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She shows off her sweet laugh lines. “Don’t sound so surprised. I worked for that man for decades. I know this park better than him, and he knew it.”
My laugh is interrupted by the door opening again. Whatever warmth lingered from Martha’s hug is quickly sucked out of me as Seth Kane walks into the room.
Oh shit. Brady chose Rowan’s father as part of the board?It takes a lot of self-restraint to not explode on Mr. Kane after everything I’ve learned about him. If looks could kill, he would have been eviscerated by my stare alone.
He ignores Martha and me like we don’t exist, probably because to him, we don’t. The only people worthy of his attention are those who either share his blood or share his business interest. His sharp suit and emotionless face hide the awful man lingering beneath. I’m tempted to rip apart the vile man who would call their own child pathetic and make them feel lesser than for beingdifferent.
My fists ball up beside my jeans.
Martha pats my hand. “Now, now. This isn’t the time for anger.”
I sigh and take a few deep breaths. “I’m not upset.”
She leans in and whispers. “It shows you still care about him. Good.”
Good? What is going on here?
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Oh, darling.” She pats my cheek. “I put two and two together when Mr. Kane asked me to get him Juliana De La Rosa on the line. And given our conversation about her books, I connected the dots.”
Martha is so damn smart. We sit next to one another while Mr. Kane takes the seat across the table. Two more unknown people enter the room, but I’m pretty sure one of them is the Director of the Shanghai park.
“Did Rowan know you were on the board?”
“Rowan? God, no. I can’t wait to see his reaction later.”
I stare at her.
She presses a hand against her chest. “Wait. Did you think Rowan knew you were on the board?”
I nod, unable to speak because my heart’s lodged in my throat. This whole day is going to be an information overload.
She laughs and wraps me in another hug. “No. That’s half the fun in today’s meeting.”
“Fun?”
“Of course. Brady had a flare for the dramatics. This whole shindig is his way of making his grandkids work for it.”
“Work for what?”
Martha is cut off by Rowan entering the room. He looks extra devastating today, in a sharp black suit and a matching black tie. His eyes collide with mine. It’s like all the air is sucked out of my lungs and my head grows woozy.
Snap out of it.
Rowan looks around the rest of the room. Everyone stands and shakes his hand. He says hello to each person by name, and I let out a breath of relief at him at least being aware of his target audience.
Why do you care? He lied to you for this stupid vote.
When he gets to me, he holds out his hand. I grab onto it, and a similar buzz rushes through my body, starting from my fingers before spreading all the way to my toes.
“Ms. Gulian. Thank you for being here today.” The timbre of his voice does bad things to the lower half of my body. His eyes linger on my flushed cheeks, and his thumb caresses my hand before he lets go.
I clear my throat. “Mr. Kane.” I nod and take my seat.
He steps toward the front of the room and turns on the projector. His presentation is already set up, and I nudge Martha.
“Have you seen it yet?”
