Two-dollar milkshakes? I would've been a dentist's
nightmare," Vivian joked.
"Mine wasn't my biggest fan either."
The Moondust Diner still existed, but | wasn't a kid
anymore. My sweet tooth had faded, and I didn't have time for trips down nostalgia lane.
We ate quietly for another minute before I said, "Things must have changed quite a bit after your father's business took off."
I could always use more intel on the Laus, and if anyone knew Francis well, it was his daughter. At least, that was the reason I gave myself for not leaving even though I'd finished my food.
"That's an understatement." Vivian traced the rim of her coffee cup with her finger. "When I was fourteen, my mother sat me down for the talk. It wasn't about sex; it was about expectations for who I should and could date. I was free to be with anyone | wanted as long as they met certain criteria. That was also the day I found out I was expected to have an arranged marriage if I didn't find anyone 'suitable' within a certain time."
I'd suspected as much. New money families like the Laus typically tried to enhance their social status through marriage. Old money families did it too, but they were more subtle about it.
"I take it your parents weren't fans of your exes." If they
were, Vivian and I wouldn't be engaged.
"No." A shadow passed over her face. "What about you? Any exes you thought about marrying?"
"I wasn't interested in marriage."
"Hmm. I'm not surprised."
I slanted a glance at her. "Meaning?"
"Meaning you're a control freak. You probably hated–and still hate–the idea of someone coming in and upending your life. The more people in the household, the harder it is to control your surroundings."
My shock must've been evident because Vivian laughed and gave me a half-teasing, half-smug smile.
"It's pretty obvious in the way you run your household,"
she said. "Plus, during meals, you're fussy about your foods not touching. You put the meat on the upper left side of your plate, vegetables the upper right, and carbs and grains on the bottom. You did it at my parents' house and on my first night at your place, before you left for Europe."
She sipped her coffee, managing to look regal even while drinking from a paper cup. "Control freak," she summarized.
Reluctant admiration swept through me. "Impressive."
l'd been particular about my foods touching since I was a child. I didn't know why; the sight and texture of mixed foods just made my skin crawl.
"It comes with the job," Vivian said. "Event planning
requires strong attention to detail, especially when you're dealing with the types of clients I have."
Rich. Entitled. Needy.
She didn't need to say it for me to know what she meant.
"Why event planning instead of the family business?" I
was genuinely curious.
Vivian shrugged. "I like jewelry as a consumer, but I have no interest in the corporate side of the business," she said. "Running Lau Jewels wouldn't be a creative endeavor. It would be about stockholders, financial reports, and a thousand other things I don't care about. I hate numbers, and I'm not good at them. My sister Agnes is the one who likes that stuff. She's the company's head of sales and marketing, and when my father retires, she'll take over as CEO."
There won't be a company left to take over after I'm
done.
A small twist of unease tugged at my gut before I dismissed it.
Her father deserved what was coming to him. Vivian and her sister didn't, but ruin and collateral damage went hand in hand. It was the cost of doing business.
"What about you? Did you ever want to do something
else?" Vivian asked.
"No. "
l'd spent my entire life preparing to take over the Russo Group. Pursuing another career path had never even crossed my mind.
"My father refused to take over the company., it was
up to me to carry on the Russo tradition," I said.
"Abnegating was never an option."
"Your father could but you couldn't? Seems unfair."
"There's no such thing as fairness in the business world. Besides, my father would've been shit as CE0. He's the type of guy who cares more about being liked than getting the job done. He would've run the company into the ground within years, and my grandfather knew it. That was why he didn't push him into taking an executive role."
The words came out of their own accord.
I wasn't sure why I was telling Vivian about my family. An hour ago, I would've rather jumped off the Empire State Building than spend another minute playing nice with her. Maybe the kiss had short-circuited my brain, or maybe it was because this was my first moment of semi-peace since my grandfather died.
The past few months had been headache after headache.
Funeral arrangements, Francis's blackmail, Luca's bullshit, the engagement and Europe trip and regular business and social obligations I had to keep up with.
It was nice to sit and breathe for a minute.
"Speaking of my parents, they'd like to meet you," I said.
Introducing Vivian to them was a headache l'd hoped to avoid, though l'd known the chances of fending them off for a year or however long it took to break the engagement were slim. "We're spending Thanksgiving with them."
According to Christian's report, the Laus weren't big on
Thanksgiving, so Vivian shouldn't be too upset about
missing the holiday with her family.
Not that I cared if she was.
"Okay." She paused, obviously waiting for more
information. When I didn't provide any, she asked, "Do your parents live in New York?"
"A little farther." I tossed my empty coffee cup in a
nearby trash can, "Bali,"
For now. My parents hadn't spent more than three
consecutive months in one place in decades.
Vivian's mouth parted. "You want us to fly to Bali to meet your parents for Thanksgiving?"
"We'll be there for a week. We leave the Sunday prior
and come back the following Monday."
"Dante." She sounded like she was struggling to keep
calm. "l can't just go to Bali for a week with less than two months' notice. I have a job, plans"
"It's a holiday weekend," I said impatiently. "What are
you planning? The Macy's Thanksgiving Parade?"
She crumpled her bagel wrapper with a white-knuckled
hand. "I have to be back that Monday morning for a client meeting. I'll be tired, jet-lagged-"
"Then we'll leave Saturday instead." My parents were the ones who'd insisted we stay a week. Vivian's work gave me a good excuse to cut out early. "We're taking my jet, and we'll be staying at my parents' villa. It's not a big deal. We're going to Bali, for fuck's sake. Everyone wants to go to Bali."
"That's not the point. We should be consulting each other on this type of stuff. You're my fiancé, not my boss. You can't just tell me to jump and expect me to jump."
God, this was tedious. "Considering I'm the one who paid for your shoes and flowers, I think I can do exactly that."
I knew it was the wrong thing say the second the
words left my mouth, but it was too late to take them back. Vivian stood abruptly. A breeze blew her skirt around her thighs, and a passing jogger gawked at her until I chased him off with a glare.
"Thank God you showed your true colors again," she
said, her cheeks flushed. "I was beginning to think you were human." She threw out her cup and wrapper. "Thank you for breakfast. Let's never do this again."
She walked away, her shoulders stiff.
Behind his cart, Omar shook his head and frowned at me. I ignored him. Who cared if that'd been an asshole thing to say? I'd already let my guard down more than I should've that morning.
Vivian was the daughter of the enemy, and I would do
well to remember that.
I stayed on the bench for a while longer, trying to
recapture the magic from earlier, but the peace was gone. When I returned home, I found a check waiting on my bedside table for exactly one hundred thousand dollars.