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She takes a moment before answering. “He was charming, and he knew it. He was kind when it served him. He provided a luxurious life for my mother and me. He took pleasure when and where he wanted it.” She waves her hand at me. “He had a temper, though I rarely saw it, and when I was a child, I remember him making me laugh and spoiling me in the way only a father can.”
I didn’t expect what she said to hit me with sadness, but it does. A selfish, unresolved piece of my heart wishes I could have known him as a father—as my father—when I was a child.
“Don’t feel bad,” she says, reading the frown on my face. “Had he known you existed, he would have made sure no one else did. He wouldn’t have been the father you hoped for or dreamed about. He and his people would have erased you for the sake of his image. His reputation was what mattered the most to him.”
Her words hit me like a blast of cold air. I shiver, and Easton puts his arm around my shoulders. In my ear, he whispers, “Don’t give her anything else.” He kisses my temple, but it could be to cover up what he whispered to me.
“Aren’t you two adorable,” she says in a mocking tone.
Part of me wants to say we’re not a couple. Another part doesn’t want to give her anything more, like Easton said.
Steven sets the tablet on the coffee table and slides it to me. “It all looks good. If you’re still not interested in suing for a portion of Gabriel’s estate, which is within your rights as his biological daughter, you can sign here and send her on her way.” He nods at Lola without glancing at her, as if she isn’t worth his full attention or even the respect of him using her name.
“A word of warning.” She leans forward, showing us her bountiful cleavage. “I will not only fight you with an arsenal of top attorneys; I will assure your name is tarnished beyond repair, leaving no doubt that you are nothing more than a bastard child desperate for money and willing to steal it from the only true heir to my father’s estate.”
Easton exhales sharply and shifts like he’s about to stand. He doesn’t need to clean up my messes.
“Even if I were starving and homeless, I wouldn’t want a penny from a family that breeds such arrogance and disrespect. You are your father’s daughter in every way.” I push to my feet, my shoulders back, a chorus of cheers erupting in my mind over how I stood up for myself.
Before I can stroll out of the room like the hero in a movie who gets the last word in, Easton grabs my hand. “Sweetcakes, you still have to sign.”
Well, shit. That didn’t go as planned.
Lola snickers.
Hot embarrassment rolls through me. Why didn’t I sign first before delivering my bad ass retort? Now I look like a fool. Ugh. I lower to the couch and sign where Steven points on the tablet. He has me sign a few more pages and then takes the tablet and hands it to my bitchy half-sister.
She tucks it into her purse and stands.
Steven stands, too.
So badly, I want to leave the room and forget this ever happened. To avoid looking like a coward, I force myself to stay put. I don’t glare at her. That would show anger or resentment, and she doesn’t deserve either. She would like it, I have no doubt. Instead, I turn my attention to Easton, who’s still sitting. I catch his gaze, which is easy because his whiskey eyes are already on me. Pride shines in his eyes and understanding for how I don’t want to give her a moment more of my time.
I don’t notice Lola walk over. Only when she bends near Easton’s ear and slips a business card in his hand, do I realize her presence. “Call me when you’re in need of a real woman,” she says loud enough for everyone to hear.
A new wave of heat crashes over me, this one burning with rage. How dare she?
Instead of showing her my anger, I give her a smirk of my own and calmly say, “In your dreams.”
Then I take Easton by the face, a hand on each cheek, and kiss him as if we’re alone, as if I’m the only woman in his life. As if I’m his and he’s mine. As if I desire him above all others and he feels the same. As if I love him, and he loves me.
Like always, when our tongues meet the kiss is magic. His lips mold with mine in the way I love, and he devours me, making it clear I am all the woman he needs. If only that were true. I finish the kiss with a playful nip to his bottom lip and hold his gaze when we separate.
His eyes are wild with emotions. Desire, anger, surprise. The anger throws me.
I glance over just as Alejandro helps Lola into her coat. “Oh, you’re still here?”
She shakes her head and tsks. “Cheap displays of affection do little to deter me. Like you said, I am my father’s daughter.” She moves her gaze to Easton. “Call me.”
My fingers ball into fists. I’ve half a mind to throw a pillow from the couch at her head, just to see the shock on her face. I’d love to mess up those glossy locks, too.
I don’t realize I’m standing until Easton grabs my waist and pulls me onto his lap. At least he didn’t shove me onto the couch like I’m an out-of-control child.
“I’ll see you to the door,” Gregory says.
Alejandro and Lola follow him, her heels clicking on the floors as she goes. If I had magical powers, I’d cause her heel to break. They leave without looking back, and why would they? She got what she came here for.
“You did the right thing,” Easton says and shifts me onto the couch.
