“Bullshit!” Carolyn snapped. “People aren’t getting paid! I heard it just like you did.”
“Yes, but I went ahead and asked Mrs. Tisha Olivares-King and she informed me that this was part of the probate process and could take several months to resolve. Obviously that’s not good for employee morale, and that’s why the King brothers are working together to try and figure out a workaround to maintain their workforce.” All of this was true; it was just missing bits and pieces that didn’t need to be public knowledge. But technically, there were no lies in what Skye had just told Carolyn.
“That is a load of horse shit!” Carolyn sounded angry. But there was no pounding, no shouting, and no further attempts to knock the door down. That was almost more frightening than the aggression. Then Skye heard the woman mutter something very ugly right before she delivered her worst episode of bad behavior yet. “Fine. You want to feed me that line of shit that wouldn’t sell a free paper? Then I’ll have to come up with something entirely new.”
This did not sound good, but what was Skye supposed to do?
“I’m going to tell the whole city what kind of person you really are,” Carolyn said snidely. “Before tomorrow evening the whole city will know about the dumpster baby who is trying to lie her way into the pants of one of the city’s richest bachelors.”
Skye’s heart seized and nearly stopped. Her hands were shaking and she could hardly draw breath. The horror of that possibility was too real to contemplate. Her past was not pretty. It wasn’t criminal, at least not on her part, but it was also not something to be proud of. The idea of Carolyn Phillips splashing that across the paper was abhorrent.
But maybe that wasn’t the best way to approach this situation. “Carolyn, please be careful. If you drag me into the limelight by using my connection to the Kings, you’re dragging them too. They aren’t the kind of people you tangle with like that. Please don’t do anything stupid.”
“Nice.” Carolyn snorted as she mocked Skye’s warning with her next words. “Oh, please don’t print embarrassing things about me because my big bad boyfriend is going to get mad and yell at you! Whatever! They’ll probably give me a bonus for letting them know that you’re nothing but a dumpster baby.”
This whole dumpster baby thing was getting really annoying. It was so tempting to fling open the door and put a fist in Carolyn’s face. But that was what the woman wanted. Interaction, bad behavior, and juicy gossip were Carolyn’s drugs of choice. So what Skye needed to do was to turn around and walk away.
So she did. Without another moment of thought about the topic—well, not that she would admit to—Skye walked away from the front door. She exited the apartment through the sliding glass door on the patio. Once outside she ignored the heat. It was getting slightly cooler with each passing second now that the sun was going down. And for the next several hours Skye sat right there on her patio trying to think about anything other than the way that her life had started all those years ago.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Once again the King house in University Park was lit up like Christmas when Edward and Jason pulled into the driveway. Edward put his car in neutral, set the brake, and then turned off the key. It had been a long day. Jason really had no desire to deal with his mother right now. He knew that Edward didn’t either. But the two of them were here now and Jason could not help but feel like there was something he was missing.
“You know,” Edward drawled as he got out of the driver’s seat of his car. “Sometimes I really have to ask myself a question about our mother’s understanding of utilities and the bills that they generate.”
Jason opened his door and got out of the car. He stared at his brother over the hood of the vehicle. “How so?”
“Well, it’s like she had no idea of how much it costs to have every single light in the house turned on. Wouldn’t you like to see a real-time printout of the electricity usage? Like we could be in there with a few lights on like normal people and there’s a certain kilo wattage assigned to that moment.” Edward was warming to his topic, which was kind of hilarious given the circumstances. “And then there could be another reading taken of the meter when Mother comes home and flips on every single light, appliance, and probably even her chandeliers.”
“I’m sure the number would be astronomical,” Jason said drily. “And since you don’t actually pay the bills here I’m sure there is really a reason that it bothers you so much.”
“I might not pay the bills as in out of my own account,” Edward retorted as he trotted up the front steps. “But I’m the one who has to pay them out of the household accounts. It’s ridiculous what she spends on things like utilities and food. It’s all because of the entertaining!”
That was precisely the moment when Jason remembered why he had not intended to come home this evening. But it was too late for second thoughts because Edward was already pushing open the front door.
“Edward, wait!” Jason called out.
“There they are!” Tisha’s fake hostess voice was shrill as hell and louder than a gong. It echoed through the front door and hit Jason’s ears like a bomb. “I wondered when my boys were going to get here! I told you seven o’clock, but it’s half past! That’s all right,” Tish gushed. “You guys are just fashionably late, of course!”
It. Was. Horrible.
For a few moments Jason thought that his vision was almost too dazzled by the lights blazing overhead to even register what was going on in the dining room to the right of the front door. But that did not last nearly long enough.
“Um. Hello?” Jason said lamely.
The only person sitting at the table who was under the age of about fifty was a young woman with dark brown hair and beautiful almond-shaped brown eyes. She looked cold and remote and pissed off as though she wanted to be here even less than Jason did. This had to be Eleni, the woman that Tisha was convinced should be the match for her youngest son.
“Jason, darling, I’m sure you remember Eleni,” Tisha gushed. “And of course this is her mother, Alaina.” Tisha gestured in the other direction with such speed that there was no way for Jason to keep up. “This is Alaina’s other daughter, Embry, and her husband Joseph. Joseph’s parents are the Orvilles—they own a wonderful chain of upscale department stores here in Dallas—and then, of course, Alaina’s dear friend Michael.”
Edward was already nodding and doing the social niceties. Jason could not begin to fathom how his brother could tolerate this bullshit. It was all a load of crap! These people were here to drink wine, eat food, and what? Socialize? Or marry off their offspring in an effort to keep the money in one place?
“Mother, we need to talk.” Jason did not bother to change his tone. He let it be flat and irritated. He didn’t particularly care that this young woman was now glaring at him. “Now.”
“Now?” Tisha put her hand up to her lips and tittered like a school girl. “It’s a little rude to leave our guests.”
There was enough food on the table to feet about twenty more guests than had been invited and there were so many bottles of wine that it was hard to tell if each person actually had their own or if they had to suffer the indignity of sharing with the person next to them.
“Now,” Jason snapped. Then he made himself look ever ruder by turning and walking into the kitchen through the butler’s pantry.
The kitchen was not the place to have this discussion right now because there were dozens of catering employees bustling about trying to get the next course ready to go. How his mother could call a caterer at the drop of the hat and have them appear with people, food, and the necessary accoutrements for a party was always a bit beyond Jason’s understanding. It was like some kind of occult thing where his mother was secretly making sacrifices to the god Bacchus or some other deity of revelry to make sure her parties were always the best in town.
“Now, Jason,” Tisha said as she sashayed into the kitchen behind him. “You are being quite rude to our guests and that just won’t be
tolerated in this house.”
“Really?” Jason shot back. “Because I feel like what I don’t want to tolerate in this house is people telling me who I’m supposed to be falling in love with!”
The expression on his mother’s face almost seemed as though she were laughing at him. Somehow it made him feel absolutely invalidated. He kept waiting for her to say something, to acknowledge that he was right. It wasn’t appropriate for one person to tell another what to think or feel or who to love. That wasn’t how life worked.
But Tisha reached up and patted his cheek almost sarcastically. “How cute. The little puppy thinks he’s going to fall in love. That’s just ridiculous, you know. There is no time for that bullshit. No time at all. Don’t you understand?”
“No. I don’t understand at all. Is there some kind of deadline where I’ll turn into a pumpkin if I don’t get married by a certain time?” No time? What was the rush? Jason could not help but feel that there was something he was missing entirely.
Tisha’s face grew closed. Her gaze began to dart here and there in the kitchen as though she were afraid that one of the catering staff might hear what she was saying and report back to the newspaper like a spy. It was ridiculous and yet Jason could not help but wonder exactly what his mother was up to. Did she have some kind of plan that he wasn’t aware of?
She grabbed his arm and abruptly started shoving him back toward the dining room. “You go in there and you sit down by poor Eleni and you talk to her. Do you understand me?” Tisha was practically snarling each word as though she were about ready to rip his arm off.
“Fine.” It wasn’t like he had anything to lose. The girl hadn’t looked as though she were excited to see him either. “I’ll go talk to her. But I’m not going to make any promises.”
“I’m not asking for promises,” Tisha retorted. She shoved him once again toward the dining room. “I’m demanding compliance. There’s a difference.”
Compliance? Jason turned to snap at her, but she was already pushing her way past him into the dining room. Lifting her hands like some TV evangelist, Tisha gave a dramatic double-handed wave to her guests.
“All right, my loves!” Tisha gushed. She sent a pointed look in the direction of Alaina’s dear friend Michael. “The party can continue! Michael, why don’t you slide one seat down so that Jason and Eleni can get to know each other?”
Of course Michael immediately complied. Jason waited. Not because he was particularly patient, but because he would have rather put this off as long as possible. Michael slid out of his chair and did his best to quickly move his plate and all of his utensils at the same time. In his haste he moved his elbow too quickly and sent his wineglass flying. Red wine splashed all over the pristine table cloth and a good portion of the food as well. It quickly rolled toward Eleni.
Without thinking, Jason whipped one hand out and grabbed the edge of the tablecloth. He deftly flipped it up in order to create a barrier. With his other hand he grabbed the back of Eleni’s chair and twisted it sideways. The young woman gave a gasp of surprise as she had to stand quickly in order to avoid going over backwards. Jason was still holding the chair so she wouldn’t have hit the floor, but it still appeared to visibly shake her.
“What is wrong with you?” Eleni shouted. She pointed at Jason. “You nearly flipped me over!”
Jason offered a careless shrug. The girl didn’t realize how close she’d come to wearing the wine. “I had it. Would you have preferred to add red to that dress?”
“No!” Eleni appeared shaken. It was not a good look for her at all. “I don’t know. It doesn’t matter. You’re being ridiculous!”
Eleni stumbled to her feet but went down on one knee despite her efforts to stay upright. Tisha was shouting at the top of her lungs for the catering staff, which seemed to explode out of the kitchen as though they were personally responsible for this fiasco. Within moments the table was pristine once again and the spill had been carefully contained within the one place setting.
This did not seem to satisfy Eleni. She slapped her cloth napkin down on the tabletop and looked at her mother. “I need some air.”
The room was awkwardly silent. The guests were staring at each other. Edward sat with one hand in front of his mouth as though he were having trouble not howling with amusement. Jason chuffed out a sigh. This was great. Just great. Everyone began to stare in his direction. Why?
Then Edward raised his brows at Jason. He made a point of looking toward the door where Eleni had disappeared toward the back deck of the King home. Wait. Was his brother suggesting that he go outside to check on the woman? Was that even safe? Jason felt like there was a distinct possibility that Eleni would do her level best to kick Jason in the shin and then chuck him into the pool.
Edward cleared his throat—loudly. “Ahem.”
Fine. Jason tried not to sound too annoyed. “I guess I’ll go check on Eleni if nobody else was going to?” He left it open ended just in case someone else wanted to take a stab at the whole offering comfort thing. But of course nobody did. They all just nodded and began talking quietly amongst themselves.
Jason was annoyed. He was annoyed with himself for falling into this stupid trap. He was annoyed with his brother for leaving him to it. And now he was annoyed with this idiot woman he didn’t know or particularly like for being a drama queen.
Pushing his way through the double French doors onto the deck, Jason spotted Eleni almost immediately. She was standing near the edge of the patio railing in an area that overlooked the pool. It was peaceful there. The rise beneath the patio gave you a view of most of the extensive backyard. The King house occupied most of a huge corner there in University Park. The yard wasn’t very deep, but what it lacked in depth it made up for in length. And the builder and landscapers had not wasted a single square inch of the property or had they left it empty.
“You don’t have to come out here to check on me,” Eleni said dully without turning around. “I’m not stupid. I know you’re not interested in me. I’m not interested in you. And I’m just out here because it was a good excuse to get away from all of my mother’s completely inane chatter.”
Her words stopped Jason in his tracks. That was his line. Wasn’t it? He was the one who was supposed to say he wasn’t interested. Not that he should care that she was beating him to it. In fact, he should have been glad of it. Her words were saving him the necessity of finding a polite way to say exactly what she’d just told him. It was just a bit of a blow to the old ego when she was saying it to him.
“Why?” Once the question was out Jason felt enormously stupid. A better thing to ask was why did he care why?
Eleni turned around and cast a look of curiosity at him. “Are you so desperate for a date that you’d take one that your mother threw in your path even though she’s in love with someone else?”
“No.” Jason hoped his word was as final as it sounded. “I’m in love with someone else as it is. I’m glad to hear you say that. I suppose I just made the assumption—wrongly, I might add—that you were as into this idea as our mothers are.”
The light spilling from the huge windows in the back of the house offered plenty of opportunity to see the truly annoyed expression crossing her face. “You must be joking! My mother wants to weasel her way into the King family.” Eleni made a vague gesture with her hand. “You might understand why that is. What I can’t really figure out is why your mother wants to marry into our family.”
“Yeah, I don’t even pretend to try and understand my mother’s motivations these days.” Jason snorted and shrugged. “She’s got her own plans and her own assumptions. And she keeps ranting and raving about how we’re running out of time.”
“See!” Eleni perked up as though she had either heard this before or was dying of curiosity to know the underlying reasons for what seemed to be happening under their noses. “It’s like they have some kind of plan that we can’t see. I think we need to be focusing on that.”
“I th
ink you need to be focusing on the man you love before your mother tries to marry you off to one of my other brothers. There are five of us. You’ve already turned down the youngest.”
“Yes.” She gave a derisive snort that made Jason feel ten years old again. “I’m nearly five years older than you are. Did you realize that?”
“You’re Orion’s age,” Jason agreed. “I think I knew that.”
“So what kind of sense does it make for them to want to throw us together? Seriously!” Then Eleni seemed to consider something else. “And actually, while we’re talking about age, does your mother expect the wives of her sons to be as prolific about giving birth as she was? For shit’s sake, the woman had a baby every single year for five freaking years! If she thinks I’m willing to do that she’s out of her mind!”
Jason drew back and then laughed. “You’re right. I have no idea what the woman expects of her daughters-in-law, but there is no doubt that the whole five babies in five years thing is just ridiculous.”
“Now that we have that established.” Eleni held out her arm. “Let’s go back in and pretend to be nice to each other. The plan is that we’ll agree to go on one date. Then we’ll just never do it. And when our mothers ask us what the hell is going on, we’ll just tell them that the other person is really busy and we’re doing our best to arrange schedules, but that we’re so interested in each other.”
“Brilliant,” Jason decided. “As long as you don’t mind that I’m dating a reporter who used to work for the Dallas Star.”
“Oh!” Eleni looked interested. “Are you talking about Skye Kincaid? She’s written some incredible columns on your mom lately. I would love to meet her sometime. I bet she’s hilarious!”
The comment startled Jason, but it also gave him a lot of pleasure to imagine his mother knowing that Jason and Skye were a couple and that even her best friend’s daughter thought Skye was a great woman.
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