“I do. But he doesn’t know what he wants, and the sooner you realize that, the better. Owen will always do the right thing, love. I want you to be happy. I do, honestly. I want you to have everything that you want. And I think you can have it. But maybe this isn’t for you.”
“Ms. Preston, truly you can’t—”
“Let me be clear with you, darling, this is nonnegotiable. I like you very much. We work well together, and I think you’re going to do amazing things. But if you continue down this path with my son, I can’t guarantee what will happen.”
I furrowed my brow. “But—”
“Don’t fool yourself, darling. He will always choose his career. He will do as he’s told, and you will be hurt by that. I don’t want that. I want you to have some pride in what you can accomplish here and have some pride in what you do. So, don’t linger and dawdle and moon over a boy. Like I said, this boy. He won’t mean to, but he will break your heart. And well, let’s face it, broken hearts get in the way of doing great things.”
She turned her attention back to her laptop, and I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to do. I couldn’t stand. I couldn’t talk. I couldn’t move. All I wanted to do was cry. But like everything else, I squashed it down and held myself together, determined not to let anything in my way. Determined not to let out a flicker of emotion to this woman. I could do this. I wasn’t going to let her control me. Bring me down. I could do this. “Is that all, ma’am?” I asked, and she turned her attention back to me.
“Oh, yes, of course, darling. Yes, that’s all. Oh, and, dear?”
I swallowed hard. “Yes, Ms. Preston.”
“You have a week to make your decision.”
I wanted to do more than cry now. I wanted to scream and shout. I wanted to tell her that she did not control me. But she held my future in her hands, and that future meant I couldn’t have Owen. That future meant I would have to give up love if I wanted it. Well, I didn’t think I could do this. I didn’t think I could do this.
Don’t be a fool. She can ruin your career. She can make sure you’ll never have a future.
Was Owen Montgomery worth it? I wanted the answer to be yes. But was I willing to risk everything I’d worked so hard for? More importantly, would Owen do the same for me?
When I reached my office on shaky legs, I eased into my seat, set my laptop and notebook and tablet down, and then texted him.
Tanith: We have a problem.
Maybe if we talked about it, we’d figure it out. He would know how to handle her because at the end of the day, she was his mother, and she was right. He was hers. So, if anyone knew how to handle her, he would.
* * *
Owen
The first thing I did when I met Tanith at the van Dorens was hold her. Even though she held herself stiffly. Even though she didn’t say anything. I knew it was bad. I knew it was bad because she didn’t give me that smile that was meant just for me. I knew it was bad because instead of fire and fun, all I had was an unyielding robot. And when she pulled back from my hold, I saw the bags around her eyes behind her glasses. She’s been crying.
“Hi, love. I’m so sorry.”
“What am I supposed to do, Owen?”
“I don’t know. But let me just hold you for a second. Do you want to talk about it now or when we get back to campus?”
“Campus,” she murmured softly.
The long drive to Pembroke was tense and quiet. It wasn’t until we were back on campus in my room, lying in my bed with her tucked in my arms, that she finally spoke.
“What am I supposed to do, Owen?” she asked once she finished telling me everything.
I sighed. I couldn’t believe my mother had gone nuclear so quickly. Usually, she preferred more subtle tactics to bring me to heel. Going after Tanith was bang out of order. “Look, this is a test, love. She wants to see how committed I am to you. I’ll speak to her.”
She shifted in my arms. “What kind of test? That’s absurd. And I don’t think it’s a test at all. She was very serious. I choose you or my internship. I can’t have both.”
“She doesn’t mean it, Tanith. Besides, she can’t really stop us from being together at school. And in the city, we can stay at hotels. I’ve seen this game a million times with Felix. She threatens, he does what he likes, she fumes. It’s an old game. She’s not going to fire you.”
“You weren’t there, Owen. She was very serious. And what happens when she finds out we’re still seeing each other?” She sat up, pushing me away. “I’m not willing to sneak around.”
I didn’t want to diminish her feelings, but we weren’t going to have to sneak. “We don’t have to.”
“We do. The Preston name adorns two buildings on campus. You think she doesn’t have spies everywhere?”
I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing. While I didn’t put it past my mother to have spies, I hardly thought she was going to have someone skulking around campus trying to catch us kissing. Also, I was Hellfire Club. There were a million ways to have a private moment where no one would ever see me. But this wasn’t about that. She was scared, so I needed to do something to fix that for her. “Look, I don’t want to hide either. When I want to be
