An Improper Deal(37)
Next time, my new wife and I are going to be private, and I’m going to hear her scream my name until her voice goes hoarse.
My phone rings. Elizabeth.
“Yes?” I say.
“Are you alone?” she asks.
“Uh-huh.” I put the phone on speaker and get myself some scotch. “Did you get the girl home?”
“Yeah. She could barely sit still the entire time. I thought she might start kissing the dashboard.”
“Why?” Ryder’s Ferrari is nice, but it’s not worthy of idolatry.
“Because Ryder touched it.” I can hear an eye roll in her voice. As much as Elizabeth loves him, she’s also aware of his shortcomings. So she thinks it’s pretty silly that women fall to their knees at the sight of him. “Anyway…” She pauses. “Gigi’s not what I expected.”
“What were you expecting?” I say, although I kind of know. Elizabeth was expecting a stripper because that’s what I told her I was after. I haven’t told my half-sister about the other aspects of my fiancée, since I still don’t know what to make of her working as a cleaning lady or rejecting my offer of three thousand dollars for sex. Actually…maybe she turned the money down because she didn’t realize how good I could make the rest of it for her. I squint a little, thinking about the idea.
“Somebody more shallow and silly. Just the woman you said you want.”
And like a lot of women I’ve banged over the years. “So?”
“Are you settling down for real like Ryder?”
The scotch takes the wrong pipe. I choke, then cough as alcohol burns in my nose. “Oh shit. God. Hell no. Besides, who says he’s settling down for real?” I ask, although I know she’s right.
“Have you seen the way he looks at Paige?”
“Have you seen the way I look at my girl?” The possessive term slips out as naturally as breathing. I wince, going for more alcohol.
A long pause. “You’re right.”
“Finally. Some common sense. Look, sis, stop worrying about me. Worry about yourself.”
“Me?”
“You need a husband soon. At least us guys can choose from assistants and strippers. What are you going to do? Gigolos aren’t really your thing.”
She’s quiet for a moment. “I’ll think of something.”
“And for god’s sake, don’t do a one-year thing.”
“Why not?”
“Because you’re you, and you need somebody who adores you. You deserve a man who launches a thousand ships, razes cities, builds empires in your name…”
She laughs, but the sound lacks humor. “That’s so medieval. How much did you drink?”
“Nah, I’m totally sober.” I’d just hate it if she ends up with a womanizing asshole like me. The odds of that happening area really low so I’m probably worried about nothing. The girl—Gigi—wants my money, desperately so. Elizabeth is beautiful, kind, and most importantly, wealthy. Besides, her mother’s side of the family is filthy rich and über well-connected. They’d never let anything happen to her.
She sighs. “I just wonder if we’re all dancing to Dad’s tune, rushing into marriage with people we would’ve never chosen otherwise. It seems to be working out for Ryder, but I don’t know about you.”
I give a gasp of mock outrage. “Are you saying she isn’t good enough because she’s a stripper?”
“No! My gosh, don’t put words into my mouth. There’s nothing wrong with stripping. It’s honest work.”
“Well. That’s very…open-minded of you.”
“I’m not upset about her job history. I’m just not sure if both of you will be happy together for a year.”
“Sis, it’s only a year.”
“It’s three hundred and sixty-five days of your life, Elliot.” Her voice is quiet. “With the wrong person, that can feel like an eternity.”
“Jeez. When did you become so…philosophical?”
“When I realized we’re doing things that we would never do just for the paintings. I wonder if that’s what Grandpa would’ve wanted.”
She has a point. But Grandpa Thomas is gone, and Dad has his portraits… I sigh.
Grandpa was the only one in the family who cared. Dad was too busy with his various wives, and Mom was too distracted with her new husband and the life she was trying to create to ensure that Dad saw how much better off she was without him. That left no time for us, and we were shipped off to Europe for boarding schools.
For the best and the most prestigious education money can buy, they claimed. But we all knew the truth. It was the easiest and the most PR-positive way to unload us.