Page 97 of Conflict
“Maria, you’re just as beautiful as you were thirty-five years ago.”
Something hangs in the air after his statement. Maria sets her chin. “And you’re just as pathetic.”
It doesn’t even seem to faze him. He just chuckles, turns towards me, and lifts his glass. “Cheers.”
As quickly as he came, he’s gone.
I’m absolutely mortified. I turn and see three sets of eyes watching me intently. “I’m so sorry. I never thought my presence here would cause any kind of scene.”
Clay’s eyes soften. He pats my hand. “He never should have been here. You, however, were invited. Besides, Wellsley’s always wanted what he could never have. I pity him more than anything.” He turns to his son and must see the rage on his expression. “Son, let’s go get a drink.”
As they walk away, Maria takes my arm and folds it in with her own. “It’s not your fault, dear. Archibald Wellsley has been a sore loser since the day I chose Clay over him. You’d think he’d be over it by now.”
My eyes widen. “That’s what the rivalry is about? I thought it just stemmed from their years in school and crossed over into their business dealings.”
She gives me a warm smile. “It’s not exactly something a mother tells her son when he’s growing up. The truth is, my situation wasn’t much unlike your sister’s. From a young age, my father was close friends with Archibald’s, and when we were born less than a year apart, our parents decided they should blend our families by pushing us together. I’ve known him since I was a child, and while we were friends, there was never any love there. But my father hammered it into me that it was my duty to marry him. It was a different time then, and I almost agreed. Except when I went to visit him at school, I met Clay, and the rest is history.”
“Oh wow. I had no idea.”
“It was a long time ago, dear. I’m only telling you because I heard what Archibald said and I don’t want you to think for a second that we believe a word that comes out of that man’s mouth. You’ve made my son happier than I’ve ever seen him, and for that, I can’t thank you enough.”
Ariana wasn’t kidding when she said the Wellingtons are like the family we never had, except for each other of course.
Maria pulls me into a comforting embrace, and that’s how Shane and Clay find us a moment later. With the party winding down, we say our goodbyes to his parents and attach the promise of doing dinner next weekend before Shane’s hand takes hold of mine as he leads us towards the car service he hired to take us to and from the party.
He’s silent the entire way home, and I can’t tell if he’s stewing, contemplating, or just lost in thought. Even when I place my hand on his thigh, he doesn’t react.
I’m granted a small boon when I go to move my hand and he jerks it back to the spot where it was resting, this time not letting my hand go.
Shane lets us into his condo and heads straight towards the kitchen. I hang up my purse, remove my heels, then follow the sounds of Silk’s “Lose Control” to find him pouring two glasses of amber liquid. He pushes one across the island toward me. I take a sip, enjoying the burning sensation of whiskey that spreads warmth across my chest.
“I didn’t know you were a fan of nineties R and B.”
“There are a lot of things you don’t know about me.”
My heart plummets at the insinuation.
“For example, did you know that, when I was a kid, I had a pet cat? My parents got him for me for my ninth birthday. I named him Flea, which horrified my mother. Luckily, he never actually caught any. Being an only child, I took to Flea like…well, just like to a dog with fleas. We were inseparable. Every day when I came home from school, there was Flea, just waiting to play. Every night, he fell asleep between my feet, his purring a comfort that lulled me to sleep. I was devastated when I left for college because no eighteen-year-old boy takes a cat to his dorm room, no matter how much he wants to. Since I was only a couple of hours away, I came home nearly every weekend. Until one Tuesday morning during my sophomore when Mom called me, telling me to come home right away. I barely made it in time before we had to put him down. Kidney failure. Fuck me, it was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do in my life, to hold him and literally feel the life leave his body.”
Tears fill my vision, but I hold them back for him. “Shane…”
He waves me off. “It was a long time ago.” Then he lifts his glass and knocks back the entirety of its contents only to fill it again. “I’ve never been in a fight.”
I’m taken aback. “What?”
“Again, as an only child, I wanted to be friends with everyone. If I knew someone was an asshole, I went out of my way to be nice or, if it seemed a lost cause, I avoided them. Plus, with a face this pretty, why would I want to risk messing it up?”
“I’m certainly thankful for that.”
His expression darkens. “But tonight? All that changed. When I saw his hands on you, that disgusting expression on his face, I didn’t just want to fight. I wanted to kill him.”
I round the counter and take his face into my hands, forcing him to look at me. “Shane, I’m so sorry. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you I was working Filiatrault. It’s just… It’s so much easier not to talk about work with you. Hell, the last thing I want to do when I’m with you is talk about work.”
Shane’s hands grip my wrists. “You think that’s why I’m angry?”
I dart my eyes back and forth between his. “Is it not?”
“No! Some fucking old man had his hands on you. I don’t give a damn what you’re working. It’s not my business. Plus, I thought you’d read the situation. Alyssa, you all but told me in your note you were working on this account. I didn’t care then, and I don’t care now. That’s why I’ve never brought it up. But tonight, I didn’t want Wellsley to know that I knew, just in case he tried to use it against you.”
