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His mom rose and walked to his father’s side. She seemed motivated now and, while her smile wasn’t as bright as it usually was, she was making the effort. “I will make sure that Adler is protected from this as much as I can. Her wedding needs to be her focus.”
“Perfect,” his dad said. “Logan, reach out to Nick and try to see if you can partner for the golf scramble together. Carlton will try to get some publicity photos of the two of you so we can allay the fears of both boards that this news is going to shake things up.”
“How will that help?” Logan asked. “We’re still going to be rivals with Williams, Inc.”
“We want to look friendly,” August said.
“I don’t think that’s the right message,” Logan said.
“I just told you it was,” his father shot back.
Logan clenched his jaw. “You’re not the CEO anymore, Dad. We need to talk about this.”
“Good idea,” Mom said. “You two can have a chat on Monday. For now, let’s focus on fixing Zac’s mess and the wedding.”
Iris was a mess and Adler was only a little better. Both of them were struggling to deal with fallout from dealing with the Bissets.
Quinn kept it to herself that she’d slept with Logan last night. But seeing her friends and how being connected to the Bissets had this kind of impact sharpened her desire to ensure that last night was a one-off.
They were in a private suite at the hotel and her production team had set up to film the manicures and pedicures the bridal party were having this morning. It was just for cutaways later. “Are you doing the golf scramble this morning?”
“Yes,” Adler said. “Nick and I want to keep to the schedule. I mean I think that’s what we want. He was sleeping when I left, but I asked Olivia to make sure he was at the golf club at eleven. I’m worried about everything falling apart.”
“Me too,” Iris said. “I’m so sorry, Adler, that everything with Zac has been leaked.”
Adler hugged Iris, and Quinn sat there watching the two of them. Just a day earlier she would have said her friends had it all. Men they loved and relationships that were solid. If anything, it just demonstrated that there was no such thing as a perfect one. She’d always known that. Had seen her parents’ example: two people who married in a white hot fit of passion and were like fire and water. But she’d thought if she were smarter—like Iris and Adler—she’d be able to find a man who could be a partner to her.
Though, of course, falling into Logan’s arms wasn’t part of that plan.
“I’m sorry for you,” Adler said. “But honestly, I think it will help distract from the scandal of Nick being a Bisset. It’s so crazy right now. He’s pretending it’s not a big deal but he grew up hating August. When he first found out that he was my uncle, I thought it would be a deal breaker for us. Now it turns out August is his father.”
“Me too,” Iris admitted. “To be fair I know the Williams family way better than the Bissets, but from what I’ve observed, they aren’t that different.”
Iris had been friends with Nick in college and had been responsible for introducing him to Adler, who had been her roommate.
“In what way?” Quinn asked. “Logan is so driven, and my impression has always been that his family all have to be number one.”
“It’s the same with Nick’s family. I mean Tad is nicer about it. More of a ‘rising tide raises all ships’ but he definitely wants them all to rise, if you know what I mean,” Iris said. “Also, Tad has always hated August but no one knows why...do you, Adler?”
“No. I mean Nick said that he thought his dad and August had a falling out long before he was born. Interesting that Tad didn’t know Cora had an affair with August or that she’d worked for Bisset Industries,” Adler said.
“Yeah. I would hate to be her right now,” Iris said. “I feel bad about it. But how did she think it would go when Nick met August?”
Adler shook her head and shrugged. “To be honest, I think she thought August wouldn’t come to the wedding because he and I aren’t close and he hates the Williams family as much as they hate him. He only decided last minute. I’m pretty sure she intended to never be in the same room with him if she could help it.”
“I don’t blame her,” Quinn said. Her phone started pinging. Most of it was from her network wanting to discuss the scandalous rumors coming out of Nantucket. “Adler, who is releasing a statement about Nick?”
“I think it’s going to be a joint one later, but I don’t have the details. Why?” Adler asked as she glanced down at her painted toenails.
“The network wants deets and I’m stalling, but I am going to have to give them something,” Quinn said.
“Let me text Nick and see what he knows,” Adler said. She grabbed her phone and Quinn glanced at Iris, who was sitting so stiff and still, as if by keeping her posture perfect, she could hold herself together.
“Iris, you okay?”
“Yes, of course,” she said. “I’ll weather this. My parents are coming out today to be with me for the rest of the weekend. Mom said keep my head high. Leta told me not to respond to any of the gossip and just pretend that I didn’t hear it.”
“Does she think that will work?”
