Grayson

I WAS GOING out of my mind, ready to jump out of my skin. If Lola wasn’t back in the next three fucking seconds, I was going after her. I wanted to trust Fiona not to ruin things for me, but my foundation with Lola had been rocky from day one and it was hard to believe she wouldn’t get spooked again. I saw something in her eyes just before she wandered off that gave me hope. I just wasn’t sure if I could believe it — not yet, anyway.

It wasn’t until I saw the two of them enter from the terrace, smiling at each other, that I was able to breathe a sigh of relief. Unfortunately, that relief was short-lived.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” Dominic growled from my side. I turned to find him scowling at something across the ballroom, the muscle in his jaw ticking like crazy.

“What?”

“This has got to be a fucking joke.”

Before I could question his sudden outburst, Lola slid up against me, linking her arms through mine. “Hi.” She smiled up at me brilliantly, stealing my breath and making my cock twitch. Christ, she was beautiful.

“Hey,” I said softly, leaning down to bring our faces closer. “Everything good?”

“Everything’s perfect.” She planted her lips against mine and I couldn’t help but agree. The outward display of affection on her part was unexpected, but no less welcome. I was sure I’d never get enough of this woman.

“Shorty,” Dominic butted in, pulling us from the moment. “I hate to break up the love-fest but….” He lifted his chin in the direction he’d been scowling, and Lola and I followed his gaze. A man in or near his sixties was walking our way. The cut of his tux screamed money. But the bleached-blonde on his arm who’d been nipped and tucked past anything a plastic surgeon should ever have agreed to, and the blatant arrogance on his face, alerted me to the fact that, while he might be rich, he certainly lacked class.

“Oh my God.” Lola sucked in a sharp breath, and I felt her go so stiff it was a wonder she didn’t break into a million pieces.

“Who is that?” I asked, not liking the way the light dimmed from her amber eyes one bit.

“My father,” she exhaled.

Fuck. I knew from everything she’d told me that she and her father didn’t have a good relationship. I also knew from the sudden shift in her demeanor from happy to upset that seeing him was a complete surprise… and not a welcomed one.

“I’ll take care of this,” Dominic growled before stalking off in the man’s direction.

“Hey,” I whispered, using my free hand to tip her chin up. The pain in her eyes tore me in two. “Talk to me, baby. What’s happening in your head right now?”

“I don’t like him,” she said, sounding sad and broken. “He’s not a nice man. He’s a cheat and a liar, but it’s worse than just that,” she said, her voice near frantic. “When I was five, he took me and Dominic to the pool in our building. It’s one of the only memories I have of him doing anything even remotely fatherly with us. I didn’t know how to swim, and I was too frightened to get off the steps, and I guess that annoyed him. He said I was too old to be scared, and that I was acting like a baby. So he picked me up and threw me into the deep end.”

Rage blanketed my vision with a red film as she spoke. Her voice trembled with stark fear as she recalled the memory.

“I was terrified. I couldn’t keep my head above water. Dominic started to swim to me to pull me up, but my dad yelled at him, telling him it was the only way I could learn. I finally managed to kick my way to the edge and pull myself up. Dominic was so mad,” she whispered. “I remember thinking he was going to punch him, but instead, he just grabbed me by the hand and took me back to our apartment. I couldn’t stop crying. I’d been so scared, and all my father could talk about was how I’d been weak, how I embarrassed him by making such a ridiculous scene.”

My chest tightened painfully as I pulled her into my arms, trying to ward off the trembles that were racking her body. “That’s why you’re scared of water.”

“Yeah. I know it’s stupid. I should be over it by now—”

“It’s not stupid,” I growled. “Your father was a first-class prick for doing that to you. It’s not your fault. It’s his.”

“He… he called me when he saw our picture in the papers. He never calls me unless he wants something. But he saw that I was with you and thought he could use me to try and get closer to you and your father. I told him never to call me again, but I guess that’s why he’s here now. He has an investment firm. He wants to use your family’s name to his company’s advantage. I told him no. I swear, Gray—”

“Hey, hey.” I reached up and ran my knuckles along her jaw in an effort to soothe her. “It’s okay. I believe you.”

“I can’t believe he’s here.”

“I can.” I cupped her cheek, needing to feel her skin against mine in any possible way. “Lola, I’ve known men like him my whole life. Money-hungry leeches who ride other people’s coattails to the top are a dime a dozen. You don’t need to worry about keeping him away from my father or me. Trust me, we’re more than capable of handling assholes like that.”

She opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by a man’s voice. “Ah, there’s my baby girl.”

The fake cadence in his tone set me on edge, and it took everything in my power not to knock the old man’s teeth down his throat when he pulled Lola from my side and planted a kiss on each of her cheeks. It took a real piece of shit to use his own child to further his career goals.

“Just as beautiful as I remember. You remember Chelsea, right?” he said by way of introduction to the woman on his arm, but that was all the attention he granted her. It was clear she was nothing more than a trophy, and judging by the diamonds glittering on her neck and ears, she was more than okay being an older man’s arm candy.

“Dad,” Dominic gritted out, coming to stop at the man’s side. “I told you, now’s not the time.”

“Nonsense!” the man declared on a chuckle. “A father should always take an interest in the man in his daughter’s life.” He turned from Lola, blatantly dismissing her, and extended his hand to me. “Roberto Abbatelli. It’s a pleasure to meet you, son.”

I looked down at his hand like it was a piece of flaming trash. “I know who you are.”

Oblivious to the venom in my tone, or simply not caring, he lifted the hand I ignored and patted me on the shoulder. “I was so glad to find out my girl caught the eye of an esteemed man such as yourself. It speaks well of her character that she was able to land a shark among so many fish. But then, her beauty is enough to catch any man’s attention, am I right?”

Chelsea stared off into space with a blank, bored look on her face, as though she was used to hearing the man she’d tied herself to speak so low of women. It spoke volumes to the kind of man Roberto Abbatelli was.

“Jesus, Dad,” Dominic grunted at the same time Lola spoke up with a furious “Seriously?”

“Sweetheart, why don’t you take Chelsea to powder your nose, or whatever it is you women do, while I talk business with your man?”

“I’m sorry,” she bit out sarcastically. “Did I fall asleep and wake up in the nineteen-fucking-fifties? Did you really just say that to me?” She was going to blow. That fiery spirit of hers I’d come to love and admire so much had been brought to the surface at her father’s chauvinistic comment, and I feared her head was just seconds away from exploding all over the room. I needed to intervene before she did something that warranted the police being called… or worse, landed her old man in the hospital. Not that he wouldn’t have deserved it.

“Leave,” I said, drawing everyone in our small circle’s attention with just that one sharp command.

“Excuse me?” Roberto chuckled again.

“I said leave. I have no desire to talk business or anything else with you. Your daughter doesn’t want you here, so you need to go.”

The old man sputtered indignantly, his face growing red with embarrassment. “Why… you can’t be serious.”

“I most certainly am. You’ve been in my presence for all of two minutes and managed to belittle your daughter and make an ass out of yourself in that short amount of time. If Lola hadn’t already made me aware of what a slimy motherfucker you were, your actions would have made it abundantly clear. I know exactly what you were hoping to gain by approaching me, and I’m more than glad to inform you that I’ll do business with a spineless, dickless piece of shit such as yourself over my cold, dead, rotting fucking body. Now if you’ll excuse me, dinner is about to be served, so I need to get my girl to her seat. She’s impossible to deal with when she’s hungry.”

Without so much as a backward glance, I led Lola away from her father and to our reserved seats.

“That was….” She trailed off as I pulled her chair out for her. “I am so turned on right now,” she leaned in and whispered once I sat down next to her.

“Man.” Dominic came up behind me and clapped me on the shoulder with a laugh. “That was fucking outstanding!” He turned to Lola. “Let the record show that I totally approve, shorty. You’ve got a good one here.”

“So noted.” She grinned. “Now get your ass away from our table before Sophia sees you.”

He offered his sister another smile and took off just seconds before Daphne and Sophia joined us. Caleb followed next, taking the empty chair to Daphne’s right, and proceeded to try and engage her in conversation. It was obvious to everyone watching that she wasn’t the slightest bit interested, which only made him work that much harder. He’d been fixated on the blonde since he first laid eyes on her down in the studio more than a month before.

My mother and father, Nana, Deacon, and Fiona rounded out the rest of our table. Dinner was surprisingly enjoyable, everyone laughing and chatting amicably. Even Lola and Fiona tipped their heads together, whispering and laughing at certain points. The anxiety that had been knotting my gut for the past two weeks finally started to dissipate, and I felt calm and relaxed for the first time.

That was until the MC got up on stage and announced that it was time to start the bachelorette auction.

“Fuck me,” I muttered into my glass of whiskey.

“It’ll be fine,” Lola leaned in and whispered with a smile.

“How the hell is it going to be fine? I’m probably going to go broke tonight just trying to keep you away from all the other motherfuckers in this room.”

She giggled happily and gave me a quick kiss before standing from her chair. “Trust me?”

I let out a disgruntled sigh, but nodded. No matter what, I trusted her. I just hoped she didn’t mind dating a poor man, because I had a feeling bidding on Lola Abbatelli was going to drain my bank account substantially.