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The party is off to a great start. Milly has really outdone herself. There are so many details I would never have considered that she’s put into place, which are making the party a stress-free evening for our guests.

She rented out the entire parking lot next door so that guests had a place to park—easy and free. She chose a location with a huge open space that was already beautifully decorated. She hired an amazing caterer and sought-after bartender.

Music is wafting softly through the room. There is plenty of seating and we have a great view of the White House’s South Lawn and The Jefferson Memorial.

I haven’t heard from my mother, but I know she arrived last night. I had a car pick her up to bring her here tonight. I'm expecting her here any minute.

I look around for Milly, and see her talking to the woman who is manning the buffet. She looks stunning. Her dress, a stunning red thing, sits completely off her shoulders, showing the caramel colored span of silk that is the skin of her neck, her chest, her shoulders, and her upper arms. It fits her like it was made for her. It shows off her incredibly tiny waist and her generous hips and ass. Her hair is straight, parted in the middle and pulled back into a low ponytail. She has the thin gold chain with her heart pendant and my ring around her neck. And she's wearing the sexiest strappy high-heeled sandals I have ever seen in my life. I can’t wait to have them up over my shoulders when I fuck her tonight. I can’t believe this gorgeous woman is mine.

I start to make my way over to her when I hear a familiar voice call my name. It halts me dead in my tracks and prickles dread down my spine.

Nicola. What the hell is she doing here?

I turn around slowly. And what greets me is even more shocking than hearing Nicola’s voice. It’s Nicola and my mother. Together.

I don’t say anything as I watch them walk toward me. I'm completely lost for words, it’s clear that they walked in together.

“Dean, aren’t you going to say hello?” Nicola purrs. Her flinty expression contradicts the smile that curves her mouth. I look at my mother who is smiling at me like she's daring me to say what I think.

“Mother. Good evening.” She's a true beauty. All blond hair, dark eyes, and perfect features. She was always the subject of my classmates’ “MILF” lists. And she loved it. Much to mine and my father’s dismay.

“Dean, hello.” Her smile slips a little. She walks toward me and I press a light kiss on her offered cheek. I straighten up and look from her to Nicola.

“What are you doing here?” I ask her without trying to hide the annoyance I'm feeling.

“Actually, your mother is only here because of me. I called her after I saw that picture. I knew I had to intervene before you made a fool of yourself.”

My mind moves, processing what she said. That damn picture.

“Anyway, I called your mother. Told her we’d broken up and that you were taking up with some woman. When I described Milly, she said she would reach out to Cristal to ask for tickets.”

My gaze snaps to my mother. So, she lied. Again.

Oblivious or indifferent to my annoyance, Nicola smiles sweetly at my mother.

“She thought maybe you seeing me again would make you realize what a mistake you’ve made. She asked me to join her here, so here I am. I’m really happy to be here for your grand opening, Dean. It’s an amazing party. You should be proud of how hard you’ve worked.”

She says all of this in a nonstop monologue. While she talks I look at my mother, completely incredulous she would dare meddle in my private life again. She has only met Nicola once before, when she came with me on one of my trips to visit my mother last year, but I know she liked her. She’s told me Nicola reminded her of herself. I should have run a mile when she said it, but I was in denial.

But showing up here with her is too much. I look at Nicola with derision.

“Well, I’m glad you got to make a trip to DC. I hope you enjoy the museums and the monuments. As for me making a mistake, the only mistake I made was to get mixed up with you in the first place. Enjoy the party.” I speak in a pleasant tone I hope won’t draw any attention. I need all of the press coming out of this party to be positive. I don’t need the headlines to be CEO and ex-fiancée have screaming match at DC Grand Opening.

I smile unpleasantly at them and turn to walk away, now desperate to find Milly.

She's not where I saw her last. I walk around the room looking for her, but also stopping to talk to employees, competitors, clients, and friends who have shown up tonight. The room is full, and it takes me a while to get through the crowd.

I feel a tap on shoulder and turn around to see Cristal standing behind me.

“It’s time for your speech.” She motions to the small podium set up in the front of the room. So, I walk over to say the words I’ve prepared.

I stand in front of the podium and scan the room. I see my mother and Nicola standing off to the left of me, both of them glaring at me. I dismiss them, my eyes traveling the room until I see Milly, standing to my right, next to a pillar. She's watching me with unabashed love in her eyes. I wink at her, causing her to grin and wink back.

I turn my attention back to the room and tap the microphone to get everyone’s attention. My remarks are brief and pointed. I know people didn’t come to hear me speak. So, I just welcome them, tell them we have great plans for our new DC headquarters, and encourage them to enjoy themselves.

I walk straight to Milly, put both my hands on her waist, and draw her into me. She braces her hands on my side and keeps me from pulling her too close.

“You look incredible tonight, Red. I can’t take my eyes off of you. I can’t wait to have my mouth on you,” I whisper in her ear.

She sighs and leans her head forward so it rests quickly on the front of my jacket.

“Oh, baby, I wish you could take me home right now. You looked amazing up there giving your speech,” she murmurs as she gazes up at me.

“Soon. Let me mingle a little and then we’ll go.”

She smiles seductively yet sweetly, and looks at me through her lashes.

“Yes, that sound perfect. And this a great party, if I do say so myself.” She takes a sweeping glance around the room. Suddenly, her eyes widen and her smile drops. She pulls away from me and looks at me.

“Dean,” she says gravely and swallows.

“What’s wrong?” I ask, but already know. She must've seen my mother. Milly knew she was coming and said that while she wasn’t excited at the prospect of seeing her, she would be okay. I offered to let my mother know it was a corporate only event and rescind her invitation. But Milly insisted it would be fine. Right now, she looks anything but fine.

“Don’t worry. She wouldn’t dare say anything to you tonight,” I say as I rub my hands up and down her arms.

“Yeah, okay. I know. I’m sorry. It’s just seeing her again was jarring.” The words tumble out in a messy stream of consciousness, and I want to reassure her.

“Listen, if you’re uncomfortable, I will ask her to leave,” I say, and I mean it.

“Oh, no. You can’t do that to your mother. That would be terrible. And not for me. Please, I’ll be fine.”

She steps out of my embrace and smiles at me brightly. I fall even more in love with her in that moment. She has more grace in her little finger than my mother does in her entire body.

I smile back at her, and her smile wavers.

I frown. “What?”

“She's coming over here, and she’s with another woman. That woman is looking at me like I pissed in her cereal. Who is she?”

I close my eyes and groan inwardly. This is a fucking shit show in the making. I turn around to face them and lean down to whisper into Milly’s ear, “That’s Nicola, my ex-fiancée.” She whips back to stare at me. She looks horrified.

“I didn’t know she would be here. I’m sorry,” I mumble, feeling like the world’s biggest ass. I hope the mess this scene is about to create isn't something I can’t clean up. I look at Milly, silently begging her to understand.

To my everlasting surprise, Milly’s look of trepidation and surprise transforms into a smile. She steps closer to me until she's tucked into my side. My arm automatically goes around her waist. I look at the two women who are now standing about three feet away from us.

“Dean, this is embarrassing. I can’t believe you’re flaunting this in everyone’s face,” my mother bites out at me as she stands with one hand on her hip, and the other one locked through Nicola’s arm.

I feel Milly stiff slightly beside me.

“What exactly am I flaunting, Mother?” I ask calmly, even as I feel my anger rising exponentially.

“Everyone knows who she is. Everyone knows she's responsible for our family’s biggest tragedy. And you’re walking around here like Romeo and Juliet!” The volume of her voice increasing.

A few people glance our way. Milly steps out of my hold, but grabs my hand. When she looks up at me her eyes are molten with anger. But when our eyes meet, I smile at her and she smiles back. My anger tamps down a little at the way her smile reassures me. She looks back at my mother and Nicola.

“You need to keep your voice down, Mrs. Orleans. This is a very important night for Dean. It wouldn’t be fair to have this discussion here.”

“And who are you to tell us what to do?” Nicola snaps at Milly. I lean forward slightly and growl, “Nic—”

Milly’s hand on my forearm stops me. She looks at them again. “Please, let’s all go into the office in the back and talk.”

And without waiting for anyone to respond, she turns and walks away. I follow her and know my mother and Nicola will follow as well because they are obviously spoiling for a fight.

I trail her through the double doors that lead to the administrative section of the venue. She steps through the first open door.

I hear the click of heels behind me, and I know the two troublemakers are hot on my heels.

They follow me into the room, and as soon as they walk through the door I shut it.

Milly is leaning against the desk that is in the corner of the room,

“Mrs. Orleans, you were saying?” she says politely to my mother.

My mother actually sniffs and turns her nose up at Milly before she turns to face me.

“I understood when you wanted to walk on the wild side in high school. I mean, it was cute. Her father was powerful, but now on top of everything else that’s happened, it’s crazy for a man like you to have a woman like her,” she nods her head at Milly, “on your arm.”

I'm stunned speechless. I look at Milly to see if she's okay, and she look speechless, too.

“I mean, you have Nicola. She's perfect. She comes from a nice family. One we know isn’t associated with theft and terrorism, and God knows what else.”

She flings her hands in the air for emphasis as she talks, but this manages to shock me out of my stupor.

“What did you say?” I ask carefully. My anger is held in check only by the fact that this woman is my mother.

“Well, who knows what her father was into. He's from Syria. And he ran away with all that money. God only knows. And it doesn’t even matter. It’s because of people like him and the other scumbags at Enron that your father is dead!” she yells at me.

Before I can even catch my breath to respond, Nicola chimes in.

“Your mother told me that you were seeing the same girl in high school, who disappeared on you and whose father stole all that money belonging to other people. I had to come. I knew when you saw us side by side you’d realize what you’d thrown away. I mean, I get it, she’s your high school sweetheart and everything.” She actually has the temerity to smile at Milly. “But, you cannot be serious. You’re a CEO. Cristal said she's your event planner. You can’t date the help,” she says, like she’s saying, “the trash.”

Like a key made to fit the lock on the door to my anger, her words slide in and set it free.

“You have lost your fucking mind. To waltz in here after you stole from me, lied to me, and tried to blackmail me.”

My mother gasps. I look at her. “And you have no idea what you’re talking about. The only terrorist I’ve ever met is standing right next to you. You’ve never pretended to care about what might be best for me. But this is low, even for you. I know what you told Milly when she called me after my father died. I know you decided not to tell me she’d called even when you knew I was distraught without her. You—”

“Dean, please.” Milly’s voice cuts into my tirade. And I stop to look at her.

She's looking at my mother and Nicola, her smile is positively lethal.

“Nicole,” she says sweetly. And I have to stifle a laugh at her deliberate use of the wrong name. “I completely understand you being crazed because you’ve lost your chance with Dean. It must be what it feels like to have a winning ticket to the lottery and having the wind blow it out of your hands.”

She winks at me and this time a bark of laughter escapes me. She looks back at Nicola.

“But, you don’t know anything about him. Or me. I'm guessing what you are insinuating with your stupid comment about him dating the help is that I’m black and an Arab, right?” She raises her eyebrows at Nicola, her smile almost conspiratorial.

“Well, guess what? Dean knows that. He’s always known that, and he has also always wanted me. That kind of thing only matters to fools who know they have nothing to offer but their looks.” She shakes her head in what looks like genuine pity. “I’m really sorry for you.”

And then she turns to my mother. “You gave birth to this magnificent human being. And somehow, despite your best efforts, he's a loving, hard-working, and generous person. You don’t get to swoop into his life and try to destroy everything he holds dear just because you’re bored. You are his mother. I was raised to respect my elders, so I’m not going to say everything I want to. Just this.” She steps back to my side and wraps her arm around me. “I will not let you hurt Dean again. He's your son. And instead of supporting him, you’ve manipulated him and lied to him. Instead of helping him chase his happiness, you’ve tried to drive it away. No more. I’m not a young, vulnerable eighteen-year-old anymore who can be run off by some harshly spoken words. You can’t separate us. Not with insults. Not with threats. Not with manufactured guilt.”

She smiles up at me, her eyes shining with tears, and one escapes to run down her cheek. My finger brushes it away. She leans forward and puts a soft kiss on my lips.

She looks back at my mother, her eyes glitter with anger and her smile disappears. And even though Milly doesn’t move, my mother takes a step back. “You should leave. Don’t make a scene, just go. Both of you. Now.”

My mother looks at me, her eyes full of apathy. “You’ve always been your father’s son. I was trying to help you. Marriage isn't about love and devotion. Ask her mother where that got her.” She tips her chin at Milly. “It’s your life. I’m leaving for Marseille in three days. I’ll be gone for the rest of the summer. I’ll call you when I get back.”

She looks at Nicola and shrugs. “I tried. But clearly, you’ve lost this one. Have some pride and let’s go.”

She turns and walks out of the room without another word. Nicola looks at me for a second, starts to speak, but then she turns away and follows my mother out of the room.

Milly turns her body into mine and pulls me into a tight hug, her shoulders are shaking. When I pull her face back I see she's crying.

“Dean, I’m so sorry . . .” She sobs, her eyes mournful. I’m taken aback.

“Why are you apologizing?”

“Because you don’t deserve any of this. You should have nothing but love. I'm sorry I’ve always been a source of tension between you and your mother.”

I grab her chin and force her to look me in the eyes.

“Listen to me because I want you to understand me.” I wait for her to nod before I continue.

“I’ve been alone most of my life. Until I met you in high school, everyone always looked at me and saw this big athletic guy with blond hair, good at sports, solid academically. I had a car sophomore year. I lived in a big house. Everyone always thought those things were who I am. Even my parents, they were proud of all of the things I accomplished. That’s all they talked to me about. It was really hard to know that the things which made them proud really had nothing to do with who I was. They didn’t care that I was someone who defended people from bullies. They had no clue I hated cheese or that my childhood best friend moved away in the middle of our freshman year of high school. Or that I was so lonely, I used to have to force myself to go to school, every single day.

“The people at school just thought I was some big, rich jock who had girls throwing themselves at him. None of them knew I had debilitating anxiety which made all the attention I got from excelling at the things I enjoyed doing my biggest nightmare. And then I met you. And suddenly someone was asking me questions about myself rather than asking me for favors. You treated me like I was a person.

“When you found me at seventeen years old in my lacrosse uniform, crying in my car because my mother had given my dog away, you didn’t even bat an eye. You sat down next to me, put your arm around me, and let me cry. And then you told me you loved me. You were my first true friend. You were the first person who noticed how miserable I was from the attention and made yourself my body guard.”

She giggles a little. “Well, that’s my strength, or my talent, anyway.”

I glance at her, happy for the moment of levity.

“What’s that, Red?” I ask, already knowing what she will say.

“I’m a great judge of character and I have the courage of my convictions,” she says with a grin. And that’s exactly right. I kiss her quickly and then continue.

“And Milly, I’ve loved you desperately since then. You’ve always been the only person who has tried to look beyond the exterior. The only person who has never wanted more from me other than my time.” I grin at her.

“Don’t get me wrong, I know the problems described are nothing compared to things people go through every day. But, it doesn’t mean I wasn’t happy as fuck to have found you. I know that you were my reward after a lifetime of feeling misunderstood and unseen. So, if this is what I had to go through to end up with a woman like you; have that woman love me, too. To have that woman stand up and defend me? I’d live my lonely, miserable childhood all over again. As long as I knew that at the end of the day I would end up with you.

“You’re the love of my life. You’re the best friend I’ve ever had. And one day, you’re going to be my wife and have my babies.” Her tears are flowing freely again, and I lean in to kiss her lightly.

I wrap an arm around her shoulder and pull her into my side. I pull my phone out and text Greg.

“Come on, let’s go home.” And I say this, meaning let’s get out of here. Because home, to me, has come to mean anywhere Milly is.

She looks up and smiles that smile at me before she nods at me. “Yeah, D. Let’s go home.”