He is sitting in his chair, hands steepled and his elbows resting on his desk.
Across from him is a woman I don’t recognize, her eyes narrowed to slits and locked on me.
Next to her is a young man folded over with his arms and head pressed into the desk.
“Luca?”
He snaps up straight and whips around in his seat, glaring.
I recoil, refocusing on the man I came here to see. “What’s going on?”
Alaric rises to his feet, his mouth opening but no sound coming out.
Luca jumps up, too. “Did you call her?” he sneers.
Eyes widening, Alaric shakes his head sharply. “I would never do that.”
“What is this?” I ask, my voice cracking on the last word. “What’s going on?”
“Why’s she coming to your office late at night, then, Ric?”
I shudder. Luca’s a disrespectful asshole, but his question isn’t unwarranted. Alaric doesn’t know why I’m here, and I can’t string together the words to explain my unexpected visit.
We’re all silent, the tension ratcheting up.
Finally Luca scoffs. “I knew it. I fucking knew it.”
“Wait,” I force out, holding up the single sheet of paper in my hand. “I have a reason to be here.”
He sneers. “Sure you do, Ev. You’ve always been good at finding reasons to show up where you’re not wanted.”
The comment stings, but I’m still too stunned to feel the pinch.
“Watch it,” Alaric seethes, one finger pointed at his son. “I understand you’re hurting, but that’s no excuse to be cruel.” With a shake of his head, he moves around his desk and approaches me.
There’s a gentleness to his expression that was missing the last time I saw him. A calmness to his energy that I’m desperate to savor.
I find myself leaning forward despite our audience.
Alaric stops a foot away from me and slips his hands into his pockets, giving Luca and the woman his back to afford us the illusion of privacy.
“Listen, we’re dealing with a family matter right now, but if you and I could?—”
“Family?” I peer over his shoulder at the woman seated next to my ex.
She raises her hand briefly, offering a tense smile. “Hi. I’m Sophie Callahan. Luca’s mom. And you are?”
Déjà vu slaps me across the face.
Out of all the ways tonight could go, I never expected to once again be introducing myself to the parent of a man I wasted two years of my life on.
A sharp pain slices through me, the sense of insignificance I thought I’d buried flooding back in. I can’t do this again.
With a little shake of my head, I take a big step back.
Alaric follows until I’m at the threshold.
“I’m so sorry to interrupt,” I tell him. “I was hoping we could talk, but I can come back?—”
