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I paused, fixing my glare on his. “And I thought you could get out of anything.”
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me. Even if you can’t get out of it, I’ll wear it. I’d rather give it all up than be married to a woman I do not love. I’m worthy of love.”
“And who is that you love?”
“Pepper Little.”
“Oh fuck off.”
“You wouldn’t understand. It doesn’t matter. She’s back with Jake, and I’ve lost her for good.” My heart stung, and he was laughing at my misfortune? “You are one cold-hearted son of a bitch,” I said, balling my fists underneath the table.
“And they think we’re mad.” He raised his wiry eyebrows and offered a questioning gaze.
The old man had lost his marbles.“Who? What on earth are you talking about?”
He stood up. “Congratulations, son.”
“You can fuck off if you’re going to rub salt in the wound. I know I’ve lost and you’ve won.”
“But, it’s indeed the opposite.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I lost my love a long time ago when I agreed to marry your mother.”
He slipped his hand into his pocket and dug out his wallet. He slipped out a photo and looked adoringly at it, then let out a sigh.
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
He handed me the photo.
Torn and worn around the edges, a beautiful face stared back at me. It was the same photo I found in his wallet when I was a kid—the photo of a beautiful woman who wasn’t my mom.
“I lost her because I followed my head and not my heart. You have done what no Diamond man has been able to do before you, Connor. You have followed your heart, and your heart leads to Pepper.”
I threw the rest of the papers on my desk, shoving them to the floor. “And… what… was this some kind of test?”
He split into a smile. “Of sorts.”
“You’ve been an asshole all my life.” I spat out. My blood boiled with rage and confusion.
“Well, that was warranted.”
I shot up and paced back and forth, trying to comprehend what the fuck was going on.
“Listen. I was hard on you because I knew one day you would have to make a decision. A decision to fuck it all off into the wind and marry someone because you were told to do just that or grow into the man I knew you could always be. The man I wish I were.” He squeezed his eyes shut momentarily. “But you, son, you went against the grain. You choose to give all of this up for love. You are more courageous than me and your grandfather too.”
He sat down, and I stopped pacing, taking him in. He was frailer and grayer than I’d remembered.
Did he really have that much regret on his shoulders? Is that what weighed him down all his life? My anger gave way to pity.
“Did you love her?” I pointed to the woman in the picture before handing it back to him.
“Leila.” He gazed down at the picture of the woman adoringly.
“I left her for your mother. We had it all. We had plans. We were going to run away together, forget about it all, forget about your mother, who I was supposed to marry to help build the empire with her political ties.”
