The sound was ugly and sloppy. How much had he drunk?
“Ceinlys looks young, doesn’t she?” he asked abruptly.
She nodded. Not just young but dignified as she’d sat at the end of the table.
“That’s how she is. Timeless.” He sighed, his shoulders sagging. “Not like me. I’ve changed so much. Probably aged poorly.”
“You look fine.” Sophia cradled the glass in her hands, then took another sip as silence hung heavily between them. This was…awkward, but maybe Salazar needed somebody to talk to…even if it was somebody who didn’t know him or his family situation all that well. With Mark getting married, he might be feeling nostalgic or something.
“Dane likes you,” he said suddenly.
She choked on her scotch. “Salazar, really, the last thing I want to dis—
“He does,” Salazar went on. “He thinks he’s slick and can hide it from me, but I can tell. I’m his father, after all…even if he doesn’t want it that way.”
“I’m sure he respects you as a father.” Even as she said those words, she knew Salazar might be right. After all, telling Dane he should’ve never been born probably had killed whatever love he might’ve had for his father.
“You’re so sheltered, you have no idea what you’re talking about. Mother disapproved of me, but adored him, saying he has all the right qualities to be the head of our illustrious family. Both of them made it clear how li’l they thought of me, while using the wealth that I”—he jumped to his feet, raising his hands—“created.” He swayed unsteadily. “At least Ceinlys is hones’ about what she saw in me—money! If I hadn’t been trapped, I coulda started over. I met a woman I liked, you know. I’m not some unfeeling womanizing asshole!”
Sophia placed her more than half-full glass on the floor by the corner of the four-poster bed. “Why don’t you sit back down? You might be a little drunk.”
“This? Nah. This is nothing!”
“But—”
“You know what galls me? He’s successful. Doesn’t even need my damn money, which gives him moral superiority. But what he doesn’t remember is that it’s my connections”—he tapped his chest—“and this family name that gave him his start. He would’ve been nothin’ without me.” He slashed the air with his hand. “Nothin’!”
I should’ve declined the drink and shut the door and gone to sleep. What did she know about dealing with a drunken man who wanted to rant about his family? And despite what Salazar claimed, Dane was too smart and dominant to end up as “nothing,” even if he hadn’t had any special connections.
“Come on, Salazar. Sit down.”
“No.” He pulled back. “I’m def’nitely not drunk. Are you trying to treat me like an idiot too?”
“You know better than—”
“Do I? Do I? I’m a terrible judge of character, seems like. Screwed up so many things.” He took another swig from the bottle.
The first thing to do was to get the bottle away from him. Sophia reached for it, and he raised his right arm. “Oh no, you don’t!”
“Okay, well, I’m finished. I’m calling the housekeeper now to help you get undressed and go to bed.” She hit the button by the bed for housekeeping.
“Now, why’d you hafta do that?” Salazar shoved the bottle to his mouth and chugged the rest, his throat working.
Sophia shook her head. He was acting like a temperamental child. Then again, the divorce probably wasn’t all that amicable despite Ceinlys’s serene appearance.
He dropped his empty bottle, then swayed a bit. “See? Perfectly sober.”
“If you can count down from ten to one, I’ll believe you.”
“Ten. Nine. Eight,” he began, then shook his head. “Maybe next is seven.”
She sighed. That wasn’t too bad. Maybe he wasn’t as drunk as she’d thought.
He stumbled forward, losing his balance. She caught him, afraid he might hit his head on one of the bedposts. He was heavier than he looked, and he flailed, trying to regain his footing. It only managed to unbalance her, and they fell on the bed together with him on top.
A double knock sounded at the door, and it opened to reveal the housekeeper. “You called for…?” The rest of it died.
Sophia’s skin prickled, and everything inside her froze at the sight of Dane’s cold face behind the housekeeper. Cringing, she pushed Salazar off her. Dane must’ve been on his way to his suite. His gaze flickered to his father, who was laughing with a hand over his eyes, then to her. Her cheeks flamed.