He’s about to go in for the kill shot.
Florian turns back to the cameras and the audience and says, “Yup, I think that’s everyone who deserves to be thanked. Have a good night!” He waves and I stumble back a step and then another only to be caught by the talent escort. Blood thrums violently through my ears as I’m led off stage, Florian blowing past me as if I’m not even there.
I want to reach out to him. I want to shake him and slap him. I want to hurt him for humiliating me like that in front of the world. So grossly. So obscenely. So belligerently. He dismissed me, mocked me, ruined me, and now—
“Come sit down, Naomi,” Casper offers gently, snapping me out of my nightmare of a memory, pointing to the empty chair stuck in between both of them. He’s not even trying to defend himself or come up with some bullshit lame excuse like Florian just happened to be passing by and I asked him to join us.
No, this was planned, an ambush, and it makes me sick.
Florian is sitting there, comfortable as ever, leaning back in his chair and watching me with a smile I do not appreciate. The bastard doesn’t even stand up to greet me. No, his eyes are too busy raking me in. Covering every inch he’s missed out on during the last two years. They pause on my stomach and I nearly growl out at that. What does he think I am, an elephant?
Sorry babe, you’re not getting answers that easily.
“Please sit?” Casper tries again.
Sit down? No thanks, I think I’ll run away instead.
Only, somewhere in the back of my mind, the pissed off, indignant girl in there is demanding I face Florian. If for no other reason than let him know that he didn’t ruin me. That I am so strong and so confident and am not afraid to tell him absolutely everything I’ve wanted to say for the last two years.
That bubble of anger boiling in my belly surges up through me.
How dare Florian do this to me. What could he possibly want with me after two years of nothing?
The host looks confused and a bit uncomfortable, so I snatch my menu out of his hand to avoid the pompous ritual of him placing my napkin on my lap and handing me the menu with flourish. The poor guy still attempts to pull out my chair for me, but I’m ten years old right now and I don’t want anyone helping me. Florian’s eyes are tight, his gaze never shifting as I sit down, but I ignore him completely, choosing instead to stare defiantly at the man who lured me here under false pretenses.
I shouldn’t be surprised.
Casper’s loyalty was never to me, even if he liked to pretend he was close with my father once upon a time. That he loved me like a daughter.
“Nai,” Florian hums my name, a dark undertone dripping from his maple syrup voice. It quakes my insides after so long without hearing it. “So thrilled you could join us. You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting for this.”
I shoot daggers at his pleased grin before turning my wrath back on Casper. He’s easier to deal with.
“You’ve got two minutes to explain this before I get up and walk out.”
Casper lets out a huff of air as if he’s the one who has the right to be exasperated here. Florian scoots his chair slightly closer to the table, enjoying the hell out of my tantrum. He places his hand on the table, inches from me and part of me cracks. Fissures right here.
He wants to get to me? He wants to start something?
I’ve had this war, this fight, built up in my head for two fucking years.
He has no idea. None.
I may be the sad, broken, lonely girl, but I will be fucking damned if he ever sees an ounce of that from me.
“You know what this is, so stop acting surprised. Flor asked me to set this dinner up, knowing that you’d never agree to meet with him on your own. He wants to talk to you, and I talked him out of showing up at your house or stalking you down at the studio. So here we are.” Casper waves his hand around the room and pivots to Florian. “That about sum it up?”
“So instead of protecting me from something you knew I wouldn’t want to do, you lied to me? Used our tenuous friendship as a weapon? That about sum it up?” I ask, throwing his phrase back at him.
“You need to talk to him, Nai. Close the book if that’s what you want to do, but at least hear him out.”
“What are you, my fucking therapist? This was not your call to make.” Casper narrows his eyes at me, before he stands up, buttoning the center button on his suit jacket. A rocker in a suit. “You going on an interview, dad?” I wave a hand up and down the length of him.
Casper is a lot older than me. Older than Florian too. And I know he doesn’t appreciate the distinction. He never did.
“I think I’m officially done here. Flor, I’ll see you tomorrow. Nai, try to remember the fact that I’m doing you a favor.”
And then he walks off leaving me alone in a restaurant with Florian Heart. Liar. Drug addict. Breaker of all things beautiful.
Chapter Twenty
Naomi
* * *
I move to stand up too, but Florian grasps my forearm, halting my escape. “Don’t,” I snarl, and he pulls back the offending hand, raising both up in surrender, but his expression is pleading. Nervous. Afraid.
“Sit, please. I just want to talk. That’s all. Please, Nai. Talk to me, hear me out, and then you can go.”
“Talk.”
“Let’s order first,” he says, trying to placate me with a smile, and I realize there is a waiter standing beside us. I glance down at the menu, but I don’t see anything. Florian orders and I have no idea what he got me. I don’t care. I can’t focus on anything right now.
I hate that he’s doing this to me. I hate that he involved Casper. I hate how gullible I am.
“I got you that red wine you like that I can’t pronounce, lobster bisque, and the braised short ribs because you don’t eat steak.”
My eyes slowly raise up to his. I don’t even know what to say at this point. How can he act like no time has passed? Like that scene in the hotel never happened? Like I never saw him at the Grammys? Like I never called him or sent him a million texts?
Like I never left him…that voicemail?
He just sits here, orders my food because he knows all my favorites, all the while smiling that heart-stopping smile at me. The one that never failed to make my insides flutter. He knows all the right moves. Every single one designed to reel me in. I was a child when I gave him my heart. A woman when he broke it.
But this? I have no idea what this is.
“Why are you doing this?”
“Because I need to talk to you, and I knew you wouldn’t listen to me if I tried. Don’t be mad at Casp. I placed him in an impossible position.”
I let out a derisive scoff at that. “I’m his niece.” That’s what he always called me. That’s how close he was with my father. Until today. Until he threw that away and chose Florian. I inwardly shake my head at that. He’s always chosen Florian over me. Always.
“And he loves you. But this isn’t about him.”
I sigh, leaning back in my seat as Florian leans forward, the familiar fragrance of his cologne weakening my resolve. We stay silent while the waiter delivers our wine and after I approve Florian’s choice and he leaves, I take a big sip.