Page 93 of Grumpy Boss of the Year

“All right, bye.”

I hang up and look over at Liam.

“Did you hear my conversation or something?”

“No, why would you ask that?”

“You just looked pissed about something, and I wasn’t sure if you heard my dad say that he has actually found a fiancé for me already. Yay me!”

“He has?” Liam glowers. “Did he say who?”

“No, I guess the information is secret for now. I should…I guess I should have asked how old he is, but I don’t really want to know.” I shudder. “He wouldn’t really force me to marry to someone older, would he? Fuck! That would be horrible.”

“You don’t have to do it,” he says. “I mean, if you don’t want to.”

“I don’t want to keep having this conversation with you, Liam. I don’t want to think about it. But maybe we can go back to our previous conversation. Why did you need an assistant if you have this Lucinda? Why didn’t Lucinda come with you to the States?”

He looks at me for a couple of seconds and shakes his head. “Have you ever been in a position where everything you say and do will be the wrong thing?

“No, not that I can think of. Why?”

“Because I think I’m in a position right now where anything I say or do is going to get me in trouble. And I can’t afford that right now.”

“In trouble with who?” I ask him, looking surprised.

“With a lot of people,” he says softly. “And right now, all I can think is, let’s forget the real world while we’re here. Let’s just concentrate on us and being in the Caribbean and enjoying the beautiful weather, the white sand, and the turquoise beaches, eating good food, drinking coconut water, and…”

“Making love,” I say softly, leaning into him.

“Yeah,” he says. “I think that would be nice.”

“This feels like a fucking movie,” I say. “Like it doesn’t feel real. None of this feels real, you know? My life was so normal; now, everything is spinning out of control, and I can’t do anything about it. What has happened to the world?”

“I think you’re an adult when you start to realize that nothing in the world goes like you think it should.” He makes a face. “When we’re young, we’re brainwashed into thinking that when we grow up, if we just go to school, we’ll get a good job and make a lot of money, and we’ll meet the love of our life, and we’ll get married, have kids, and live happily ever after, but how many people does that really happen for?” he says.

“I guess not many. I mean, aside from Skye, Lila, and Juniper.” I laugh. “They all seem to be getting their happily ever afters.”

“True, but they are three women out of billions in the world, right?”

“Are there millions or billions of people in the world?” I ask him.

“I don’t really know,” he says. “We’ll have to check later.”

“Yeah.” I stare at him for a couple of seconds. “I understand what you’re saying, though. I think the sad part of my life is that I never truly believed in that happily ever after. I think when you grow up without a parent, you’re already kind of behind; you’ve already got that hole in your heart. You’re bereft, missing something. You know, sometimes I feel guilty for being mad that my mom died. It’s not like she wanted to die. It’s not like she didn’t want to be with me, but sometimes it just hurts so much, and I just don’t understand how to fill that hole, you know?”

He nods slowly. “Losing a parent is hard. I think about that when I think about my niece. Her dad’s not in her life, and she’s still young enough that it hasn’t exactly hit her, you know? She’ll ask for him every now and again, but for the most part, she doesn’t let on, and I worry about that.”

“Is that why you’re in her life as much as you are?” I ask him, touched that he would care so much about his niece.

“I mean, I’m in her life because I love her, and I love my sister. And truly, I think they’re the only two people in my life who love every part of me for who I am. That I can trust to always do the right thing for me, you know? It’s weird not knowing who you can trust.”

“You don’t think you can trust Lucinda, your assistant?” I stare at him, and his eyebrows bunch together.

“She’s a good assistant, and I do trust her with the work that she does and to organize and schedule and get everything done that I ask. But would I trust her with my deepest, darkest secrets? Do I trust that she wouldn’t judge me? Do I trust that she would have my back in any and all things?” He shakes his head. “No, and maybe that’s okay because, at the end of the day, she’s a colleague. She’s not a lover, she’s not the love of my life, and she’s not family.”

“Yeah,” I say. “And it doesn’t always take blood to be family, you know? Skye’s not my blood, but she’s more real and capable and loving than even my own father. I would trust her with everything in my life. And Romeo, my step-brother, I know he has my back forever. But I get what you mean. Sometimes, you can have people who are close to you, yet it doesn’t really mean anything when it comes down to it. It doesn’t mean that they’d stand in front of a bullet for you.”

“Would you stand in front of a bullet for anyone?” he asks me.

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