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Faith pursed her lips. “It’s disrespectful—”
“You’re educatingmeon respect?” Paul let out a nasty laugh. “You made Aubrey’s lifemiserable. You broke her that day that I found her digging in the dirt in your backyard. She never fully recovered from that, no matter what I did. I will never forgive you for telling Aubrey your mom was dying, and that Aubrey was too busy living in luxury to care. That’s why she was on that fucking plane—”
“No. I-I didn’t tell her to take that plane.” Faith jerked her head back and forth.
“Yes, you did, Faith. Aubrey left our honeymoon to rush home to see her dying mom. But your mom wasn’t dying. She was fine—”
“Please stop, Paul,” Lily pleaded.
“No. Faith needs to hear this. She came here ordering me around. It wasn’t enough that Aubrey left her honeymoon, but she had to take a commercial flight because she thought she didn’t deserve to live well. She died because you lied, Faith. So shouldn’t I be the one to ask why you’re here now? Who the fuck even invited you?”
Faith let out a loud wail.
Lily put her arm around her.
Paul snarled at Faith and Lily. “Of course, Lily never could leave well enough alone. She still thinks there’s something good in Faith—”
“Don’t say another word,” Jonas hissed. “Lily invited Faith because Aubrey’s her sister. She’d never do anything to hurt you. Apologize to her.”
“I’m sorry, Paul,” Lily said, hugging Faith.
“I…I didn’t know Aubrey would die. I didn’t know…” Faith spluttered.
Paul’s hands tunneled through his hair. “Sorry, Lily. Shit.”
Our eyes connected, and his were dull, lifeless. My heart broke for him.
His jaw clenched. “You weren’t supposed to come today. I have the reception to attend, press for Julliard—”
“I’ll take Nadia home,” Jonas announced.
Paul patted his dad’s back. “Thanks.”He turned to me, his tone coarse. “We’ll talk later, Nadia.”
I turned away from him with my head down, my stomach soured.I don’t belong here.
“David, let’s go,” Jonas motioned for me to follow him and his driver. I felt compelled to do so.What was it about these Crane men?
We rode with David back to the Hudson, and Ben stayed behind for Paul.
When we were seated in the back of the car, Jonas asked, “Do you play chess?”
I shrugged. The question was random, but I answered, “Checkers. That’s it. No high-brow from me.”
He chuckled. “High-brow? You’re funny. But I’ll take that game.”
“You didn’t need to come back with me.”
“I don’t think it’s good to stay alone when you’re upset. Besides, why should I pass up the chance to meet the person my son is spending all his free time with? That’s kind of what fathers like to do.”
I grinned at him. “Okay.”
“That’s better. I understand you’re a clothing designer?”
“Yes, I’m a student at the New York School of Design.”
Jonas listened with such interest when I dropped my guard. He even came inside and complimented every piece when I showed him the studio at the Hudson. He was particularly interested in a knit scarf and hat.
“Lily would love these.” He rubbed the soft knit between his fingers.
