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She couldn’t be more off. “I’m not afraid of love. I’m not my father.”
“No, you’re not. Did you know my father was very much like yours? We never got along and he was a very cold man. We tend to do that, fall in love with people who are as emotionally broken as the ones who raised us. When it occurred to me that you were in love, I found myself wondering, is she like your mother or your father?”
His blood chilled. Holy shit. Evelyn like Christos? No. “She’s not like either of them.”
She shrugged indifferently. “Perhaps. But perhaps she is a bit of both of them. Your mother loved your father to a fault while your father has always been terrified of love. If she’s like either of them, you shouldn’t be here. You should be with her, because I imagine your absence is killing her.”
“I’m leaving tonight,” he announced.
She nodded. “Good. As much as your father wants you here, I believe there is someone else who needs you more. Go to her, Lucian, and love her with all of your heart. Don’t let life complicate it for you. Love is simple. It drives itself. But I’m afraid you have to be present for it to flourish.”
She left then. Lucian stared after her. Tibet was a mistress. Her moral compass was crap, yet she was obviously a romantic. He couldn’t fathom his father’s relationship. It had been complicated and tainted from the start. His regret was a result of his own actions, and Lucian couldn’t be bothered to fix the many bridges Christos had burned in his long journey to the top.
What he did gain from Tibet’s confusing story was that love was complicated enough between two people. He’d seen what happens when three were involved. He’d experienced it with Slade and Monique. Even when three hearts were accepting of the situation, it was awkward. His mother had not consented to Tibet being an addition to their marriage, yet she tolerated it and left this world miserable and alone.
There was no way he was going to repeat his parents’ past. He didn’t share. He loved Evelyn and she loved him, whether she’d admit it or not. If she fell in love with Parker as well, he was doomed.
His heart raced as he dialed his pilot, Ken. He couldn’t get out of there fast enough. He told Ken there was an urgent situation and he needed to return home as soon as possible.
“Sir, we have the engine being looked at now. There was a short somewhere and we’re doing our best to locate the problem.”
“How long?” Lucian asked.
“Should be worked out in a day or two.”
He ground his teeth. “Fine. I want someone working on it round the clock. Call me as soon as we’re ready to go. I’ll be waiting.”
He hung up and fixed his stare on the door. His father would have another day of his time. Lucian would try to be civil and perhaps they could make some headway. It wasn’t going to be long, and as soon as he got the call, he would be gone.
Part VII
Parker
Chapter 21
Glitch
The cool glass flashed his reflection as he stared at the dark window of his apartment, waiting. He’d become a master of waiting, yet his patience had grown reed thin. Waiting for winter to end, waiting for Scout to come around, waiting for her to become a woman, and now he was waiting for the key to it all. Parker was sick and tired of waiting, especially because everything he’d been waiting his whole life for always seemed to be interrupted by Lucian fucking Patras.
Unbelievable. A week had passed since Patras announced the clock had started, and Parker was sitting around with his thumb up his ass. He should’ve known better than to assume Patras would simply hand Scout over. No, that would be too easy. He had to hide her away like the quintessential needle in a haystack.
Parker was taken completely off guard by Lucian’s appearance at Leningrad. It was killing him, not knowing what brought on the happy couple’s parting so suddenly. Something had to have transpired. The Lucian who burst into his office was nothing like his usual cool, arrogant self.
Parker smirked, his eyes narrowing in the marbleized reflection on the glass. He liked knowing Scout was likely mad at Patras. However, his satisfaction faded fast, as it always did when he considered her predicament. On the tails of his smug amusement always came the awareness that she was likely hurting as well. Hurting because of Patras, but nevertheless hurting. He needed to find her.
When Patras showed up at his office like a man possessed, Parker knew she’d left him. No man looked that haggard after voluntarily cutting a woman loose. It should have pleased him, but for the first time Parker’s confidence wavered.
