“She isn’t coming?” Those tears start to spill down her cheeks as she drags her eyes away from the elevator doors to look at me again. “You’re sure?”
Fuck, I hate Kinsley for this. For this and a million other reasons, I don’t ever want to let her see Isla again. The worst part is that Isla will still worship her, even after this latest disappointment. After so many years of building Kinsley up in her mind, Isla is convinced the woman can do no wrong.
How am I supposed to argue with that?
I can’t. I won’t. I’ll be damned if I’m the one who’s going to ruin my child’s perception of her mother. Kinsley will do a great job of poisoning that relationship all by herself. She certainly doesn’t need any help from me.
“Pretty sure, honey,” I finally answer. “She isn’t coming tonight, but I’ll see if I can find out when she’ll be in town again, okay?”
“I want to see her tonight!” Isla slides down off the sofa and starts running toward her bedroom. “I don’t want to do anything else until I can see Mama!”
“Isla,” I call after her. “Let’s try to—”
Her bedroom door slams shut, ending our conversation before I can finish what I was going to say.
Dammit, Kinsley.
She’s really gone too far this time. And just like always, Ella and I will be the ones who have to pick up the pieces.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
ELLA
It’s been a hell of a night.
After the whole Kinsley drama, Keir and I tried everything we could think of to cheer Isla up. We ordered two of her favorite foods, a plate of macaroni and a plate of spaghetti, then ended up sharing them between ourselves when she refused to eat.
It was only after we turned her favorite song on repeat and made it sound like we were having our own private dance party in the living room that she finally peeked out to see what she was missing.
I grabbed her and hugged her, then we both tickled her until she threatened to pee her pants. Even after all that, she still looked like she was only a few seconds away from crying again.
A pillow fort and two movies later, she finally passed out in the living room floor between us—and not a moment too soon, since I could have happily fallen asleep at least two hours ago.
“We’ve destroyed this living room,” Keir whispers as he tucks a blanket up around Isla’s shoulders before carefully extracting himself from the half-demolished pillow fort.
“It was for a good cause, though.” I reach down and push a strand of hair back away from her face. “Poor kid. I was afraid she was going to end up crying herself to sleep.”
“I still can’t believe Kinsley would stoop to—actually, no. I can believe it. And I won’t be shocked if she does it again sometime.”
As a general rule, I try to keep my opinions about Kinsley to myself. Mostly to myself, at least. I’m sure I’ve let a few judgmental thoughts slip when Isla was out of earshot, but I do try to be as supportive as I can without trashing Keir’s ex or his parents or his brother.
There’s usually enough negativity in the air without me piling on, right?
Tonight, though? It feels personal.
Kinsley used Isla to hurt Keir, and that’s inexcusable.
The two of us stand up and stretch, then move to the sofa so we can relax on the few remaining cushions that weren’t used to build the fort. “Do you think she’ll try to call tomorrow?” I ask. “Kinsley, I mean. Maybe she really did forget, and this was all just a big mistake?”
He shoots me a skeptical look. “She didn’t forget. She sent that note on purpose, knowing she had no intention of following through. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to forgive her for hurting Isla like that.” He shakes his head. “Anyway, it wouldn’t matter if she actually did call tomorrow. Isla needs to be here when James and my parents arrive.”
“Wait, what?” I sit up straight, unable to hide my surprise. “James and your parents? They’re coming here?”
“Didn’t I tell you?” His eyebrows knit together. “Fuck, I’m sorry. I thought I told you. I mean to tell you, just to give you a heads-up, if nothing else.”
I should be upset but I can’t muster any anger after the roller coaster of emotions we’ve all been on. “Did they say why they’re coming?” I ask, then hurriedly add, “Not that it matters. It’s just that I thought you weren’t getting along with any of them. Especially your brother.”
“I’m not getting along with them, but what else can I do? I’ve already forbidden all of them from coming up to the penthouse, but they’re calling my bluff. As much as I’d love to watch my security guards throw their asses out onto the street, they know I won’t actually do it.”
I lean in against him and sigh to myself as he puts his arm around me. We still haven’t discussed our situation since our last argument, but I’m sure as heck not going to bring it up right now. I think we’ve already had enough drama for one day.
“Why do they treat you so badly?” I ask instead, wincing as the words fall out of my mouth. “Sorry, that was probably too blunt. I just don’t understand why your parents and James seem to… to…”
“To hate me?” I can feel his chest rise and fall with one deep breath after another. “I disappointed my parents. That’s a cardinal sin in our family.”
“You disappointed them?” I take a moment to try and imagine how someone as driven as Keir could ever be a disappointment to his parents, but no. I’m just not seeing it. “You’re probably the most successful, hard-working person I’ve ever met. How can they even think about being disappointed? What do you have to do to get in their good graces? Win a Nobel Prize?”
He grunts. “Probably wouldn’t hurt. Anyway, it all goes back to when everyone assumed I’d be Prime Minister someday.”
“Prime Minister?” He’s dropping so many truth bombs that I genuinely can’t keep up. “You’re too blunt and honest to be a politician. Plus, I thought that was James’ area. Or were you supposed to take turns being Prime Minister?”
He laughs. “That would have been something, wouldn’t it? Two brothers taking tuns in Number Ten Downing Street? I don’t think the country is ready for that.”
I’m surprised that he’s opening up like this, but I don’t want to point it out and ruin the moment. Still, it’s nice.
The topic kind of sucks, but the connection? The closeness and the way he’s confiding in me?
That part is really, really nice.
“So your parents basically shunned you when they realized you wouldn’t be Prime Minister?” Not that I want to keep bringing up his old trauma or anything, but I’m super curious about how Keir and his family got to the point they’re at now. “I’d like to say I can’t imagine parents being so cruel and petty, but… yeah, I can imagine it. I’ve lived through it myself, just not anywhere near the same scale.”
“They didn’t shun me completely,” he answers. “They turned most of their time and money to helping James achieve the political career they thought I should have had, and I got the consolation prize.”