The Broken One (Corisi Billionaires, #1)(62)

That was an easy one to answer. “What time tonight?”

“Five thirty? We eat early.” Her obvious relief made my heart soar.

“I’ll be there.” She was strong and independent—exactly what my old-fashioned ass needed. With her, I’d be the man I should have always been.

After telling her I’d call her when I was on my way, I ended the call and returned to the living room. My father said, “See that look on his face? I don’t even have to ask who called him.”

I shrugged. “I’ll bring her home soon, Dad. When I do, I’ll have a ring as well.”

My father’s face lit up.

“Now those are words every father wants to hear,” Rakesh’s father said to the room in general.

Rakesh groaned.

I felt his pain. If he had a prospect, I had no doubt he would have loved to bring that joy to his father. Dates were easy enough to find, but someone worth bringing home to the parents? In families like ours, no man did that lightly.

I walked over and offered my hand to Rakesh’s father. “My plans for this afternoon have changed, so I need to get back to the office.”

My father rose and shook his hand as well. “This has been a pleasure.”

Rakesh nodded toward the door. “I’ll show them out.”

He and I fell into step as we walked out of the room. Rakesh said, “It has been a long time since my father has smiled so much. Thank you.”

If apologies came easier to me, I would have given one then, but instead I shook his hand and said, “I’m glad we were able to come up with a mutually beneficial deal.”

We didn’t need more than that.

My father joined us near the door. “Rakesh, you should drop by Sebastian’s office.”

I tilted my head to the side. “Why?”

A smile spread across my father’s face. “Miss Steele is not only intelligent, she’s also attractive and, according to your mother, her last relationship ended recently.”

“Dad.”

My father’s answer was a shameless chuckle.

As we made our way down the steps, my father said, “Your mother and I do want to meet Heather, but it’s more important to us that you’re happy.” At the bottom of the steps, he clapped a hand on my shoulder. “You deserve happiness, Sebastian. Therese would want this for you.”

Rob opened a car door. As my father slid in, I took a moment to digest what he’d said before getting in myself. I directed Rob to take me to the office and my father home.

After a moment on the road, I said, “When Therese died, a large part of me died with her. Lately, though, I feel like I’m waking from a long sleep. The sun is brighter. Food tastes better. Part of me feels guilty for it.”

“You shouldn’t. If you had gone first, would you have wanted Therese to live out the rest of her life alone and mourning for you?”

“Of course not.”

“She loved you just as much as you loved her. She’s smiling down on this. Who knows, perhaps she even placed that stuffed animal in your path because she knew it was time for you to wake up.”

As far-fetched as that sounded, I liked the idea of it. Therese was always generous and loving, a better woman than I had deserved. Someone like that wouldn’t see my relationship with Heather as a betrayal—she was always looking for a way to make people happy.

If you did bring Heather to me, Therese—thank you. I promise you this time I won’t take a moment for granted.





CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE



* * *



HEATHER

When I invited Sebastian for dinner, I was thinking about Ava and how it really would be good for the two of them to meet before the strawberry festival. I didn’t think about the state of my house or remember that my cooking ability was mostly limited to a simple meat, the occasional pasta, and cookies.

The plus of not being a great cook: Ava was accustomed to eating vegetables raw, thus I could claim my style fit a healthy trend. I would have liked to impress Sebastian, though. It was a beautiful day, and Ava had wanted to ride her bike in the driveway, which meant the time I had after work to cook and clean was drastically reduced, so I settled for what we normally ate.

I’d made time, though, to wrap an important surprise for both Ava and Sebastian.

Sweaty and flustered, I checked my reflection in the mirror after I heard the doorbell. I smoothed a stray hair. Deciding there was nothing I could do about the rest, I rushed for the door.

Ava looked up from playing with her dolls on the living room floor.

“My friend Sebastian is here to eat dinner with us. Do you remember him?” I’d considered preparing her for his visit, but sometimes that made her anxious about things that she otherwise simply accepted.

She jumped to her feet. “Sebastian? My Sebastian?”

“I guess that depends if your Sebastian is six feet tall with black hair.”

“My hero?”

I ruffled her hair. “Yes, then your Sebastian is the one at the door. Should we let him in?”

Ava beat me to the door. “Hi, Sebastian.”

Hands on knees, he bent to her height. “Hi, Ava. Nice to see you again.”

“Want to play dolls?” she asked.

His eyes flew to mine. I laughed. “Dinner still has a few more minutes to cook, so there is a little time.”