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“Oh stop.” I look back at my brother. “It’s exactly the kind of shit you would have pulled if it was Scarlett.”
My brother tilts his head in a half-admission.
“We’re going to talk about that later.” I narrow my eyes atQuentin. “But in the meantime… Yes, I would love to come to dinnerifI can bring Quentin as my date.”
“I can stay here at the hotel. Got room service coming,” Quentin offers.
“Don’t be fucking stupid,” Tobias grumbles. “You can both come to dinner. I’m just not speaking to him, so I hope you and Scarlett can keep the conversation going.”
I think about arguing but then think better of it. Scarlett and I can manage the two of them, and I know Scarlett will be on my side in this once I explain things to her. I’d planned to let Quentin stay at the hotel tonight for the engagement party, but maybe if I can get him and Tobias talking we could smooth over a decade of bad blood. Maybe.
“Fine.” I nod and give them both a look that tells them they’d better behave.
“Good,” Tobias agrees. Quentin stays silent.
“What time do you need us there? Can I bring something?”
“We’ll eat in a couple hours. You can come over whenever you’re ready. Don’t need to bring anything.”
“All right. Just let me get fixed up, and I’ll bring some dessert.”
Tobias sighs and pulls me in for another hug. “Love you. See you in a bit.”
He gives a slight chin tip to Quentin and then heads out the door, and I lean back against it after it closes.
“That went better than I imagined.” Quentin looks at me hopefully.
“Don’t get too excited. You remember Tobias doesn’t do rage. He does anger in the Westfield way. A slight simmer underneath the surface and then straight for the jugular when the time comes. You might still end up dead before the night’s over. Especially since you didn’t tell me you knew about A.J. and me being here when you took the job.” I raise my eyebrow.
32
Quentin
Dinner is lessawkward than I expect it to be with Scarlett and Madison leading the conversation and Tobias and I just following it wherever it leads. After we clear the table and help get the dishwasher loaded, the girls hurry off to the library, so Scarlett can show Madison some of great-grandmother Westfield’s letters. Which leaves Tobias and I awkwardly alone.
“I have some whiskey in the den if you want a glass. The good stuff’s upstairs in the library, but I’d rather let the girls have their moment.”
“Any whiskey is good whiskey.” I nod for him to lead the way and follow when he takes me back to another corner of the house. “House is nice by the way.”
“Thanks.” Tobias pulls the top from the decanter and pours two glasses, pushing one my way and motioning for me to sit on one of the leather chairs.
“If I thought you’d have answered the phone, I would have reached out before now.”
“Yeah, well… you didn’t answer the phone either, did you?” Tobias looks up at me over the glass before he takes a sip.
“No. I didn’t. I fucked up.”
“How long did it take you to figure out that one?”
“Minutes. But it didn’t matter once it was made.”
“I had to hug her and hold her hand through all of that. Knowing it was my friend who broke her. Someone I thought was my friend anyway. Fuck… it’s ancient history, but when I think about it again, Quen, I still can’t believe it. I trusted you…” He shakes his head.
“I loved her. Still love her.”
“Hard to believe.”
“If I’d have stayed, she would have clung to me no matter how shitty things got. Your sister—she’ll fight for anyone, stick by their side through anything if she believes in them. And at the time, I was headed down a road to nothing. I didn’t know if I could even go back, and if I could whether I’d get off the bench. She was ready to fire sale everything she owned to try to raise a little bit of money for us, and I had nothing to give her in return. I would have made her miserable.”
