I roll my eyes at his dramatics. “Yeah, yeah. Get on with the sordid tale.”
Landon glares out the window at the endless blue spanning far and wide. “Yvonne and I went to the same college—University of Chicago, before you bother asking. At the time, being young and careless, I dated whoever the hell I wanted. It was mostly to defy my father. Yvonne was my flavor of the week, which expanded into a month. I blame it on her being convenient and easily accessible. Her beauty held my interest well enough too. Then I made the mistake of bringing her to my parents’ house.”
He goes quiet for a moment, seeming lost in thought. His exhale is forced and thick. “To this day, I’m still not sure why I did that. It wasn’t customary for me to bring anyone home. Long story short, I found her fucking my father in his study.”
I spew mimosa all over my lap. “This better be a sick joke.”
“Even my need to outwit you isn’t that twisted. It’s a reoccurring disturbance that I would burn from memory if I could.”
“Really? No.” I rest a hand over my forehead. “Just no.”
“You heard me. I won’t repeat myself.” The boom in his tone demands that I listen.
His words revolve in a slow spin around my muddled brain. That really took an unexpected turn. I mop up the liquid from my shirt while trying not to gag over the visual he provided. “Wasn’t your dad old?”
“Age is just a number, similar to the amount in a person’s bank account. The latter makes other people do very stupid things to acquire their attention.” If his father weren’t already dead, I’m sure Landon’s glare would cause some serious damage.
“Wow, that’s gross.” The orange juice in my stomach turns sour.
“It’s expected in my world.” His flat tone is disturbing, making me shiver.
Jesus, no wonder the guy is bitter. But that doesn’t excuse him for being a jackass. I will not feel pity for this prick. “Well, that explains a lot.”
Landon scrubs over his mouth, masking a sneer. “With the most basic definition. I already hated my father, but that solidified the decision to become better than him in all ways he cared about.”
“Your company.”
He nods. “That’s the main source.”
“There’s more?”
“The list in its entirety would appall you, sugar. He had eligible women lined up for me to marry. I refused quite vehemently, and not just based on the fact that he sampled the goods before passing them off.”
Another round of bile attempts to leap up my throat. I can’t imagine being raised in such a malicious environment. His dad makes mine look like a saint. Maybe I’ve been too hard on my pops. “He sounds awful. What about your mother? They were married, right?”
“In the most superficial sense. My parents didn’t have a conventional marriage, remember? She looked the other way to keep the peace.”
It occurs to me we’ve never talked about his family, not that there’s much reason to. “Are you close with her?”
“Not really. I’ll call every now and then to say hello. She’s busy with her newfound freedom from my father. Last I heard, the most recent fling was stealing her away to a Spanish villa off the coast for a month.”
A whistle streams from my pinching lips. “That’s ritzy.”
“She deserves to be spoiled by someone actually interested in her, rather than for what she adds to his reputation.”
Another retch squeezes my throat. “I couldn’t agree more. Does she regret marrying him?”
“How could she not? There’s not much she can do to rewind time. All she can do is live for the now.”
“That’s very introspective of you,” I muse.
“Don’t sound so surprised.”
“As if you can fault me.”
Landon shows no outward reaction to dispute or agree with my judgment. “Does that satisfy your craving for my demise?”
I do my best not to wince. Feeling guilty for prying is ridiculous when it comes to him. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry for bringing that woman—Yvonne—up.”
“No, you’re not.” His focus flicks to mine, steely and cold.
A gulp threatens to choke me. I can count the instances where I’ve been at a loss for words on one hand. This situation is one of them. With a muffled groan, I allow my gaze to stray off his blank features.
“An island.” His random statement fills the void that had settled between us.
“Huh?”
A heavy sigh deflates his posture. “If I were to take a vacation, it would be a tropical beach surrounded by nothing but water.”
I tilt my chin down to hide the grin his answer brings. “That sounds nice. Private, I assume?”
“Of course.” He snorts, confirming that his arrogance has been restored. Not that it’s feasible for him to be truly vulnerable.
A snarky comeback waits on my tongue. I bite the surly barb off at the tip. “Maybe you’ll decide a getaway is in order and make it a priority.”
“I don’t like saying never.”
“Unless you’re talking to me.”
Landon is silent for a beat, his eyes searing me with a rare sincerity that I’m reluctant to describe. “I’m finding that harder to do as of late.”
I sip from my drink, if for nothing more than a distraction. He’s handing me a bargaining chip. That alone should be cause for giddiness to flood my system. Foolish though it might be, I find myself content to store that tidbit in a safe place. The atmosphere has shifted between us, and that adjustment—subtle or not—is too raw against my flesh. In this moment, I don’t want to compete with him.
A smile that’s soft at the corners greets his signature scowl. “Maybe we can be civil to each other after all.”
I keep my gaze locked on Vannah as she showers me with undivided attention. Being the sole recipient of her affections can do powerful things to a man’s ego. One coy grin is the equivalent of several solid pumps. I’m basking in the glory, and all it took was revealing a filthy stain in my past that’s better left forgotten.
Telling her about Yvonne was a calculated risk. I wish that scene was fabricated—or at least exaggerated. My father was a cheating piece of shit, plain and simple. Admitting to how his indiscretions have impacted me is almost worse than hearing him lecture me about our legacy. What a crock. Lingering smoke singes under my skin after rehashing the events from that day. Even in death, that bastard haunts me.
I’m lowering my shields in hopes that Vannah relinquishes hers as well. The likelihood of her trying to manipulate me is high, but the odds that I’ll fall for any foul play are zilch. She can believe this confession has left me exposed and sensitive. There’s no harm in letting her control the board for a while. Savannah Simons is a very real example of putting in the effort to reap the largest rewards.
The goal in all this is blurring. Forcing our proximity could prove to backfire worse than my previous attacks. She manages to weasel ahead regardless of my attempts. At this point, I’m enjoying her company and choosing not to overanalyze that. She’ll be gone soon enough and my predictable—albeit comforting—routine will return. Complications are only temporary.