As he passes me, our shoulders brush. It’s brief, barely a touch, but electricity shoots down my arm. I catch his eye for a half-second, and the tight line of his jaw tells me he’s thinking exactly what I am. That this private meeting can’t be good.
Dad closes the door behind them, leaving me alone with Mom. She immediately begins chattering about her charity committee, but I barely hear her. My mind is racing through worst-case scenarios. Gray fired. Gray blacklisted. Gray arrested for some bullshit charge my father invents.
A week ago, I was actively trying to get him fired. Now I’m panicking at the thought of never seeing him again.
“Wyatt, you’re not listening to a word I’m saying.” Mom’s voice cuts through my spiral.
“Sorry, what?”
She sighs. “Is something bothering you, honey? You look pale.”
“It’s…my head,” I say quickly. “I think I have a headache coming on.”
“Poor thing.” She pats my hand. “I have something that might cheer you up.”
The gleam in her eye sets off alarm bells. Mom’s surprises are never good. Last time she had that look, she’d volunteered me to be auctioned off for a “date package” at her charity event. Some hedge fund wife had paid five grand to have lunch with me.
“What kind of surprise?” I ask warily.
“You’ll see soon enough.” She smiles mysteriously. “I think it’s a lovely gesture, really. Shows maturity on everyone’s part.”
Before I can press her for details, the door opens again. One of the staff, different from the one who greeted me, stands in the doorway.
“Mrs. Kingsley, the Palmers have arrived.”
I freeze. “The Palmers?”
“Yes, Thomas and Mary. And Alyssa, of course.”
My blood runs cold. “Alyssais here? You invitedAlyssato dinner?”
“Now, Wyatt, before you make a scene—”
“A scene?” My voice rises despite myself. “You invited my ex-girlfriend, who I caught cheating on me, to family dinner, and you’re worried about memaking a scene?”
Mom has the decency to look uncomfortable. “Mary and Thomas called us yesterday. Alyssa feels terrible about what happened. She wants to make amends.”
“Make amends?” I laugh bitterly. “What’s she going to do, un-fuck Zeke?”
“Language, Wyatt.” Mom’s eyes dart to the door, where the staff member is doing her best to look invisible. “This is about more than just your relationship. The Palmers are important business associates. Your father and Thomas have been working on the Singapore deal for months.”
Of course it’s about business. It’s always about business. My humiliation is just collateral damage in the grand Kingsley empire.
“I’m not doing this,” I say, setting down my glass with enough force that water sloshes over the rim. “I’m not sitting through dinner pretending everything’s fine while she—”
The door opens again, and my words die in my throat as Thomas and Mary Palmer enter, all smiles and greetings. Behind them, looking appropriately contrite in a modest white dress, is Alyssa.
Our eyes meet, and I see the calculation behind her remorseful expression. She’s here to salvage her family’s connection to mine. To play the repentant girlfriend. To rewrite the narrative where she’s the one who fucked up but is graciously being forgiven.
I glare at her, but the approaching footsteps leave me no time to argue further. My father enters the room, followed by Gray and Daniela, neither of whom gives any indication of what just happened in that meeting.
Gray’s eyes scan the room, assessing the situation, then his gaze locks with mine. I can see the question clearly: What’s going on?
I give a slight shake of my head, trying to communicate the clusterfuck that’s about to unfold without words: I’m facing the ex-girlfriend who cheated on me with my best friend, while the man I can’t stop thinking about watches from across the room.
My life has officially become a fucking soap opera.
13
