Page 33 of Built to Last

“What’s the worst that can happen?”

“I lose control of the company and it goes under in three years,” I reply. “My family depends on the company. Most of them are employed by the company, and even those who aren’t depend on the cash that comes from actual legal dividends. Losing the company would devastate my family.”

“That would not be your fault.” Reid studies me for a moment. “And the real question is would it devastate you?”

He’s wrong about the fault because my father told me everything was my fault. If only he’d had a son… I shove the remembrance aside. I don’t need to have a therapy session with this man. Though it does seem he understands what it means to have a complex relationship with family. “I assure you everyone would blame me in the end. They always do. And the other part doesn’t matter. Now let’s stop procrastinating. How are we going to do this thing without making Anika’s life miserable?”

I need to think of the part of my family that actually brings me joy—the one I picked. I owe Anika.

“It’s simple,” he replies. “We try to communicate like adults. We don’t maybe go straight to calling the other person a cheater.”

I wince. I was wrong about a lot of things today. “Sorry. I guess I misinterpreted the situation that night, but you can’t blame me.”

A brow rises. “I don’t see why not.”

“Because you were engaged to her,” I point out. There are reasons I made that call, and a whole lot of it was about the choices Reid made. “Because the press all seems to think you’re on again. Because you dropped me like a hot potato the minute you had a hint that she wanted to see you. It’s okay. I get it. She’s a supermodel.”

His eyes roll. “She’s a mistake I made when I was at a low point in my life, and I’m still paying for it. I didn’t ask you to leave because I wanted to see her. She wasn’t supposed to be invited. I specifically asked the palace if she was. If I’d known she would show up, I would have sent my regrets.”

Somehow I can’t see this man missing the social event of a lifetime. “She came as someone’s plus one, from what I understand. And only to the reception. I think I would have noticed her.”

“She knew I would leave if she showed up at the ceremony. The reception wasn’t as formal, and she could slip in without immediately warning me of her presence. I’m lucky Jeremiah saw her or she would have caught me off guard. As it was, she still fucked everything up. I didn’t want to put you in the line of her fire. I told you I wanted to come back to your room after I dealt with her.”

“I would have been waiting a long time since you went to breakfast with her the next morning.” I said no. She said yes. It was as simple as that.

He stares for a moment and then sits back and huffs. “If I told you I didn’t spend the night with her, would you believe me?”

“No.” Why would I? I can’t imagine anyone saying no to that woman.

“Then I suppose you won’t believe me when I tell you that she comes back into my life when she feels the need to get some tabloid attention and I…” He sits back. “Well, we both have family obligations and responsibilities, and it’s good to remember that. It doesn’t matter. What does matter is finding a way to work together because I have no intention of pissing off Luca St. Marten. So you’ve told me why it matters so much to you.”

“And you used it against me.” I tip my glass his way in honor of his villainy. It had been a good play. Threw me right off my game.

He has the grace to flush. “Yeah, that wasn’t well done of me but you…you know how to push my every button. I know it will come as a shock to you, but I’m actually known for being something of a gentleman.”

“I thought you were known for being difficult to work with.” I can throw things back at him, too.

His lips curl up in a smirk that holds not an ounce of humor. “I suppose so. Maybe you bring out the real me. The rat bastard selfish asshole.”

I’m screwing this up because talking about Britta unsettles me. The truth is I don’t know what to believe since I don’t think Luca would lie to me. He told me they weren’t together and hadn’t been. There’s a lot I don’t understand, and I shouldn’t. And yet I was there. I saw how fast he got rid of me. I saw the pictures of them having breakfast. So I’m antsy and I shouldn’t be because it doesn’t matter if he has a girlfriend. What does matter is finding a way to work with him. For Anika’s sake. For Banover Place. “I’m sorry. Luca told me about the sale, and I’m afraid it bothers me that I didn’t know. I thought I had a shot at talking you into sparing the place.”

Like I’m going to tell him the real reason. Hey, you kind of broke my heart and the fact that I still want you to kiss me makes me wonder who the hell I am. But also history.

“Sparing it.” He sighs like I’m the worst. And I probably am in his head. “Spare it from what, Harper? From joining the modern age? Look, I am sorry I said those things to you earlier. I didn’t truly mean them. You made me feel small, and I did the same to you. I do understand what Banover means to you, but we don’t get to choose.”

“You mean I don’t get to choose.” I can’t help the bitterness in my tone. “Whoever is laying out the cash definitely gets to choose. I’m sure you get to choose all the time.” I’m the one who’s stuck in a corner, not Reid. I’m the one with no way to fight my way out.

“Far less than you would think,” he replies. “Is there anything I can say that will make this easier on you? I’ve been tasked with turning Banover Place into a home where someone who is alive in this century can reside. I was given specific, if odd, instructions, and they change every day.”

“Can I meet with the buyer? Maybe I can explain why it would be best to keep the place as original as possible.”

“She’s in Europe. I think the owner is a she,” he confesses. “I don’t know. We communicate through email. I sent her my presentation and she rejected it. Three times. I think we should be ready for her to decide she doesn’t need a ballroom.”

I sit up. “She wants to what? Get rid of the ballroom? Turn it into a mancave or maybe a bowling alley?”

“She wants to live at Banover Place with her family,” Reid points out. “That means turning it into a functional space. I know you think it’s sacred, but it was only sacred to the people who lived there. Now it will be sacred to someone else, and that almost always means change. I’m sorry. Luca told me we should discuss what parts of the house you think we should try to preserve.”

That’s an easy answer. “All of it. If she doesn’t want a Gilded Age mansion, I could show her fifty contemporary brownstones that would suit her.”

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