Avoiding Responsibility (Avoiding #2)(27)

Richard sidestepped Adam completely and turned to face Ramsey. "Bridges you say?"

"Yes sir," Ramsey told him shaking his hand firmly.

"I thought I recognized you. Great man your father. You're the spitting image of him too. Great things come from your family," he told him. Chyna could see the look in her father's eye. He didn't even have to say anything to her, but she could tell he was wondering why she hadn't come with a man like Ramsey Bridges.

"Thank you sir," he said through gritted teeth. Lexi would have laughed in any other scenario knowing how Ramsey acted towards his father and how he felt about the business.

"Next time you see him, let him know Richard Van der Wal says hello."

"Of course sir. I'll make sure to do that," Ramsey said stepping back to open the conversation up to the rest of the group.

Richard smiled obviously pleased with at least some of the choices of the group. Lexi guessed that he had been expecting some nobodies to give him more leverage to be disappointed with Chyna. Adam didn't exactly carry the prestige that the Bridges name carried but he was a nice guy. Lexi didn't actually know what he did or if he had any money. It was a strange thing to be with people Chyna associated and not know whether or not they were wealthy. Not that Lexi cared one way or the other.

"Well I'm sure you're all very anxious to meet my darling," Richard said turning around to smile at his fiancé. "Victoria this is my daughter Chyna."

The two came face to face, dark meeting light for the first time. Chyna swallowed a lump in her throat. She needed to be friendly with this woman or her life would fall apart. She pushed her pride out the window and came forward and hugged the woman. They were almost exactly the same height. "So nice to meet you," Chyna whispered as she pulled back slightly.

Victoria smiled slyly. "You too. I'm sure. You look different than Richard described you though dear," she said eyeing Chyna up and down. "Wasn't your mother a model?" she asked arching an eyebrow up.

Chyna's mouth dropped open slightly at the insult. Her eyes widened ever so slightly. Her head moved from side to side to glance at the other people surrounding her just to make sure that she hadn't imagined the comment. She took a deep breath and thought about what Ramsey said earlier before answering. "She is a model, actually."

"Really? At her age?" Victoria asked astounded.

Chyna forced a fake smile. "She's actually in Milan right now prepping for a show."

"Well isn't that wonderful. Does she have the same problem with alcohol giving her dark circles under her eyes?"

"You don't have circles under your eyes," Chyna said in confusion.

"No, but you do," Victoria said smiling sweetly. She turned to face Richard who was talking to a French couple about their American tour. "Richard dear," Victoria called not giving Chyna enough time to respond.

"Yes my love?" he asked excusing himself from the couple and coming to snuggle up against Victoria's neck.

"Can we go dance? I've been standing here too long," she pouted.

"Of course," he said escorting her onto the floor as he brushed past his daughter without another word.

Chyna twirled around and stared at them in complete shock and awe. "What a vile creature!" she cried her mouth still hanging open from her encounter.

"Yeah she's a real bitch," Adam agreed.

"I thought you handled that well though," Ramsey acknowledged Chyna. "It might have gotten to you, but you didn't show it."

"I just can't believe she said those things, and right in front of your dad," Lexi said.

"He doesn't care. Let's just get the f**k out of here," Chyna said making a beeline for the exit. "You guys need a ride?" Chyna asked as her driver pulled up in front of the building.

Lexi glanced up at Ramsey. He smiled and answered, "No, we'll just take a cab."

"Let me know if you need me," Lexi said hugging Chyna good bye. "I'm sorry about everything that happened."

"Don't worry about it. Not your fault. My dad is stupid for thinking that twit wants him for anything more than his money," Chyna told her.

"I know, but still let me know," Lexi told her. Chyna nodded head and then dove into the car. Adam shook Ramsey's hand one more time, smiled at Lexi, and then followed Chyna.

"So," Lexi began staring up into Ramsey handsome face. "My place?" she asked even though she knew that he had a hotel room in the city.

They hailed a cab to Lexi's apartment, and soon were both comfortably relaxing in her bed. Lexi smiled up in Ramsey's handsome face feeling incredibly content with the way things were going. They had put on a movie for background noise as they talked about inconsequential aspects of each other's lives. Lexi informed him that she was a gymnast while he confessed he had played soccer and football in high school, but when he had gone off to college he'd really gotten into lacrosse. They discussed their love for the ocean and Ramsey promised to take her sailing. The stories were endless and just as Lexi was beginning to fall asleep wrapped in his arms, he brought up one more topic.

"So what ever happened with you when you left Atlanta?" he whispered into the silence even though he knew he was pushing his luck. He was fortunate enough to just be in New York right now with her at his side. He shouldn't even bring up the thing that had torn her out of his life. But he was so damn curious, and he had been for a long time. He wanted to get to the bottom of everything.