Best I Ever Had

If he ever wanted to charm a woman, that would do it. Humble sincerity is very attractive on him.

“I meant . . .” He laughs again, knowing there’s not really a way to row this boat backward. With a smile still in place, he sighs. “I meant what I said. If I’d done it sooner, we might still be together. I say this knowing that doesn’t change what happened to your mother.”

Shifting in my discomfort, I say, “I’m not in a place to revisit that part of our past. Not yet.”

Yet? Dammit. Why’d I say that like there will be more opportunities? I can’t put my life or Reed’s in jeopardy by allowing a man who could potentially steal my heart again back in. No, I can’t have that because I don’t know where this is going, but it’s not ending with us back together or becoming besties. “We’re having brunch, Cooper. That’s all.”

He nods once. “I understand.”

Then I start to think that maybe this was all planned. Hiding in plain sight under my real name wasn’t hiding at all. I could have always been easily found if someone was looking. This could be a ruse to break me down and get me to trust him again. “If forgiveness is what you’re seeking or you’re in a program where you contact—”

“I’m not. I know forgiveness isn’t possible.” There’s no life in his eyes, but I’ve seen a glimmer of it a few times, always when he smiles.

He’s made no move to threaten me, said nothing to set off alarms. Neither my own safety nor Reed’s has felt like it’s on the line. I’m sensitive to certain topics, but that’s to be expected. I’m not sure that he’s as awful as I’ve imagined him to be for the past six years. I need to suss out the situation before giving him the potential ammo he needs to use against me.

The facts are right in front of us.

* * *

He knows Reed is his son.

He knows how to find me.

The universe is definitely conspiring against me.

* * *

I ask, “Why did you sue your parents?”

“Because I was seventeen when they forced me to sign everything over to them as guardians. I had no representation, and I was a minor. There was nothing legal about the proceeding. But as an attorney, my father knew that,” he answers without hesitation. “I had trust funds that were rightfully mine that they illegally changed the age in which I could access. They even buried them in a Swiss bank account that gave them the oversight to use the money how they saw fit. It was a fucking nightmare.”

“You sued them for money?” Even I hear the judgment in the flatness of my voice.

“I did. Maybe you would have done things differently, taken a higher road. You were always more noble than me. I used the only tool I had to hurt them and to end the manipulations. Money.”

Raising my hands, I swing them across an imaginary marquee. “I would have thought this would be headline news. Your family is so well-known.”

He takes another sip of coffee. Each minute that passes seems to put us both more at ease. And with that ease, I see him again, the man I loved so fiercely that I would have forgiven him for what happened if he’d only fought for me. “The last thing my parents want is a scandal. I got what’s rightfully mine, but they still retain their fortune.”

I grow more in awe of him with each addition to the story. Not because he went to their level, but because he didn’t. He just beat them at their own game. They can afford the best lawyers in the world, but he won. “And you won? Amazing.”

“I won everything I fought for if I signed an NDA and didn’t tell anyone.”

I tilt my head and lean forward, relishing this news. I take a bite of my food and then take a sip of my watered-down Bloody Mary. “Can I ask you something personal?”

He picks up his fork and knife and starts in on the scrambled eggs I know are cold. “Of course.”

Leaning in again, I check our surroundings for spies and eavesdroppers. Since the coast is clear, I whisper, “How good did that revenge taste?”

He swallows his food and then leans in, mimicking me. “Delicious.”

Grinning, I sit back. “God, I wish I could have been there. And when I say there, I mean a fly on the wall when they’d lost it all, including you. They thought money and love were the same thing.”

“Still do.”

Because the tension has mellowed, I start eating again. “I’m not usually supportive of hurting others, but your parents . . .” I bite my tongue. He may have sued them, but does anyone really want to hear that their parents are monsters? That brings me back to what he said earlier.