My jaw dropped. If he only knew the truth.
“I can’t imagine how I would feel if my boys were taken from me,” Richard said quietly. “I would go insane until I managed to get them back.”
“Nina seems like she’s been pretty okay about it for the last sixteen years,” I said drily.
Richard shook his head. “She might seem hard on the outside, but that’s only to protect the vulnerability that’s underneath it all. I knew that she wouldn’t fight aggressively enough for you because she was afraid of making you hate her. I stepped up and made myself the villain on purpose. If you need to be angry with someone, be angry with me.”
Shit.
My hate for Richard was slowly fading away, but in contrast, the hate for my mother was growing. Nina had somehow convinced Richard that the glimpses of evil he must occasionally see were evidence of her hard shell, and that the faked niceness was her real self. How did such a savvy guy get taken in like this? Or did he only see what he wanted to see? Was he blind to the truth because of his heart?
“Are you really going to try to take ballet away from me?” I asked him quietly.
Richard shook his head. “I’m not trying to take it away from you, I just want to make sure that you have a secure future. I might be on top today, but if anything were to happen to me, I want my boys to be able to fend for themselves. Even the biggest companies can go under, and the stock market is never a guarantee. I’m going to make sure they both go to college so that even if they lose every penny I’ve ever made, they’ll still be okay.”
I was stunned at his revelation. “That’s…surprising.”
Richard nodded. “I didn’t grow up with money. My parents were on the poor side of the middle class. The way my parents struggled to make ends meet gave me the drive to succeed.” He shook his head sadly. “But my boys grew up in a very different world.”
“I know what you mean,” I told him with a small smile. “I’ve always been the scholarship kid at school, so I’ve always had to work harder to prove that I belong there. To show them that out of a million other girls, I’m the one that deserves the chance to walk the halls with the chosen few.”
Richard let out a laugh. “You don’t have to worry about scholarships anymore. I’ve already set up a trust fund to pay for your schooling.”
My jaw dropped. “You don’t have to do that. I’m perfectly capable of making my own way through life.”
“I know,” Richard smiled at me. “That’s why I did it.” He patted my leg. “Just give this a chance. I’ll make sure you can stay in ballet if you agree to put just as much focus on academics. I asked my assistant to make a list of colleges with excellent ballet programs, and I want you to seriously consider what I said.”
I nodded, speechless. Richard had just spent the last fifteen minutes acting like a parent towards a girl he met only a few days before. That was fifteen more minutes than my mother had ever cared about me in my entire life. The contrast between the two was heart-breaking.
I reached out and gave Richard a hug. He seemed startled at first, but then he patted my back.
“Thank you,” I murmured as I pulled away.
Richard walked back to sit with my mother, and I wiped at my eyes, trying to hide the fact that I had gotten emotional just because the guy had asked his assistant to look at colleges for me. Was this what having a father felt like?
My grandfather died when I was too young to remember, and I could hardly use Mr. Logan as an example of a loving father. Babulya had always been everything I needed, but I’d be lying if I didn’t occasionally daydream of finding my father when I was a little girl. I can’t tell you how many times I watched Veronica Mars since I found it on Netflix. Richard wasn’t anything like Keith Mars on the surface, but I could tell he genuinely loved his sons. From the short interactions I’d had with the Wilder family, I got the impression that he wasn’t good at showing them that. Babulya had been strict and critical as well, but I always knew it came from a place of love.
I looked up when I felt a heavy stare focused on me. Maverik hadn’t missed my interaction with his father, and while I was sure he hadn’t heard what was said, his cold eyes were making me nervous. I glanced over to see neither Nina nor Richard were paying attention, then made a face and gave him the finger. His eyes flashed, and I slumped down in my seat to avoid any further interaction with him or his brother. Who would have thought that out of the four of them, Richard would be my only ally?
Chapter 10
Katya
I thought my eyes were going to pop out of their sockets when we drove up to Richard’s house. Logically, I knew he was rich, but this place was unreal. A tall gate blocked the view of the house from the street, so I wasn’t prepared for what I walked into. It wasn’t just huge - it was absolutely stunning. Instead of being over-the-top and gaudy, it was elegant and modern. All three of the guys quickly disappeared, and I was left alone with my dear old mom.
When
