Lex chuckles softly. “Don’t I know it. But you’re going to want him on your side. His late father left his entire fortune to him, even leaving out the new wife.”
“What wife number was that again?”
“I believe that was number four. This one just reached twenty-seven. The older Marshall senior became, the younger he found his wives.”
“I hear they’re looking to sell off part of their Asian division. What do you make of that?”
“I think it will make for an excellent investment if you play your cards right.”
I purse my lips, welcoming the bourbon served to me on a silver plat
ter. We aren’t left alone for much longer. Whenever Lex is around, people swarm to him. Hours are spent talking, meetings are arranged, introductions are made to business partners nonstop until the event is almost over.
“Are you flying back home tomorrow?” I ask, exiting the room and welcoming the distance from everyone.
“I have three meetings tomorrow downtown, then fly back late tomorrow night,” he informs me while waving to someone. “Charlotte is inundated with work, handling a very messy divorce of an A-lister celebrity, which leaves Ava in charge, and well, that girl is trouble.”
I laugh at the thought. “She was never trouble, at least, that’s what I remember.”
“I never realized how responsible Amelia is until Ava was left in charge.”
I slow down my movements at the mention of her name, unsure what to say until Lex continues to speak. “Charlotte’s been worried because apparently, Amelia broke up with her boyfriend. Good riddance, I say. My daughter is smart. She doesn’t need some boyfriend to distract her when she should be focusing on studying.”
I replay the words in my head before asking the question, not wanting to say anything wrong, given that Lex is an intuitive man.
“Right, the high school boyfriend. They never last, anyway. I’m sure she’ll move on.”
“I should hope so,” Lex responds with a stern tone. “Charlotte tells me she needs to grieve the relationship, but when I spoke to her, she was fine. She’ll throw herself into studying because that’s what she always does. Like mother, like daughter.”
“Definitely not the girl I remember…” I mention fondly.
Lex turns his head to face me, a blank expression on his face. “You’re right. Amelia is nothing like the girl you would remember. She no longer does crazy things, always thinking logically except for that stupid stunt of sneaking into some club. I blame her wild roommate for being a bad influence. And quite frankly, I sleep better at night knowing that she’s left her wild ways behind.”
I lower my head, hiding the smirk playing on my lips. If only Lex knew about Amelia’s drunken night out or that she slept in my bed, completely passing out from Cosmos. His princess isn’t that innocent, and suddenly, I relish the fact that she doesn’t have her loser high school boyfriend holding her down.
The elevator pings open, both of us entering. As we are staying on different floors, I say goodbye to Lex and exit toward my room. Tapping my card, the door opens, and I step inside, quick to remove my jacket.
Shortly, a knock on the door alerts me to a visitor. I walk back over and open the door to find Alyssa standing in front of me dressed in a sexy red dress. Fuck, I forgot all about her.
Running my hands through my hair, I watch as she licks her lips, a move which doesn’t stir a single movement in my still flaccid dick.
“Listen, I’m not feeling too well.”
“Oh…” she mouths. “How not well?”
“Bad shrimp, I guess. It’s best that we take a rain check.”
Rain check to never.
“Are you sure?” she sounds disappointed. “If you need someone—”
“I don’t want you to catch anything, so best you leave.”
I close the door without a goodbye. Moving toward the balcony, I slide the door open and welcome the fresh night air. Removing my phone from of my pocket, I log into my Insta account and straight to my DMs, rereading her message where she thanked me.
Me: You’re welcome. Your dear old daddy tells me you’ve been wallowing in self-pity. I never pegged you to be so lame.
I knew instantly this would rile a reaction from her, and a few seconds later, the message shows as read.