Page 45 of Rebellious Hearts

“My parents are happily married and super invested in our family.” I sighed. “It would have gone down a lot better if they’d come here instead of me. Richard would have thrown all his money at them by now just because they’re so on top of shit when it comes to family life.”

Sofia nodded.

“What about you? Siblings?”

“An older brother. He lives in Oregon. We see him for my parents’ birthday, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. The rest of the time he has his life over there, far away from us. It’s easier. My parents are divorced, so there’s two of everything and it’s not always very peaceful.”

“I’m sorry,” I said, and I meant it. I knew I was lucky as hell to have been adopted into a family that wasn’t only rich with a large business empire but with people who really cared about each other and what it meant to be a family.

It was a pity I was such an outsider. Alex was already following in my parents’ footsteps and it was just a matter of time before Chris and Dan followed.

But me?

I wasn’t the type to get married. I would be the great disappointment of the Blackwood family.

“Did you have any pets growing up?” Sofia asked.

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“I’m trying to find out about your past.”

I shook my head. “Trust me, my past isn’t going to come up in conversation.”

“What if it does?”

“It won’t,” I said firmly, clenching my jaw. I glared at Sofia. I was getting upset with her for pushing a topic that had nothing to do with her.

“You can’t be like this,” she snapped. “You can’t tell me we have to get to know each other but you’re not willing to share anything.”

“He’s not going to want to know stuff like how we grew up and what our pets’ names were,” I countered. “He’s going to want to know how we met, how I proposed, shit like that.”

“So, we’re just going to keep playing pretend and lie about everything?”

“There isn’t much truth we can tell him if we’re not really married,” I pointed out. “So we can work on our stories, make sure they line up, and then we’ll be good to go.”

Sofia shook her head. “You’re not willing to get to know me at all, are you?”

I hesitated. I wanted to get to know her. I wanted to know everything about her.

“I just don’t think it’s necessary to waste our time on that,” I said.

Sofia gasped. “You think it’s a waste of time to get to know each other when we’re supposed to be close to each other?”

“That’s not how I meant it,” I said, pinching the bridge of my nose between my thumb and forefinger. God, I kept putting my foot in my mouth and nothing came out right.

I wasn’t usually like this, but around Sofia, I was getting flustered and my words didn’t come out right. Especially when she was like this—angry and magnificent. She was like a force of nature, and I couldn’t help but stare at her beauty, the pure essence of who she was shining through.

A part of me admired it, and a part of me was so fucking envious of it.

She was completely and unapologetically herself, hiding nothing of what she thought and felt.

And I was made of stone, with nothing to give but emotions and expressions that were curated for the boardroom.

Might as well call it aboredroom.

“This isn’t going to work,” Sofia said and stood.

“Where are you going?”