Page 60 of How to Break My Heart

Everleigh exits the bathroom first, leaving me to gather myself and try to calm my cock, which feels beyond unbearable inside my pants. I pace up and down, but it doesn’t seem to work.

Next, I try to splash cold water on my face, but not even that helps.

My phone pings, and in an effort to distract myself, I read the email. It doesn’t take long for my anger to shift toward my father. The prick is trying to avoid the press by palming everything off on me. The media giants are hot on my heels, and avoidance will get me nowhere. I’ve spent the last year working my ass off to close essential deals, only for them to be jeopardized overhisactions.

I exit the bathroom and head back to the dining room. Thankfully, the conversation has carried on to the wedding plans—anything to avoid talking business or Everleigh’s so-called love life.

That was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

And by that, I mean my patience.

Across the table, Everleigh avoids my gaze. Her cheeks are still flushed, making me hard beneath the table again.

Fuck my life—I need to get out of here and take her somewhere.

Damn, anywhere but here.

I bet her pussy will clench nicely against my cock. She’s tight, and I got off on just how tight she was.

Viviana turns to face me, raising her brows. “You were gone a while.”

I clear my throat. “A phone call.”

“Still the same man I remember,” Viviana scoffs with her glass of wine in hand. “All work, no play.”

Inadvertently, my eyes wander across the table to meet Everleigh’s. “I wouldn’t say there’s no play.”

The little rise in the corner of Everleigh’s mouth before she turns away purposely is enough for me to know she wants more.

And sweetheart, this is far from over.

“Madelina suggested we be each other’s plus-one for the wedding.” Viviana places her hand on mine. “What do you think?”

It takes seconds for Everleigh to snap her attention back onto me. Jealousy looks like perfection on her, but to keep things civil, I simply respond with, “We’ll see.”

After dessert is served, Myles’s parents announce they’re leaving. I shake Roland’s hand politely, grateful the night is over. All I can think about is getting Everleigh out of here so I can own her body entirely. When Viviana lures me aside to suggest we return to her parents’ ranch tonight, I tell her I’m busy.

Look, she was a decent fuck years ago. But from memory, I was drunk the times we had sex. We barely spent time together between her schedule and mine, even though our families labeled us as dating.

My response to her invitation doesn’t sit well, especially since she glances at Everleigh and then back to me as if piecing the puzzle together. Before she can say another word, my father requests I join him inside his office.

For the first time in my life, I welcome my father’s demand for my presence. However, knowing he will test my patience,I grab a whiskey bottle from the drinks cart and pour myself a glass, downing it in one gulp.

I let out a rasp, then walk down the hall toward his office.

Once inside the dimly lit room, I close the door. As a child, I avoided coming in here at all costs. My father repeatedly warned my sister and me that this washisspace. Nothing at all has changed. There’s still the large wood-grain table with his old-school feather pen that was passed down from my great-grandfather. The smell of cigars lingers in the air and has seeped into the books lining the tall, dark brown shelves.

There are no photographs of us, just a picture of his prized possession—his Rolls-Royce.

I take a seat across the table, only for him to belittle me the moment our eyes meet. “Your lack of cooperation has jeopardized our plan.”

“Ourplan? You meanyourplan.”

“Now you listen to me…” He points his finger at me as his nostrils flare. “You play your damn cards right or else.”

“Or else what?” I stand up, yelling back. “You need me. Without me, you couldn’t pull off half your ridiculous stunts.”

My father expels an arrogant laugh. “You think I need you?”