Chapter 23
Roman almost snapped his phone in half when he read the message.
Evelyn had caused a lot of logistical problems when she had refused to sign for her new car, and then she’d been picked up by that boy. Again. Just a few hours after she had been with him.
It should have been the time and money she had wasted by having him rearrange the delivery that was pissing him off, not what she was doing right now. With that boy. Again.
He clenched his jaw.
Were they going to drink again? Were they going to be alone in the apartment?
Was this in retaliation for him arranging her university schedule after she had refused to let him do so? If so, that was the most childish thing he had ever heard. Or it was another of her games. She wasn’t going to show him she was pissed off because she was trying to paint this perfect picture of herself. An illusion to pull him in deeper. A few weeks ago he may have bought that but how could he trust her now?
“I know that look. Women problems?”
He pushed down his annoyance and looked at his father.
“You know I never have any of those.”
“But the day you do, you’ll realise what you’ve been missing,” his father grinned as he sipped his coffee.
Roman pushed his empty breakfast plate away and cradled his coffee cup. It was just the two of them for breakfast, just the way he preferred. Esther was still asleep, having arrived home from another night of partying not long before he had come for breakfast.
“You say that as if you’ve actually enjoyed being with all your wives. I remember it differently.”
“I did until I didn’t,” Charles shrugged. “I loved them all and they each gave me something different.”
Yes, that was true. They’d given him children who he’d had to financially support into adulthood and depression.
“Name one thing you loved about the woman you divorced before you met Esther. I can’t even remember her name,” he challenged.
“She was good in bed.”
He watched the way his father grinned as if it was all just a joke to him. Who married anyone just because they had good sex? If things worked like that he would have married Evelyn the first night he had her.
“And that cost you how much in the divorce settlement?”
“It’s only money,” Charles said dismissively. “I can’t take any of it with me when I die, Rome.”
Roman shook his head. His father had always been like this, putting his needs and those of his women above his own children. But he was an adult now, he had accepted that that was the type of man his father was. And he was a great cautionary tale.
He leaned back in his chair and looked back at his father’s garden beyond the swimming pool. Though the house was an unnecessary monstrosity, the gardens were a manicured masterpiece. There were several benches among the flowers, bushes and mazes where they often sat and talked when they wanted to. And it was tranquil enough to allow him to think through anything he needed to. There was something about being close to nature that relaxed him.
That was why he had built the house Evelyn lived in away from everyone else. He had built it for himself but he was too busy to enjoy it. The garden there was similar but he couldn’t remember the last time he had been in it. It was always late when he visited, and early when he left. Plus it was a lot better if he kept the boundaries of the arrangements in place.
“I really want to see you settle down, Rome. Before I’m too old to watch you start to enjoy your life,” Charles said. “I know I’m not a great example, but I’ve been happy. I’m happy right now.”
With Esther? The woman who couldn’t hide the fact that she wanted both father and son? The woman who barely spent time with Charles but spent a lot of time with his wallet? The woman who’d had no other ambition in life except to marry a rich man? How the hell did that make him happy?
But there was no arguing with his father or anyone who believed in such idiotic things for that matter.
“I’m going to the Cartwright party next weekend,” he said, blatantly changing the subject.
The light dimmed from Charles’ eyes and he couldn’t hide his emotions for a brief moment. But the pain was as raw as the day it had been inflicted. How his father could sit there and tell him to pursue something that could do this to a person was beyond him.
“I wish you wouldn’t,” Charles said.
“It’s great for business.”
“You don’t need any of those people for your business,” Charles pointed out. “It all happened long ago, I don’t need you to avenge me. You’re a grown man and I can’t stop you but you need to let this go, son.”
“You’re right,” he said. “You can’t stop me.”
He had been a victim here, too. His vengeance would not be for his father, it would be for him.
His father’s mood didn’t improve the rest of the morning, and he almost regretted bringing it up. But maybe his father needed to remember the things he had gone through every now and again because every time he married someone he acted like all of that bullshit didn’t happen. His selective memory was what got him into all this shit.
He left the house before noon so he could avoid Esther. Frankly, he was surprised he’d lasted that long. He’d wanted to leave the moment he’d received the first message about Evelyn but that would have been counterproductive. There was nothing he could do until Thursday. It would come soon enough.
When he finally drove into one of his parking spaces, he pulled his phone out to message Evelyn’s security team.
‘Let me know when Miss Bright returns home.’
He only just stopped himself from asking them to follow her.
But hours later, when the sun had long set and a message still hadn’t come, he wished he hadn’t sent even the first one because that meant his whole week would be shot to shit again. It felt like even though he now had a solid plan, Evelyn still had him by the balls. How the hell was this woman doing this?