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Adrian stoically refused to look at her, flashing street lights illuminating his furious profile an eerie orange.
“What am I missing here? Why are you so mad?”
“It’s what I missed.”
“What are you talking about?”
“How did I miss that you never supported my proposal?”
Sofia barely managed to keep her eyes on the road. What was he talking about? “That’s bullshit. Of course I support you.”
“Oh really? That’s not what your father said tonight. He said he hoped I wouldn’t leave, but it was looking like I wouldn’t have a unanimous vote. He said he couldn’t see how to make it work around your reservations. What the hell, Sofia?”
“That’s what he took away from what I said?” Sofia clenched her hands on the steering wheel, wishing they were around her father’s neck instead. She could believe only too well that he hadn’t really understood her point. She had to take her foot off the accelerator before she caused an accident.
“So you did say that? Jesus, Sofia. You know how much this means to me. How hard I’ve worked.”
“I have reservations about it, sure. Has he talked to you about any details? Any numbers? Any structure of the deal?”
“No, not yet. If you had concerns, why didn’t you talk to me about them?” Adrian was glaring at her now, and she kept her eyes on the road so she could say what she needed to say. She would not let another man intimidate her tonight.
“Because they weren’t concerns you could address. Only my dad can figure out how he’s going to structure the company. But yes, I asked questions about what would happen to my share of the company, and Enzo and Frankie’s, too. It’s our legacy. I need details, Adrian. How can I figure out how to support your proposal if I don’t know what it is?”
“Because we are together. I thought you had my back.”
Sofia pulled up to a stoplight and finally turned to face him. The anger in his eyes burned. She knew she’d hurt him with her questions, but she had to be true to herself. She knew her dad was impulsive, and she had to be the voice of reason. “I do, but you can’t expect me to jump into a deal without knowing what’s what.”
“But you can design a house without the inspection, right?”
“That was different.” Yes, she’d made mistakes, but with the pressures of the show, she’d thought he understood.
“That’s bullshit. It’s irresponsible and unethical to spend the client’s money so recklessly.”
“Excuse me?” A horn honked behind her, startling her into motion. How long had that light been green?
“You should have my back on this. I thought we were building toward something here. How can I be with someone who doesn’t support my dreams?”
Sofia turned the corner onto her street and pulled into the drive of her apartment building. “All I said was—”
“That you don’t believe in me or my plan. Yeah, message received. I thought we were on the same team. Don’t worry. I won’t make that mistake again.” He was out of the car and stalking to his truck before she could do more than call his name.
“Adrian! Wait!” She fought her seat belt, frustration and fear making her fingers clumsy. She managed to fall out of the car and race to the end of the driveway as he slammed his door and peeled his truck off down the street, taking half of her heart with him.
* * *
The show didn’t stop filming justbecause the pilot was done and her heart was broken. She had a full day of B-roll scheduled around the office. Sofia pulled herself out of bed and managed to strip out of the sweats she’d been wearing for two days straight. Friday night, she’d barely made it into her bed before collapsing into a mess of tears and snotty tissues. Now, after a weekend spent dissecting every last detail of that nightmare family dinner, she had two-day-old makeup caked on her face in oh-so-attractive rivulets and had to face the world. She hadn’t realized that Adrian had managed to get inside her walls, so when he’d swung his words with the force of a sledgehammer, the damage was severe.
At least you held your own. The little voice inside was trying to offer comfort, but it wasn’t making a dent in the sad yet. Yes, she’d pushed back against his accusations, defending her actions. But in doing so, she’d been forced to see just how little he respected her work, how little what they’d shared had meant to him. Apparently, his ego mattered more than making a reasoned decision. Honestly, it was for the best that things between them were over. She refused to be with a man who would treat her that way. She had to believe that or she’d crumble onto the floor of her shower, fragments of her soul rinsing down the drain.
She ran the shower as hot as she could stand and held her face beneath the stream, letting the water chase away her fresh tears along with her old mascara. If only the water could wash away the stain on her heart as well. She had really thought that things were going to be different with Adrian. Everything he’d made her feel was sharper and stronger than any man before. Unfortunately, that held true for pain as well as pleasure.
Enough. She had to push this aside and be professional. She soaped up on auto-pilot, towel-dried her body and hair, and put on a clean skirt and blouse. The routine of putting together her outer shell helped her shore up inside, too. Marginally coordinated, neat and tidy, she left her apartment and drove herself to work without waiting to see if Enzo or Frankie wanted a ride. Normally, living so close made it easy to spend time with her siblings, but today she needed the solitude to rebuild her defenses. She drove all the way to the office without turning on the radio, lost in her thoughts of how she would handle working with Adrian today. A day full of shooting filler scenes around the office would be hard, but she would handle it. She handled everything.
She pulled into the lot, aware that she was late, and prepared to make excuses.
“You look like hell.” Jake called her out on her appearance the moment he saw her. “Where the fuck have you been?”
“Sorry, I overslept.” She chose a technical truth over the whole story. If Jake found out about her breakup, he’d probably want to film her about it, and she was just too raw.
