Sophie (The Boss 8)

“No, thank you,” Valerie answered for both herself and Laurence. “This is fine.”

As the young man with the pitcher moved around and filled our glasses, Laurence said, “It must be nice to have so much help around the house."

And so, it begins.

I opened my mouth to say something pointed but not openly hostile when El-Mudad spoke first. "The staff are here because of me. I'm afraid I'm a bit spoiled. Sophie and Neil aren't fond of having too many people in the house, so we've compromised."

"We hired everyone through the service you recommended, Valerie," Neil said easily. Precisely the kind of shade I wished I could master. I sat in awe of a bitchy legend.

"Your last name is Ati, isn't it?" Valerie asked El-Mudad, changing the subject quickly. "I think I knew your father. He lives in Paris, doesn't he?"

"He did. He recently moved to the Emirates." El-Mudad never talked about his family much. "Or so I've heard. We're not close."

"Oh? I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have brought it up," Valerie apologized, truly mortified.

El-Mudad lifted a hand to indicate there were no hard feelings. "My father is a powerful and well-connected man. It is only natural that he would know a powerful and well-connected woman."

A flicker of annoyance crossed Neil's face; he was either jealous of Valerie for capturing El-Mudad's playful attention or pissed off that El-Mudad was flirting with her in the first place.

The satisfaction I got from seeing Neil dry swallow a big pill of his own medicine was so thrilling I almost needed a cigarette.

When I accidentally glanced at Laurence and saw the total lack of humor in his expression, the thrill of triumph quickly turned to something darker, a suspicious kind of emotion that I couldn’t name. The idea of putting eggplant adobo in my stomach didn’t seem very smart, all of a sudden. I just couldn’t put my finger on why, exactly.

No one else seemed to feel that weird energy. But I knew I hadn’t imagined it.

"And I'm not ashamed of the state of my family,” El-Mudad went on. “It's helped me realize what kind of relationship I want to have with my children. What kind of family I want to have." He reached over and took Neil's hand.

Bravo.

"That's a good excuse to segue into the real topic of conversation, isn't it?" Laurence asked with a smirk I wanted to slap off his face. "Let's drop the pretense of this friendly little get-together and talk about why we're here."

"I think that's a fine idea," Neil said tersely. "Because I have some thoughts on the subject as well."

"I'm sure you do. But we need to keep this civil," Valerie reminded not just Neil, but Laurence.

"I agree." There. I had contributed to the conversation. I not only felt as though I was in way over my head but that I didn't have the right to enter the dialogue at all. Which was ridiculous; Emma had named me Olivia's guardian, as well. I might not have been a mother, but I certainly had a stake in the kid’s upbringing. But Neil, El-Mudad, and Valerie had all gone through the fires of custody-related battles. I felt like I didn’t have the range to voice an opinion.

"Why don't you start," El-Mudad suggested. "Since you have concerns."

Valerie looked at Laurence, then back to us. "I know that you're all very...nontraditional when it comes to matters of the heart. And Neil, you know that I would never judge your choices—"

I snorted loudly. I couldn't help it. "I'm sorry," I apologized quickly. "But can we just all be honest? Valerie, you and I have a lot of history. Most of that has been about judging Neil's choice to be with me."

"That's fair," she said patiently. "You're right. I do judge the choices he makes, and now, I'm judgmental about the choices the three of you are making together. I don't have a problem with open relationships—"

"Please, let me correct you," El-Mudad interrupted gracefully. "They are not in an open relationship. I am not their lover. Neil, Sophie, and I are in a relationship together. If we weren't, I wouldn't have moved my daughters here, enrolled them in school, and involved them in the lives of people they would grow accustomed to. I am highly protective of my family. Deciding to blend it with Sophie, Neil, and Olivia's was not a frivolous undertaking."

"How long did you rehearse that speech?" Laurence cracked.

Valerie ignored him. "That does address one of our issues with this arrangement. We were afraid that you were putting Olivia in a position to lose people she'd grown close to."

"That is something we can never guarantee for her," Neil reminded her. "None of us know what will happen tomorrow. Any one of us could be taken in an instant. We know that too well."