AllFreeNovel
Share Us
That was the first thing that caught my attention. My brain glossed over the angrily askew hair, the red-rimmed eyes, the bruised cheek and stitched-up brow, and snagged on the inside label sticking out of the front of his shirt.
“Dude, what the hell?”
He didn’t even notice I was in the room until I spoke. And Ididn’t notice he was on the phone until his shoulder went rigid and his head snapped in my direction, dark eyes pinning my soul in place.
Adrien stood still and unblinking for a few thundering heartbeats, almost like he thought any sudden movements or loud noises would make me disappear into thin air. The pause gave me enough time to really absorb and process what I was seeing.
The guy looked like he’d walked straight through the eye of a whole tornado to get here. That was the only way I could describe it. Oh, and there was a bit of blood smeared over his silver watch.
“Hey… Sunny? I’m going to call you back in a bit.”
He slowly hung up, refusing to release his hold on my gaze. His feet were still frozen midstep.
“You’re here,” he said quietly. The question was clear in his tone. He really hadn’t been expecting—
“Tea?”
We both jolted.
Robert—whose entire existence I’d momentarily forgotten about—had pulled up a third chair to the table we’d been sitting at. He patted the velvet cushion, smiling at Adrien. “You look like you could use some tea.”
Adrien straightened an inch, his questioning gaze sliding carefully between me and his grandfather.
“Come sit,” Robert insisted. “You’re just in time. Ria was just validating my basic bitch status, and I need a witness in the very likely case that Lice decides she doesn’t believe me when I rub it in her face.”
Adrien’s mouth quirked, the hard lines etched into his forehead softening just a touch. But he didn’t move for the chair.
“I didn’t realize you were traveling back together.” He sounded genuinely surprised by it, but not in a displeased way. “I can wait until the jet comes back. Or see if I can fly commercial in time for—”
“Nonsense. You’re the one that’s always going on and on about us not using the jet unless we absolutely have to.” Robert’s attention turned back to me. “The boy loves his trees. You should see his apartment. It’s practically a greenhouse, complete with a full-time gardener and everything.”
Color crept up Adrien’s neck. He tried to ruffle a hand through his hair, only to remember at the last second that his finger and knuckles were bandaged up.
Robert sat down, looking like he was tired of waiting for us to do so first. “Plus,” he said, “the jet seats twelve. Even with your ego on board we should still have enough room. Until it recovers, at least.”
I bit my cheeks and ducked my head, wanting to hide my growing amusement. This wasn’t the time to be smiling. I was very, very,verypissed off at Adrien.
“Thanks, Gamps,” Adrien grumbled, though I could hear the humor tilt his voice. “I’ll leave it up to Ria. If she’s okay with me joining you, I will.”
“Oh, I’m not… I was brought here under false pretenses,” I said, shooting Robert a pointed look. He smiled back and motioned for the bartender to bring fresh tea to the table. “I’ll just wait until a seat’s available on a commercial plane.”
Adrien’s facial muscles tightened in the way I’d come to learn meant he was getting ready to argue, but Robert cut in before he could open his mouth. “Addy, why don’t you come sit down and tell us what you’ve been up to over the last twenty-four hours. Lice says the doctors couldn’t even pry your phone away from you long enough to treat your hand properly. I’d like to know what was so important.”
Adrien glared at his grandfather like a kid who’d just had their biggest, most important secret revealed by an embarrassing guardian, the knuckles of his non-injured hand going white over the handle of his leather duffle bag.
“Sorry. Too obvious?” Robert asked sarcastically. To me, he said, “I think he’s trying to keep more secrets. The boy’s always been too stubborn to learn his lessons the first time around. Though I will say, his work ethic is positively unrivaled. His shirt is wrinkled, and he’s looking slightly unhinged at the moment, but you should see how much he’s managed to accomplish in one day. I really don’t know where he gets it from. The rest of us are all quite lazy in comparison.”
Adrien’s lips were now pressed into a tight line, his ears beet red. “AndGampshas spent the last eighty-two years refusing to mind his own business. It’s where Alice gets it from.”
“Come sit.”
It occurred to me then that I should have nabbed my suitcase and bolted out of the room the moment Adrien walked in, but I’d been so distracted—and frankly shocked—by his chaotically disheveled appearance that I’d remained rooted on the spot, trying to process it.
“I think I’m going to head out,” I said, moving for my luggage. Nothing good was going to come from me lingering back here.
But then Robert said, “Don’t be an idiot.”
He wasn’t talking to me, I realized. His knowing gaze was locked on his grandson, his thick eyebrows pushing past the rim of his glasses.
