Chapter 30
Ash
I decided to go back to the mansion in between my jewelry classes for the day to see if Mason was there. I knew I had every right to be angry, but I also knew that Mason was telling the truth when he said he didn’t purposefully invite Eva there.
No, I didn’t like the fact that he’d invited me on a family trip without telling me, but we were having an absolutely wonderful time until Eva busted her entitled ass in through the door. I could tell that whatever Mason had planned for last night was extravagant. I wanted to sit him down and try to get him to understand why I was so upset with him every time we crossed paths with Eva.
I knew that, if we wanted to be together, this wouldn't be the first obstacle we would hit. It was important for us to set a healthy precedence for us as a couple if we were gonna go forward and deal with these issues along the way.
“Mason!” I called out. “Mason, are you here?”
“I’m afraid not,” Eva said in the corner.
Of course, she was still here.
“I thought Mason made it clear he didn’t want you here,” I said.
“Oh, drop the tough girl act. Have some coffee with me.”
“Not on your life,” I huffed.
I watched her pick up two mugs of coffee and head to the terrace. Of course, a woman like her would expect to be followed, and just to prove a point, I stood exactly where I was.
“Any idea where he went?” I called after her.
“Come on out to the terrace, and I’ll let you know,” she crooned back.
I rolled my eyes before I made my way out to the balcony, and I couldn’t deny how wonderful the coffee smelled. Eva was already sitting in the wrought iron chair, looking out over the downtown area of Milan, and I relented and sat down in the chair across from her.
“It’s beautiful here, isn’t it?” she asked.
“Yes,” I offered.
“I’ve been here many times, and every time I visit there is always something else to explore and cherish.”
“Sounds fantastic,” I said.
“I know this is hard for you to digest and understand,” Eva began.
“You can save the spiel. I’d just like to know where Mason is.”
“Oh, he left in his pajamas this morning. Heaven only knows what he’s up to. Obviously not trying to find you.”
Her words panged my soul, but she was technically right. If Mason wanted to find me, he knew where I was. Hell, he’d booked the classes for me. It wasn’t a mystery where I went off this morning. I just got up and had some breakfast in Milan before class, so I wouldn’t have to be here when she rolled out of bed.
“Mason and I have been friends for quite some time. I grew up with him and Winston, who I have been informed you have already met.”
“Yep,” I said.
“We did everything together, the three of us. We were schooled together, our families always threw parties together, and my mother and his are the best of friends.”
“Whoop dee doo,” I sighed.
“Drop the act and simply listen,” Eva commanded.
“Tell me where Mason is,” I said.
“And I just told you: off in town somewhere in his pajamas.”
I snickered and shook my head before I brought the coffee to my lips. I couldn’t believe she hadn’t left yet after everything Mason had plainly told her last night, and it started to tell me a lot about the person her mother had raised her to be: pushy, competitive, and cold.
“Our families have been intertwined in their business affairs for many years, as well. My father is a well-to-do accountant and financier, and Mason’s father is, well, was a professional investor.”
“I don’t think Mason would like you talking about his father,” I said.
“Well, he’s not here. I’m sure his absent ears won’t mind.”
“See, that’s the difference between you and me. If there was something I knew Mason didn’t want me to do, I just wouldn't do it. Even if he wasn’t there to keep me in check.”
“Doesn’t sound like the ‘independent woman’ he’s painted you to be,” Eva mused.
“There’s a difference between independent and respectful,” I sneered.
“Anyway, my father was completely distraught when his father passed away. If males could have best friends, they would have been it for one another.”
“The hell does that mean? Men have best friends. Prime example: Mason and Winston.”
Mason was right. The way Eva and I thought and held ourselves was completely different, and she was just as primitively vile as I gathered when we were at that charity dinner.
“Mason’s father would constantly give mine advice when it came to the stock market, and in return, my father paid him a small consulting fee that helped to bolster my father’s reputation. In return, my father would give him smaller accounts people would want him to help with and Mason’s father would grow their wealth in ways no one could ever understand. They sort of became pseudo-business partners, if you will. There was no formal business, but small fees were exchanged for massive percentages in landed portfolios every now and again.”
“Sounds absolutely riveting,” I said.
I hated her. I hated every single thing about her. She oozed a pompous confidence shrouded in her family’s money, and she made a damn good cup of coffee.
I hated her, I hated her money, and I hated her good cup of coffee.
“Mason and I are practically engaged. We grew up together, our families are intertwined, and from the time we were eighteen, it was formally announced that, eventually, the two of us would marry. There was a massive dinner party, and I won’t bore you with the details, but it’s essentially set in stone.”
“I’m pretty sure an engagement ring does that,” I said.
“In your world, maybe. In ours, an engagement ring is only a physical manifestation of a metaphor. Mason and I do not need engagement rings because our engagement has already been announced.”
That statement hit me like a punch to my gut.
“Now, Mason is a man,” Eva said. “As I’m sure you’ve experienced, and I’ve been very understanding of his biological need to sow his wild oats and whatnot, but I warned him at the charity dinner that he would do this to you.”
“Do what?”
“Dear, I told him at that dinner that he was going to hurt you. He was going to tug you along for his fun little ride, before it was time to come home and fulfill his announced duties. And he would leave you heartbroken. I tried to get him to pull away so you wouldn’t get hurt.”
“Don’t paint this like you tried to save me,” I spat.
“The truth is,” Eva said. “It’s time for him to stop screwing around and settle down. Both of us are reaching the prime age for children. Ever since his father passed, he has been putting off stepping into the role of man of the household. I’m sorry for putting things so bluntly, but I just cannot seem to get anyone to simply accept where this is going.”
“Did you ever stop to think that it’s because he doesn’t want things to go that way?” I asked.
“And did you ever stop to think that maybe Mason doesn’t have a choice?”
It took all I had not to throw the mug I was holding at her smug little face.
“Mason has no interest in being with you long term because you would never fit into his world,” she said. “I mean, simply look at us. Do you think I am the only woman who acts and speaks and holds myself the way I do?”
I raked my eyes over her and saw how properly she was sitting. Then I took stock of how I was sitting: slumped back into a chair with my legs stretched out and crossed over the ankles.
“And really, if this is your first fight with him, it’s not going very well, is it?” Eva asked. “The two of you sleeping in separate rooms and storming off in the morning? Why, it’s like watching two cats battle over a bowl of water that isn’t even theirs.”
Her words stung in a place I didn’t want to acknowledge existed. To keep from shedding tears, I simply kept drinking the coffee I was holding between my hands.
“Mason requires structure because this is what happens when he doesn’t have it: he runs off and frivolously spends money and tramples on kind-hearted people like you just so he can figure out what his best friend was talking about.”
“What?” I asked.
“Didn’t you know?” she asked. “The entire reason Mason answered your little ad in the first place was because he lost a bet to Winston.”
“You know about the ad?” I choked out.
“Oh, everyone knows about that silly thing. Mason thinks he’s a private, brooding sort, but he really doesn’t understand.”
I started feeling sick and stood up slowly on my feet. My anger was making me nauseous, and my embarrassment was making my cheeks flush. I could feel it trickling down my neck and rumbling the coffee in my stomach. The tears I tried to keep at bay slowly drifted down my cheeks.
“I’m sorry, Ash. But this is just the way it is. And I’m sorry Mason dragged you along for the ride.”
I had absolutely no reason to trust Eva, but she obviously had a history with Mason. Growing up together, traveling together, going to school together. Their families were heavily intertwined, and I obviously didn’t act like the other women he surrounded himself with. Part of me started to question whether what she had to say was true or not.
I turned my watery gaze toward her and took in her fake sympathetic expression. That was when the door to the mansion flew open. Mason strode in wearing his robe and the clothes he slept in last night. I realized that she had been right. She didn’t know where Mason had gone, only that he’d left in his pajamas and his robe.
She was telling the truth.
Mason looked at me before his eyes panned over to Eva. I could see a silent fury cross his eyes. I wiped at my tears quickly before he could come any closer. I put my mug down onto the table before I ushered myself inside.
And Mason turned to walk off without a word into his room.
“Mason, could we talk?”
He spun around on his feet, and I stepped a bit closer to him so Eva couldn’t hear. I simply asked him one question that I wanted an answer to. One statement Eva had made that had caught me off-guard and partially shattered my soul.
“Did you and Eva have an engagement announcement party when you were eighteen?”
I fluttered my gaze up to his, and I watched him crane his neck towards Eva. Her face was turned out toward the city, but I’m sure she could hear every word that was taking place. But nothing could have prepared me for the dizzying feeling I experienced when Mason answered my question.
“Yes. We did.”