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CHAPTERTWENTY-TWO
Aurelia
I stareat my mom across the table. “Say that again?”
“Nate wants to come visit you. He sounded really sincere over the phone, genuinely sorry for the way it all ended.”
“Genuinely sorry for the way he just happened to stumble into the arms of supermodel Amber Mayhew behind my back? Genuinely sorry for not extracting himself for two whole months before I found out about them? Genuinely sorry for the fact I found out viaUs Weekly?”
Mom waves her hand as though all of that was simply a mere misunderstanding. I hate that this is what she’s become. Someone who cares more about the surface image than the scars underneath. “He loved you so much, Aurelia. And I think he still does. You two were so happy together, and the press just loved you both as a couple…”
She pushes back her shoulders, she way she always does when she wants to stand her ground on something. “I told him he could come here and stay for a couple of weeks—”
“Here? On the island?”
“Yes, of course. You have two spare suites in the villa; he could stay in one of those.”
“What? You can’t do that, Mom. I don’t want to see him. He broke my heart!”
“But he’s sorry, honey. He really is. He was almost in tears over the phone—”
Almost.
“And he was begging me to speak to you to give him another chance.”
“Mom—”
“Honey, I was as surprised as you are, but think about it. Your father has forbidden Ana and Billy from coming here, and you spend all your time around that security guard. You need to be with at least one other person your own age.”
“Tawny isn’t much older than me.”
Her sneer is contemptuous. “Tawny works behind the reception desk at a holiday resort. She’s hardly the sort of person you should be hanging out with. Nate is in the business. He knows the kind of life you live. You need more people around you who really understand, and more importantly, will still be around after this residency has finished.”
“I don’t want to see Nate.”
“Well,” she straightens again. “You have to.”
“Why?” I demand.
“He’s arriving tomorrow.”
“What?” I would be fuming if I wasn’t so stunned. “Mom, how could you do this? I cried over Nate Hannigan for months. I was in love with him and he cheated on me, in front of the damn world!”
“Yesterday’s news,” she says, dismissively. “And besides, it isn’tme. This was his idea. I’m just the person in the middle. Whatever issues you might still have with him, you need to work through them between you. Anyway, I would bet my life the rest of the world has forgotten and forgiven what Nate did as a young, impressionable young man.”
I slump down in my chair, remembering exactly why things between Mom and I had become so strained before Isaac had insisted she visit. “But I haven’t,” I whisper.
* * *
“I have a guest arriving tomorrow,”I announce as I open the door to my dressing room, leaving Isaac outside in the corridor. I flick my eyes to his briefly.
“I know,” he says, looking past me.
I’m about to close the door but I stop and glare at him. “How do you know?”
He grinds his jaw, his face betraying nothing. “I received a memo,” he replies. “From your manager.”
I can’t see anything in Isaac’s face that suggests he might feel annoyed at this new development, so I drive the point home. “He’s my ex.”
