We pulled up in front of the house, and I instructed the driver to wait for me before heading inside.
A nurse opened the front door, a sharp reminder of what my father’s life had turned into.
I followed her up the stairs and into the study. Dad sat at his desk stubbornly, even though his illness had turned him into a shell of the man he used to be.
He was rail-thin, his skeleton-like body even more striking because he was just as tall as I was. His hair was gone from the chemotherapy, and growing back in tufts. He had been a very handsome man, and that much was still obvious from his features. But even so, the fact that he was sick was painfully clear.
“Rafe,” he said warmly, attempting to get up from his chair to greet me.
I rushed towards him, making him sit back down.
“Hello,” I said with a warm smile, sitting across from him at his desk. “No need to get up, Dad. I don’t have a lot of time. Why did you want to see me?”
We’d already made plans for the following day, so his message to meet him had come as a bit of a surprise. I wondered what the occasion was.
“I wanted to discuss something with you,” he said heavily, and I leaned forward in my chair to listen. “We both know I’m sick. We also know I don’t have a lot of time left.”
“Dad…” I said lamely, but he raised his hand in the air, not wanting me to go on.
“It’s okay, son,” he said bravely. “I’ve come to terms with what’s going to happen to me. But I do have a wish. One final thing I want before I leave this world for the next one.”
“Yes,” I said eagerly. “What is it? You know I’m happy to help.”
I wondered what he wanted. Perhaps one last chance to find my mother, make things right with her.
“I want to see you settle down,” he said, and I stared at him, waiting for my old man to go on. “I would like to see you with a nice girl, someone from a good family, a kind woman who will love you even without your money. I’d like to see you married before I go, son.”
“Married?” I repeated, dumbfounded. “But Dad, I don’t even have a woman I’m dating at the moment.”
“I know,” he said, giving me a long knowing look. “That’s part of the problem, Rafe. You’ve been a serial dater, but you haven’t settled down for longer than a few weeks at a time. And now I’d like to see it happen.”
“You’re asking for a lot,” I managed to get out.
“I know there isn’t a lot of time,” Dad said simply. “But this is my wish. And I want to be able to leave you all this… Goldwyn. The jewels. Everything… I want to know you have a woman behind you to help you when times are rough. I’d like to know there will be heirs to the family fortune… That you are happy.”
“I am happy,” I said, and he shook his head at me, giving me another of his knowing looks.
“Are you really, Rafael?” he asked me. “Can you honestly, truly say to me that you are happy?”
I thought of her. Princess Ella. The long hair, dainty fingers, the tiny waist. God, yes.
“I could be,” I finally replied, her image fresh in my mind.
“I know,” my father went on. “I know you could be. And I’d like to see it happen before I’m gone. I would like you to hold a ball… A Christmas ball at the house.”
“Why?” I asked, raising my eyebrows.
“To meet your woman, of course,” Dad laughed. “You can invite anyone you want. And I’ll make sure it’s the party of the year.”
“I… would like that,” I said, Images of Ella in a stunning dress flooding my mind.
It would be the perfect opportunity to convince her I was serious about her. How badly I wanted her, to make her mine, to make her submit. Maybe, if the party was elaborate enough, she would let me have her. And I’d truly be happy, just like my father wanted.
“I’m happy to hear that,” Dad smiled at me. “Let’s schedule it for Christmas Eve. I’ll try to be there, if…”
His sentence hung unfinished in the air, both of us knowing what he’d meant.
If he’d still be around.
It fucking hurt so badly every time I got a reminder that he was mortal, just like all of us. And not just mortal, but so much closer to the other side than I was.
“You will be there,” I told him. “I’ll make sure of it.”By the time I got home, the butler was waiting for me.
I grinned at the sight of him, and Jennings gave me a small nod to tell me his mission had been accomplished.