She marched up to me, her heels clicking on the marble floors, green eyes hard and filled with rage…and pain. I put the phone down and rose to my feet. She clutched my arm and pulled me past her office and the elevators before pushing me into the women’s bathroom.

“What in the—”

“Everyone out!” she yelled, and when Goldie “The Tyrannosaurus Rex” Tate roared, everyone listened, running as fast as they could. She pushed in all the stall doors to see if any poor, unfortunate little soul had dared to defy her.

Luckily, everyone preferred to keep their heads today.

Her eyes snapped back to me.

“Goldie…”

“He has a son!” she screamed.

What? Dorian, what did you do?

“You knew and didn’t say anything to me?”

“It wasn’t my place—”

“Yes, it was. You knew how I feel about him, Rafael. I’ve loved him for nine years. I became an assistant. Me, a Harvard grad, and former head of the Zeta Phi’s, with three other jobs lined up. You should have said—”

“I did!” I yelled back. “I told you. I promised if you didn’t let go of your feelings for him, Dorian would only keep hurting you. You didn’t listen. You kept picking out wedding dresses in your mind and wondering how Goldie Rhys-Gallagher would look on your door.”

“I never said—”

“Oh please, you were in so deep I’m sure you even got monogrammed towels in your daydreams.”

She didn’t say anything.

“Goldie!” Jesus, how far did her delusion go? He didn’t love her, and he was pretty damn clear about it.

She brushed her hair behind her ears. “This doesn’t make sense … that boy was maybe six—”

“Five,” I said, and she glared.

“When? Who the hell was she? At first I thought he couldn’t possibly be Dorian’s, but then I saw them together. He looks just like him. Besides, Dorian would have gotten a DNA test. The Dorian Rhys-Gallagher I know is a workaholic. I’ve never seen him with a woman, and now all of a sudden he has a son? None of this makes sense.”

“Goldie.” I held on to her shoulders. “Just because you haven’t seen him with a woman doesn’t mean he’s not been with one. You know he keeps his personal life private. He doesn’t open up to people.”

“He is with her.” Tears built in her eyes. “I saw it. He looked at me like…like I was his personal assistant, but when his attention shifted to her, it was a side of him I’d never seen before. They looked so good, like this poster of the perfect family. All happy and pretty. She’s pretty, Rafael… No, she’s beautiful, with long wavy hair, great legs, and sexy exotic-looking eyes. Is she a model? Is that how they met? What happens to me now?”

Everyone thought they knew Goldie, that she was some heartless bitch. But she was as insecure as everyone else. Dorian didn’t love her, and that wasn’t his fault. She loved him and that wasn’t her fault. We couldn’t help that the world was messy, and as friend I couldn’t do anything more than be there.

“You, Goldie Tate, Harvard grad and former head of the Zeta Phi’s, are going to go on being the best damn personal assistant at Rhys-Gallagher National. You will get over your feelings for him, and you will find someone who thinks you’re beautiful and have sexy eyes.” I wiped her tears. “Just promise me one thing?”

“What?” She took a deep breath, her head bowed.

“Promise me you won’t become the Wicked Witch of the East.”

“Don’t you mean Wicked Witch of the West?” She snuffled. “The Wicked Witch of the East is the one the house fell on.”

“Exactly. If you try to mess up Dorian’s happiness with his son, or get between him and Luella, you will be the person crushed by a house.”

She laughed weakly. “You really need to see another show besides Wicked.”

“Not until Cats comes back. Come on, let’s go scare some of the partners before you leave. It will make you feel better.” I hugged her with one arm.

She and Dorian were my closest friends. I wanted them to be happy. Dorian had longed for a family—correction, a functional family. This was his chance. That’s probably why he’d agreed to be the boy’s father.

Dear Lord, this is Rafael Felipe Esteban Diego Alejandro Morales, please let the drama end here. Just let them have this happily ever after, I beg of you. Amen. Oh, and sorry for that thing… You know.

DORIAN

It wasn’t a penthouse suite, but Luella and Alaric’s apartment was charming, neat, and, most importantly, safe. The walls were warm yellow and covered in photos. Everything that made a sound had lights on it: the telephone, the doors, the stove. I hadn’t thought about it, but they were there to catch Alaric’s attention. She’d made sure the house was not only safe but accessible for him. I knew that wasn’t odd. That’s what most mothers did. They put their kids first. Had it been my mother or my father, they would’ve made me learn to adapt, they would’ve told me to make whatever was wrong with me less noticeable. Anything less than perfection was not tolerated for a Rhys-Gallagher. I spent my whole life following those rules and now I was the Rhys-Gallagher. What came next?

“Are you alright?” I snapped out of my thoughts and looked to her. She smiled. “You looked upset for a second.”

“Sorry.” I snickered. “Sometimes I get lost in my thoughts.”

“Oh, okay. We’ll be right back, do you need anything?” she asked, placing her bag on the table.

“I’m fine, go ahead.”

She disappeared, and I walked toward a wall of photos. It was her and Alaric, along with some other woman. Occasionally, there were a few of Alaric with his friends.

I saw the flash from the corner of my eye and turned as a woman with short brown hair and freckles came inside. She was digging through her purse. “Lulu, you first slept with him in the Hamptons, are you sure this is a good idea?”

“I guess we will figure it out,” I said, and she looked at me in surprise. I assumed this was Eva, the friend. This was my first time meeting her face to face. When she’d dropped Alaric off at the penthouse, I barely caught a glimpse of her. I was so nervous and focused on Alaric. By the time I’d even thought of it, she’d left. Now she stood in front of me wide-eyed.

“Oh.” She froze. “You’re here.”

“I am.”

“This is awkward.”

“Why?”

She frowned. “Because I don’t trust you and this white knight act you’ve got going on. If you’re anything like your brother—”

“I don’t trust you, either.” I didn't want to hear her speak about Don. Bastard or not, he was my brother.

“Why wouldn’t you trust me?” She crossed her arms.

“Because no matter how hard I try, I can’t understand how you could tell a desperate mother to screw for money.”

Her whole body tensed, and it looked like she wanted to punch me. “You don’t understand because you’ve never been hungry or freezing in winter. You’ve never gotten the harsh looks from others, who believe you’re a leech when you go to soup kitchens or get food stamps. You live in your multi-million-dollar homes, with your chefs, butlers, and maids… You can’t even begin to realize the state she was in after your brother ran off like a coward. If you hurt my friend or godson, I swear I will hurt you.”

I smiled sadly, because she was right. I didn’t know what it was like to be in a situation like that. “She said you were like her big sister. I can see it now.”

She didn’t relax, but she did stop glaring. “For the record, you have no idea how sorry I am for dragging her into all of this. But then again, it’s not like she had many options either.”

I remembered what Luella said about no one dreaming about growing up to be an escort. I wondered what had derailed Eva’s life.

“I’m nothing like my brother. We look the same—hell, we even liked some of the same things—but at the end of the day, Donovan was Donovan, and I am me. I can’t imagine hurting either of them, but if I do, I'll gladly take whatever punishment you dish out.” I told her, not wanting to go any further than that.

This time she did relax.

“Is everything okay out here?” Luella asked, appearing with two rolling suitcases and a backpack over one shoulder. Alaric had a red model airplane in his hands.

“Everything’s fine.” I walked over and took one of the suitcases. “You have everything you need?”

“Yep, sorry it took so long. Someone wasn’t sure which toy plane to bring.” She gave Alaric a fondly exasperated look, but he just smiled, lifting up his plane for her to see.

“Where is my goodbye hug?” Eva asked before opening her arms wide. Alaric charged her, and she squeezed him tightly. “I want you to have fun but not too much, because someone has to keep an eye on Mommy.”

“Hey, I’m right here,” Luella waved her hands.

Alaric gave her a thumbs-up.

“I’ll keep an eye on her, and Daddy too,” Luella translated, glancing at me, the corners of her lips turning up.

I couldn’t help but grin. Keep an eye on us for what?

The moment the thought popped into my head, I thought of her moaning underneath me.

“I’ll take these down,” I said, already moving toward the door. I needed a second to calm down and breathe.

LUELLA

“Earth to Lulu, anyone home?”

Blinking, I looked away from his back as he left and focused on a waiting Eva with her arms folded.

“What?”

“Sweetheart, don’t go there.” She frowned. “Especially if you’re trying to replace Donovan.”

“I’m not.” It wasn’t a lie, because I didn’t know. “I know he’s not Don, but—”

“But you wish Don had been like him. You wished this could have been your life. Yeah, I can tell. Just remember, you come from different worlds. This is all for Alaric. Don’t want him as anything more than a father for Alaric.”

Right. This was for Alaric’s sake, not mine. But I still wanted it to be for me too. Was that wrong?

Kneeling in front of him, I smiled. “You ready to go to the beach?”

“Yes!” He was so excited, he was bouncing.

My wants couldn’t trump his, but I could be allowed to want the same things for myself.