Page 55 of The Enemy

Mr. Park turned toward her, and he offered her his hand. “Miss Riviere, a pleasure.”

Lou kept a polite smile on her face.

“Likewise, sir, I’m excited?—”

Mr. Park began to wave his hands.

“Please, no talk about business until our dinner.” He looked down at his watch. “We have a few hours until then. Enjoy yourself. All work and no play isn’t good.”

He bid us goodbye and then walked away.

“That’s the asshole’s father?” Lou mumbled. “He seems so nice.”

And that was my first hurdle. I felt like a dick fucking over Mr. Park for Tatum’s mistake. I almost went a different route but then I sat back and thought about it logistically. If Tatum felt brave doing that shit to Lou, who was from an affluent family, what would he do with someone with less power? That’s when I hired a PI firm, and he found two instances in which Mr. Park had to intervene and offer monetary compensation.

So, in my eyes, Mr. Park deserved what was coming because he was just as guilty.

“Don’t let him fool you. He’ll turn into a shark when we negotiate.”

“Noted.”

And just like that, she was about to walk away, but I stopped her. She raised a brow, waiting for me to make my point.

“Want to go get a light lunch?”

She looked at me skeptically as this was all new to us, but ultimately, she agreed, and I felt relief.

After lunch,Lou decided to take a walk around the beach while I went back to the room to finish some work. When she returned, she went to the bathroom and began getting ready.

At some point, I fell asleep while she did that because the next thing I knew, I was being shaken awake by Lou. Her hair was the same, her face was more heavily made up, and her lips were red. The kind of red every man pictured wrapped around his cock.

“I had half a mind to leave you and go alone.”

This made me smile.

“If you wanted to get ahead, you should have done that.”

She smirked at me.

“You have fifteen minutes…” She waved at me and then walked out the door.

I should have been mad, but instead, I had a dopey grin on my face.

Dinner was now in full swing, and both teams had met in a show of good sportsmanship. A few details were ironed out, but these were mostly just formalities. All the heavy lifting for this was done behind closed doors.

Lourdes was born to do this despite how strict the board was with her and the lack of trust she had from her grandfather. She was smart, gracious, and funny, but all of that also worked against her because of who her mother was, and it was a fucking shame that people couldn’t see past their own prejudices.

Everything was going great until Mr. Park decided to make a toast.

“Thank you, everyone, for coming. You all have worked hard these past few weeks to make this deal happen. And a special thank-you to Mr. Riviere for including my son in this great venture. It’s not a secret that Tate has been forging his own way instead of following in my footsteps. So, when his best friend brought this idea to the table, he was all in. He even took the initiative and decided to use his own funds because he believed in this. He is paving his own way. May we have many more ventures together.”

My eyes met Lou’s across the table, and all I could see was hurt in them. My throat constricted, and the pit of my stomach felt hollow.

When Mrs. Park left, so did the few women who had come. Lou did the same, but I knew it grated on her nerves. This was another disadvantage in the game she was forced to play.

Lou politely said her goodbyes and didn’t even bother to give me a glance once she left. The look on her face slayed me, but I told myself to hold off a little longer. It would all be worth it soon.

Once the women left, the men became rowdier and more crass. Even though I grew up with my father, I was raised by a single mother, and because of that, my way of thinking may have been a little bit different from everyone else’s.

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