Phantom: Her Ruthless Villain (Ruthless Triad 5)

“Of course, she made it,” Garrett’s mother, Tilly, answered for me with a sniff of her long thin nose as she also gave me air kisses. “Chrysanthemum is one of her favorite operas, very close to her heart, even if she couldn’t spare anytime whatsoever to help us plan our gala.”

Oh, geez. I very deliberately turned to greet Gerald Easton as opposed to acknowledging her dig. "How are you doing, Gerald," I said, doing another set of air kisses.

No, I didn’t have time to plan elaborate galas, even for an opera I loved. Tilly kept saying that dedicating myself to one of her many charitable efforts would be a fantastic way to transition out of my career after Garrett and I had a baby.

She didn’t ever seem to hear any of my rejoinders about how I planned to keep working, even after children. Just like she never seemed to hear any of my gentle corrections about being from Uganda. Not Malawi, the African country she’d decided to direct her charitable endeavors toward before Garrett and I even met. I supposed in her mind, all African orphans were pretty much the same.

I didn’t hold her against Garrett, though. Lord knew my parents were an even hotter mess in comparison. They’d both remarried much younger spouses almost half their age, and seven years after their acrimonious divorce, still couldn’t stand to so much as be in the same room together.

If we were back in Kentucky, my mother would probably be complaining about how I ran off to the big city and started some random clinic instead of dedicating all my spare time to her Kentucky Children Charities organization as she and my big sister, Skylar, did. So really, Tilly was tame in comparison.

And at least I knew Garrett would find an excuse to pull me away if her barbs became too direct. That was the only way we managed to get through these events. If one of us gave the sign, the other had to come up with a way to extract us from the conversation, no matter how preposterous the excuse.

As if reading my mind, Garret said. “Look at this. We all need drinks.”

But then, instead of pulling me away, he turned to my stepsister and suggested, “Leigh, why don’t you come with me to fetch libations?”

I inwardly jerked. Was he seriously going to just leave me here alone with his parents on the birthday he’d forgotten?

Yes. Yes, he was. He started off in the direction of the bar without waiting for our response or even taking a drink order. I mean, he knew I always just sipped on one glass of champagne at these things, but still, he could have asked.

“An intern’s work is never done,” Leighton singsonged before following him toward the bar.

“What a sweet girl,” Tilly observed as they disappeared into the well-dressed crowd.

Yes, she certainly appeared to be all sorts of helpful now, I admitted. Leighton seemed far removed from the selfish brat I remembered, who’d barely been able to hold a conversation that didn’t involve herself or her friends, or something she and her friends did that was so fun. Maybe her two years in New York had helped her turn over a new leaf.

I should find time to take her out to dinner, I decided with a guilty heart.

At the same time, Tilly declared out loud, “I should tell Garrett to introduce her to one of his younger friends. She said that while she enjoyed working with Garrett, she found the work rather cutthroat and exhausting. I’m not sure she’s cut out for a life in the business world.”

I wasn’t so sure about my stepsister becoming an investment banker either. Leighton really did seem more like the Ladies Who Lunch type, not the Ladies Who Bought Lunch With Their Own Hard-Earned Money.

But some tiny bit of stubbornness kept me from agreeing with Tilly out loud. How many times had I been told by my mother and sister that I should give up running the clinic I’d founded so that I could be the wife and mother Garrett deserved. There was no way I’d start trying to make decisions for my stepsister too.

“So, how are you progressing on the wedding?” Tilly asked, turning fully to face me. “Were you able to meet with the wedding planner I sent your way last summer?”

I grimaced. “This fall has been crazy. The clinic keeps getting more and more popular. I think we’re going to have to bring in another doctor soon, which is great, considering how many more people we’ll be able to help with accessible health care in the future—”

“You’re almost out of your baby-making years, Olivia,” Tilly reminded me, cutting me off. “And I know both you and Garrett want children. When will you prioritize planning this wedding over your work?”