“Desmond, glad you decided to accept our invitation. Haley,” he greeted his niece with a short aside, as if she were a stranger. Then George introduced the couple who remained sitting and were staring at Haley in shock. “Desmond, you’ve met Samuel and Charlotte.”
“It’s nice to see both of you again.” Desmond took the hand Samuel offered while remaining seated.
An uncomfortable silence turned the air chilly, despite the warmth of the sun beating down. It was Haley who broke the silence.
“Mom, Dad.”
“Haley.” Her father reluctantly returned the greeting without any real warmth, as if they had never met Haley before.
Desmond thought his childhood had been fucked up, but from what he had uncovered about Haley’s, the amount of money someone had in the bank didn’t make them good parents.
“Here you go.”
Desmond took both drinks from Amelia. After giving one to Haley, he motioned for her to take the lounge chair next to her mother before offering the empty one to Amelia.
“You go ahead, Desmond. I need to check on the caterer. I sat you and Haley next to me at lunch. We’ll chat later.”
Taking the chair next to Haley as Amelia excused herself, he started making small talk with George while listening to the conversation going on between Haley and her parents.
“You look well.”
“I am,” Haley responded to her mother. “You also. I like your hair. It suits you.”
Charlotte fluttered her hand to her hair. “You think so?”
“I do. It’s very becoming.”
“I thought so.” Her mother’s standoffishness seemed to loosen slightly. “Your father said the same, but sometimes I think he only compliments me to make me happy.”
“You know better than that. Dad would never let you look less than your best.”
Her parents eyed her, as if trying to decide whether she was giving them a double compliment or insulting them.
Looking at Haley out of the corner of his eye, he had to give her props. Even he couldn’t tell the difference with the feigned smile still in place.
Seeing she had drained her glass, Desmond decided it was Dutch courage and switched glasses with her. If all it took was a mimosa to make Haley able to blow smoke up her parents’ asses, then he would keep a pitcher on standby.
“You’re looking fantastic, Dad. You look like you’ve dropped twenty pounds since I saw you.”
How Haley could make that assertion while her father was sitting down had Desmond worried she had gone too far in trying to get back in her parents’ good graces, but he needn’t have.
Samuel straightened in his chair, releasing Charlotte’s hand. “I told Gilbert I had, but he says my scale is off.”
“He’s probably worried you’ll look more like his brother than his father. You really look amazing.”
“Thank you.” Samuel looked toward his wife. “Charlotte, you should find the girls and Gilbert to tell them their sister is here.”
Haley’s mother immediately jumped to her feet. “Of course, what was I thinking? I’ll be right back.”
“Desmond said you’ve been working for him.”
Breaking away from the conversation he was having with George, Desmond made no pretense that he wasn’t waiting to hear what Haley had to say.
“Are you making him richer?” Samuel joked.
Hearing a jarring note in the laughter, Desmond reached out to take Haley’s hand. “She did before I had to fire her.”
Both George and Samuel stared at them in shock.
“You fired her?” Samuel angrily looked toward Haley.
Desmond thought it telling that her father immediately placed the blame on Haley instead of being angry at the man who had fired her after admitting she had made him money.
“He did,” she confirmed after downing her second glass of mimosa.
“What did you do to get fired?” George asked, giving his niece a weathering glare.
Seeing Haley raise her empty glass at a passing waiter, Desmond stepped into the fray to save the mouse from being stomped on.
“Nothing, other than I decided I wanted to have her in my bed rather than as my accountant.”
Fourteen
“I can’t believe you said that to my relatives,” Haley hissed up at the uncompromising jawline of the man who was becoming more irritating the longer she was forced to spend time with him. He was an enigma that, as soon as she placed him in one category, he broke the mold, and then she had to figure him out again.
He carried his wealth like her uncle and Gabriel did, yet there was a difference she couldn’t pinpoint. Every now and then, she would catch the same darkness they were capable of, but the difference lay in the feelings they arose in her. She feared George and Gabriel, but when she caught glimpses of Desmond’s dark anger, in the moments when he was unaware he was being watched, the fear escalated to spine-chilling terror.
George and Gabriel let others do their dirty work for them. Haley had no hesitation in believing Desmond had the same fledglings to handle dirty aspects of the jobs that he wanted done. The difference lay in the fact he wouldn’t be above getting his hands dirty, if it suited the purpose he desired. He could be charming one second and cunningly ruthless the next.