“I’ve been working.” Paying for where you live. “I didn’t get vacation except for a few days here and there. Then Niko was sick—”
“Whatever.” Ellie dismissed her words with boredom.
It was the same stale argument they’d been having for years.
“Mum could have called to say she couldn’t make it.” You didn’t have to come. She bit back the words. “We were expecting her tomorrow and were about to go to dinner.”
Ellie snorted and gave her a side-eye. “I can tell what you were about to do. I guess that’s what you have to do, isn’t it? To get all this?”
“Don’t be gross.”
“I’m gross? You’re the one who slept with an old man to get your hands on his money. Then got yourself knocked up by his son to seal the deal. I have to give it to you—you’re platinum level at this game. I’m just wondering when you’ll start sharing the—Oh, hello.” Ellie batted her thick lashes.
The bottom of Scarlett’s stomach dropped out before she turned to see Javiero had silently come from the bedroom. He wore a fresh white shirt and crisp black trousers. His hair was damp, his expression stiff and unreadable. He offered a distant nod.
“My sister, Ellie,” Scarlett said, mortified at what he must have overheard. “Mum couldn’t make it. Ellie, this is Javiero.”
“I didn’t want the train ticket to go to waste.” Ellie swanned across to shake his hand. “And I fancied a taste of London’s nightlife. Sounds like you two were about to enjoy some yourselves. Mind if I tag along? I haven’t caught up with Scarlett in ages.”
“Of course,” Javiero said as Scarlett opened her mouth.
“I’ve booked Ellie into a hotel,” she hurried to assure him. “Our tame, early dinner isn’t what she had in mind for nightlife.”
“Oh, it’s definitely a start,” Ellie said. “Get dressed while I chat up your fiancé?”
Scarlett had never zipped herself into a dress faster.
When they got to the restaurant, she could have cried. It was exclusive and intimate and obviously a careful choice by Javiero for its air of romance. There was a small dance floor and a live trio playing swoony tunes. If they had come here alone, it would have been a perfect evening.
Instead, it was an uncomfortable meal, with her sister asking pointed questions about Javiero’s properties while making not-really-kidding suggestions that he introduce her to his rich friends. All the while she swallowed back one fancy cocktail after another.
Scarlett was dying to end the night, but didn’t want a scene.
“Have you had many bites on doing hair and makeup for the movies? I thought you were planning a trip to California?” Scarlett tried to keep Ellie talking so she wouldn’t swill her drinks.
“Oh, yes. So generous of you to pay for my cosmetology courses. Not sure why I have to work at all when you’re rolling in dough the way you are. She always plays it like she made such a great sacrifice,” Ellie said to Javiero. “Getting a cushy job working for your old man, traveling all over the world with him, talking him into giving us our own house. Where are you in Spain? Do you have a beach house I could visit?”
“Ellie,” Scarlett muttered.
“What? This sort of life is only for you? Not the rest of us lowlifes?”
“I told you, things have been difficult. I’ll see what I can arrange for you in way of a holiday if you behave yourself,” she said through her teeth.
“Ooh, sounds like someone will be getting lucky tonight,” Ellie said with a smirk at Javiero.
He had barely said a word all evening, and Scarlett was so appalled she couldn’t meet his gaze. She cut things short before dessert, insisting she had to get back to Locke.
“I’ve tried to pull off your innocent act, but never had the success you have,” Ellie said in a slur as Scarlett poured her into a cab to her hotel. “Trading up from a Sugar Daddy to a Baby Daddy and being all like, What? I got pregnant by accident.” Ellie clutched her hands beneath her chin and blinked her eyes, then saluted her. “My hat is off.”
“I am so sorry,” Scarlett said when she and Javiero were in his car. “Ellie was thirteen when I left for uni. It was only a few years later that I went to Greece. I’ve never spoken frankly to her about how that came about. To her mind, I’ve made a habit of running away from our problems and had everything easy while she struggled in school and felt saddled with Mum.”
“Are you going to see your mother tomorrow?” he asked stiffly, making it clear he didn’t want to listen to her defend Ellie.
“She has an appointment.” The despondency ringing through her made it impossible to admit where her mother was going. “We could come to New York with you?”
“Unnecessary.” His flat refusal dashed any glimmer of hope that he wasn’t thoroughly repulsed by her family.
I tried to warn you, she wanted to say as she twisted her engagement ring.
“I’ll join the London team leaving on the charter in the morning. You can have my jet to fly back to Madrid when it suits you.”
“Thank you,” she murmured, because what else could she say? Don’t go?
The thick silence stayed fixed between them when they returned to the flat. She said she would check on Locke and Javiero said, “I have an early start. I’m going to bed.”
He was still awake when she crawled in beside him, though.
“Javiero, I’m really sorry. I wanted tonight to be...” She hesitated to say special, afraid it would be too revelatory. She didn’t want to come off as insecure and needy, even though she definitely was. “Are we okay?”
“Of course.” He sounded brisk, though.
She searched the dark, trying to read his expression. They had been so attuned a few hours ago, but that accord had been snuffed as quickly as blowing out a candle.
“I was...” She swallowed, certain she would have to make the
