What the fuck was he doing here?
He was supposed to be gone. He said he’s leaving in the morning. Yet, there he sat, smoking a cigar and eating eggs.
“Aurora,” my father barked when he saw me. “Sit.”
I was so shook, I obeyed before my knees gave out, sliding into the chair beside him. I kept my eyes glued to the tablecloth, praying my dad couldn’t hear how loud my pulse was beating.
Marlon didn’t look at me. Not once.
He just smoked his cigar like I wasn’t even in the room.
“Should I order something too, or?”
Dad didn’t waste time.
“Half a million dollars in property damage, Aurora?!”
I flinched.
So we were skipping the brunch and going straight to hell.
“Dad—”
He cut me off. “Do you think this shit is a game? Tables broken, a chandelier ruined and someone cracked the glass sliding door! Do you have any idea how embarrassing it is to get that phone call from hotel management?”
Smoke from Marlon’s cigar curled around me.
I picked up my menu like it was a shield. “Well, if they’d used sturdier materials maybe?—”
“Aurora.” My father stopped me.
I shut up and Marlon snorted once.
From the corner of my eye, I risked a glance at him. Nothing. Not a twitch, not a smirk. No sign he even made the sound and now I wondered if I imagined it because he might as well have been a statue.
Which somehow made this worse.
Dad leaned back, exhaling. “I don’t know what to do with you anymore.”
For once, I didn’t have a smart-ass comeback.
Because honestly?Same.
Then his tone shifted. “So I’ve made a decision. You’re going to Napa.”
That got my attention. I looked up. So did Marlon, finally.
I blinked. “Like… a vacation?”
Another snort.
Nah, I couldn’t be imagining it.
Dad gave me a look so dry I shrank in my seat. “No. Aurora. Not a fucking vacation.Work. Real work. And you’ll be staying with Marlon.”
HUH?
My brain short-circuited and I whipped my head toward Mr. S, who had the nerve to still look calm.
