Charles’s attempt to subtly suggest I put a ring on Tessa’s finger to appease the partners—just to appease the fucking partners—was so thinly veiled it would’ve been funny if it weren’t so goddamn insulting.It’s clear everyone at that company thinks I’m in their pocket—no doubt a result of my father’s cockiness—that I’m their fucking puppet to work and twist how they please.I should’ve seen it coming, though. I knew something like that was going to happen, that they’d find a way to get their claws in the one part of my life I want to keep for myself, the one part I should’ve left locked away. I shouldn’t have invited Tessa and Haley tonight . . . not because I don’t care about them, but because I do. I care about them too much to let my toxic family work their way between us. I should’ve gone to the damn thing by myself and kept them out of it—Tessa had an awful time, Haley not much better. And all it did for me was get the fucking bloodhounds on my ass for something I’d never give them.I’d never give Tessa or Haley up to them.The car is filled with silence on the way back to Tessa’s place, Haley having fallen asleep about two minutes into the ride.
