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I shrugged. "But it doesn't bother me. Not like it should."
"Neither do I. So we shouldn't apologize for that either. That bastard, on the other hand..."
Luckily, Lei hadn't started the car yet, because I could see in his eyes how much it bothered him that Alexander had attacked me like that. It was an affront. After everything he had said to me on our wedding day, it was just another item on the list of reasons why I was glad to be rid of him.
Resolutely, I placed my hand over Leis. "Don't worry about it. The subject is done. He'll hate you for the rest of his life and tell himself whatever story he wants. And you'll hate him just as long for putting those words in his mouth."
"Apart from being grateful for his grave mistake, I think you might be right."
His mistake– the one that had led me to end up in a bar and call Lei to do me a favor. The mistake that had driven me into Lei's arms, into his bed, and into his life.
Without further ado, I lifted myself over the center console onto Lei's lap and snuggled up against him, my face buried in the hollow of his neck. I inhaled deeply, feeling his hand cradle my head while the other rested on my back, holding me in place.
"I thought it was the worst idea ever when I fell in love with you a few years back. A stupid, naive mistake. But falling in love with you now is the best thing that could have happened to me. Maybe it was meant that our paths would cross several times. So that one day we'd manage to make something of it."
There were so many opportunities, so many chances. But we had not taken any of them. Until...
"You do realize that you can't get rid of me now, right?"
"I'm afraid that was never an option anyway."
* * *
"This isn't the way home,"I remarked when I realized we had almost crossed Honolulu in its entirety.
Lei glanced sideways for a moment before returning his gaze to the traffic. "Because we're not going home."
"But?"
"To a real birthday party. We weren't supposed to meet until tonight, but after the disaster, I thought we'd spend a few hours at the resort."
I raised my eyebrows in disbelief. This was about a dinner– not a party at the luxury resort that Kaia partially owned.
But I fought back the protest that rose in me. These were the events I was supposed to be happy about. The ones I was supposed to have fun with. What good did it do me to show up there with the prejudice that they were all doing it for dubious reasons? Because that was not the case. Lei, in particular, was doing it because he wanted to see me happy. Sometimes he would show his affection that way, and even though it was hard for me to accept it at first, I got better at it.
"But you do realize that the disaster with my parents isn't your fault, right? I mean, in the end, it wouldn't have made any difference."
Despite everything, the insult had been unnecessary– and I was aware that this was the part that bothered Lei the most. Not me, because I had heard similar words months ago and had gotten used to them over time, but for him to hear them and be expected to stand quietly and listen to one insult after another– no matter how eloquently some of them were worded– just didn't suit him.
"Still, it bothers me that they can both do this with impunity," he replied.
He had not let go of my hand once since we had left. Now I felt his grip tighten.
"How about we just leave it up to karma?" Though I doubted it would change anything, there would surely come a day when my parents would try to contact me again. Maybe not to apologize, but certainly for some reason. And then I would have the opportunity to give them the cold shoulder and react the way I should have all along.
"Karma is too slow for me."
"What are you going to do? Punch my father in the jaw? Stop working with him?"
"I am definitely going to hand over the collaboration to a colleague. I will not work with men who offend my girlfriend." It sounded as if he had been waiting to say this for a long time.
I wanted to point out that my father was his best friend. For years. But as soon as I mentally formulated the sentence, I realized it didn't matter. The moment he attacked Lei and me at the same time, it no longer had any significance.
A few hours alone in a luxury resort suddenly didn't sound so bad. If I could lie in a hot tub with my eyes closed for an hour, maybe the nervousness would disappear. Maybe my thoughts would stop revolving around noon in the background.
"Kind of feels like war, if you ask me."
"Let them start one. I'm well equipped, and if they try to manipulate you, I'm sure they won't get far with that either."
