Page 127 of Damaged Mogul
I nod. “After the way Fisher has treated you, I don’t understand why you’re willing to go along with his idea of having you run a PR company you’re obviously not interested in.”
“My father pushes my half-brothers to play their part in furthering the Edgington name and fortune––”
“But you don’t even have his last name.”
She averts her gaze for a beat. “To this day, he still blames me for losing a significant chunk of his fortune in the divorce. Going along with his master plan is my way of making up for his loss.”
Un-fucking-believable.
My jaw tightens to the point my teeth are about to shatter.
Everything about her story flares the protector in me.
“Jesus Christ, Lily, did you even hear what you said?” I don’t give her time to answer. I’m irate on her behalf. “You’re willing to suffer through a career to gain your father’s acceptance? If he’s not able to appreciate the woman you’ve become, fuck him.”
She shouldn’t be bending over backwards for the approval of a man who treats her with such disrespect. Regardless of the DNA connection.
“It’s easy to say when you have both parents.”
If you only knew, sweetheart.
“If I turn my back on my father and half-brothers, I’m essentially…”––her small hands twist in her lap––“an orphan.”
“Your father and half-brothers don’t acknowledge you and they don’t respect you,” I say. “Not to burst your bubble, but I lost both my parents.”
Her surprise is broadcast upon her face.
“So, my siblings and I are orphans.”
“I’m sorry.” Guilt morphs her beautiful features.
I brush it off. “You didn’t know.”
“Did you lose them at a young age?”
“I lost my dad when I was eight––”
“You were only a boy.”
“I was,” I nod. “He died of a heart attack. I didn’t understand much about death. All I knew was Dad would no longer be sitting at the dinner table with us, help me with my homework, or doing father and son things together. He was gone.”
She places her hand against her heart.
I continue. “My father was twenty-seven years older than Mom. In fact, he was my grandfather’s best friend.”
Lily’s eyes radiate with shock. “Oh, wow.”
“Your mom’s story and mine have parallels,” I say. “Mom was in an unhealthy relationship for years until her loser of a boyfriend walked out on her for good, leaving her with a mountain of common-law debt. She had no choice but to move back with her parents with her two daughters. Dad always claimed he fell for Mom before she got involved with her asshole ex, but since he was much older and her father’s best friend, he stayed away. When she returned home, he didn’t miss out on his second chance. He played his cards right. He offered Mom a job at his construction company. Working together allowed them to get close. Soon, Mom was dating the boss. A year later, he proposed. I was born eighteen months after their wedding.”
“What a story,” she says. “You have two half-sisters?”
I nod. “And an adopted sister. She’s also older. My half-sisters head a couple of my European offices. Lana is forty-four. She used to work for a leading TV network. She’s posted in London, and oversees the London, Paris, Milan, and Madrid offices. Marika is forty-two. She’s a former content director for MTV in LA and New York. She now oversees the Copenhagen, Amsterdam, and Berlin offices. She lives in Copenhagen. My adopted sister Sara is thirty-eight. She’s whip smart, which is why she’s a doctor. She’s an anesthesiologist, who recently got promoted as a chief physician at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center here in LA. All three are married. Lana and Marika have kids. Sara is trying.”
“From the sound of it, you get along with your sisters,” Lily says.
“I do. I love them. Mom always joked that when I was a baby, I wastheirbaby, not hers. They never allowed my tiny body to touch the floor. They would carry me around like a doll. They spoiled me rotten.”
Lily laughs.
