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However, it was strange that she’d protested so vehemently when he suggested a match between her and Mark. He happened to like the young man. He was from a very good family.
He was tired. He could feel it in his bones. He needed someone suitable and capable to take the helm of the company that had been in their family for generations. He had competent people working for him, and the board members were family, if not by blood, then people who were connected by length of service.
She hadn’t been with anyone since that upstart reporter had broken her heart almost a year ago. He’d warned her about him, but she hadn’t listened, and now she was pining for the bastard.
He wanted to see her settled and happy, with a man deserving of a woman like her. Finishing his breakfast, he decided it was time he intervened.
*****
“I think Daddy is starting to become suspicious.”
“Suspicious?”
Alessia shrugged as she reached for her glass of OJ. “Perhaps suspicious isn’t the right word, but concerned or impatient to have a grandchild. He mentioned Mark Stevenson again.”
“Darling, I respect your Dad, but he doesn’t have the right to choose for you.” Michael’s eyes glittered. “Does he know you’re having breakfast with me?”
“No.” She shook her head and smiled at him fondly. “I didn’t want to start another argument.”
“He doesn’t like me, and that’s fine. The fact he’s dictating who you’re friends with and who you can sleep with is just wrong.” He took a long gulp of his fruit smoothie. “I’m gay, so I don’t belong in his tidy little world. Maxwell is from the wrong side of the tracks, so he doesn’t get to touch or soil you with his dirty hands.
The man has more ambition than anyone I know. He’s hot, and I wish he swung the other way. He loves you, and you have to sneak around to be with each other. That’s nonsense.”
“I agree with you.”
He stared at her, blue eyes blazing. “Then stand up to him, for heaven’s sake.”
She shook her head. “It’s not that simple.”
“Darling, you’re a grown-ass woman. Tell him that you met someone and this is it for you. A man like Maxwell isn’t going to put up with this nonsense forever.”
That was what she was afraid of. That was why she’d called Michael to sound off on him. A year ago, she’d made the mistake of getting involved with someone, a man she thought would be right for her.
She’d thought he loved her, but he’d turned out to be selfish and cruel. He’d been careful not to inflict physical abuse on her, but the emotional abuse had been more damaging.
“He was hurt when I – that thing with Brian left us both reeling and vulnerable. He just wants what’s best for me.”
“And Maxwell Callister is not that person.”
“He isn’t prejudiced.” She muttered, taking a fortifying sip of water. “He has a heart condition. I don’t want to do anything to upset him.”
“Or is he using that to gain leverage and get you to do what he wants?”
She gave him a look of gentle reproach. Michael Anderson was an outcast, the black sheep of his family. As soon as he announced to his family that he was gay, they refused to have anything to do with him.
He had a trust fund and made a good living with his photography career, but he wasn’t invited to family functions or dinners on Sundays.
He told Alessia he didn’t mind, but she was sure that wasn’t true. She hated that her father disliked him and would refer to him as the ‘queer fellow,’ but Joseph Vanderweld was from the old school and was incredibly old-fashioned.
Michael was her best friend, and she refused to stop being his friend. “You don’t know him like I do.” She said quietly. “When Mom died, it practically destroyed him. He loved her very much, and it haunted him when he could do nothing to help her get better. I’m the only person he has left- “
“You need to start living your own life.” Michael leaned forward, a lock of blonde hair falling over his forehead. He had a delicate beauty about him that made him look like an angel. He also had a penchant for choosing the wrong partner and would get hurt.
Alessia was fiercely protective of him and would try and see to it that he was taking care of himself. He was also prone to depression, which would have him staying in bed for a few days. “Maxwell loves you.”
“I know,” She said softly. “He wants us to go away for the weekend.”
His eyebrows lifted. “The cabin?”
