Chapter 12 - Georgie #2
“It’s rather shocking that he chose…something else…when he could have had perfection.” He lets his eyes roam lazily over me. He’s not even hiding the judgment in them, his distaste for whom his son ended up marrying, instead of the woman who was clearly born to be a man like Kristopher’s wife.
I can picture her in my mind. Tall, elegant, powerful.
Absolutely gorgeous. She hosts exquisite events on behalf of her Bratva king.
She dresses to kill and never has a hair out of place.
She’s perfect. She’s smart. She’s exactly as Faiz has described her.
A lioness. And he was probably obsessed with her the moment he met her.
The perfect Bratva wife. It’s what he wanted. It’s why he was so harsh when he told me that. He already had the perfect woman lined up, and my arrival ruined his plans.
It shows how far he’s willing to go for his sister. To save her from being hurt.
I bite down, clamping my jaw shut so that I can’t respond to this horrible man’s provocation. Besides, the lump in my throat as I fight the urge to cry is preventing me from speaking.
It’s crazy how jealous I am over a woman I’ve never met, and a man who never belonged to me in the first place. But it hurts.
“Faiz, you finally decided to respond to any one of my attempts to get ahold of you. I’m so grateful.
” Kristopher’s voice interrupts the tension that was building between his father and me.
He strides into the foyer, his eyes piercing into his father.
“It’s good to see you,” he says, as charming as his father, but with the same bitterness beneath the surface of every word.
The unspoken far outweighs the shallow back-and-forth being exchanged here.
I listen as the two men banter, subtle jibes being thrown by his father, insulting Kristopher.
I keep telling myself to stay out of it, but when his father makes a remark that causes a hurt to flicker across Kris’s face, I can’t stop myself.
Faiz sneers, cocking his head to the side and shoving his hands in his pockets.
They’ve been discussing our marriage, his father snidely speaking of how wonderful the other woman was.
I can’t get a read on how Kristopher felt about her, or how much it bothers him to not be married to her and to be stuck with me instead.
He has a strong poker face, masking his emotions from his father.
But that flickers, just for a moment, when his father says, “It’s just another choice you fucked up, isn’t it?
Another example of how you’ll never be man enough or capable enough to run my businesses or take over from me. The company would be doomed.”
My mouth drops open. I know enough to know that isn’t true at all.
The anger that surges through me is out of my control as I step between Faiz and Kristopher with my fists clenched and an angry glare directed at his father.
The words are out of my mouth before I think about them.
“Who are you trying to convince, Faiz? Yourself? Because the rest of the world already knows who’s really running the business.
We already know who is behind this family’s success, and it’s not you.
Without your son, there would be no business.
There would be nothing, because you and your ego would have destroyed everything. ”
I feel Kristopher’s hand wrap around my arm as he gently, but insistently, pulls me away from his father and pushes me behind himself.
My chest is heaving with anger towards the man. I’ve only met him once, and already he’s proven that he’s every bit as horrible as Jess and Kris have described.
“Thank you for stopping by. You can leave now,” Kristopher says curtly.
“Indeed,” Faiz snaps, turning away from us and marching towards the door. Guilt washes over me. Kristopher has been trying to get a meeting with his father for so long—did I just mess it up? The same way I messed up his engagement to the perfect woman, Leora?
I stand tense, waiting, while Kristopher watches his father leave. The front door closes, and he spins towards me with anger furrowing his brow. “What the hell was that?” he snarls.
“I…he…” I stammer, taking a nervous step back. “He had no right to say that to you.”
“He’s always like that. He’s always an asshole. I don’t need you involving yourself in things that have nothing to do with you,” he snaps at me, towering over me.
“I was just trying to stand up for you,” I whisper, my voice breaking as I fight tears.
“Well, don’t. Don’t ever do that again. Next time, mind your own business.”
I nod, refusing to look at him in case he sees the tears shining in my eyes. “I’m sorry,” I mutter, then push past him to the door. I have to get to class. I have to get out of here.
I’m so embarrassed, and no matter how much I try to convince myself I shouldn’t be, I’m incredibly hurt over what his father told me about the girl he was supposed to marry. And now his reaction.
Everything is falling apart. My stupid dream. My stupid hope.
Although something can’t ‘fall apart’ if it was never real to begin with.