a little, still assessing me.
I looked at Dad. “And I’m guessing Hestian Global has something you want. A contract opportunity, maybe?”
He smiled. “Actually, yes. You’d live a life of unimaginable luxury, and for introducing you to your future husband, I would secure a contract estimated to elevate our stock prices for the next four years.”
“You used Mom, and now you think you’re going to sell me to some gross old man? No. Not in this life.” I stood. “Don’t show up at the house again, and don’t call me. We have nothing to offer each other.”
I looked at the boy. “Hey, Charlie.”
He looked up, surprise on his face at being addressed.
“How old are you?”
“Nine.”
I did the math and snorted. Dad had been fucking around on Mom for more than a year before their divorce, then.
“Be a decent human being, okay, Charlie?” He nodded, then glanced at his mom and dad, confused. They didn’t look at him. Both watched me with disapproval. Poor kid probably only got attention when he was useful to them.
Shaking my head, I left the room.
The valet saw my approach and gave me a commiserating smile after calling for my car.
“Didn’t go well?” he asked.
“Better than I’d thought, actually. At least he didn’t drug me and take a kidney.”
The valet blinked at me and looked at the building again.
“I don’t think they’d invite you here for that. More like a bar on the Southside.”
“True.”
“I hope you get to come back and enjoy a meal sometime. The food’s amazing.”
My car pulled up, and a second valet got out. Even though I wasn’t dressed up, he still held the door for me and closed it once I was seated, treating me with respect.
I smiled my thanks and left, thinking about the kind of service that my dad craved—groveling for attention as he did for those he thought were his “betters.”
No thanks.
I didn’t need people to grovel or beg for my attention to feel important. I wanted to earn my place in this world through my own efforts. I wanted achievements I could be proud of, not marriage connections.
When I stopped at a light, I quickly looked up the CEO at Hestian Global and almost threw the phone out the window. The man was old enough to be my grandfather, had six kids already, and was widowed four times. No surviving wives.