Chapter Twenty-seven

Raven and I were at Neon City, waiting for Laurel and Briar to show up. Things with Raven had seemed borderline magical ever since we’d said we loved each other, every moment filled with so much heart and light.

Even now, as we held hands across the table, I could’ve sworn that I felt sparks coming off his skin.

“You look beautiful,” I murmured, my eyes not leaving his.

He smiled at me. “You look beautiful, too.”

“It’s not the same.” I shook my head. “The way you look… it’s transcendent.”

“Transcendent?” He chuckled. “I haven’t heard that word in a while.”

“Damn. I was hoping I’d be the first to use it on you.”

“Ehh. A lot of words have been used on me, Sky. Some good. Some bad.” He grinned. “But I always appreciate the effort you put into trying to surprise me.”

“How about resplendent?” I asked, trying to find a word Raven hadn’t heard used on him before.

“One time. In 2015.” He chuckled again. “But I think you might be getting warmer.”

I smiled. “And this is the curse of having a hot boyfriend. It’s much harder to compliment him, since the whole world has showered him with all of the compliments already.”

“Boyfriend?”

“Shit. Right. Sorry.” I sighed. “I forgot that I was supposed to ask you about that first.”

“You should ask me, then.” He smiled.

“Really? You won’t mind if I ask you while we’re here?”

“You never know when the sky is going to fall, Sky. Pun not intended,” he said. “It’s better to know where we stand, than to spend the rest of our lives wondering, you know?”

“Sure. Yeah.” I took in a deep breath before I asked, “Raven Williams, will you be my boyfriend?”

“What are you talking about? I’ve been your boyfriend for weeks.” He grinned, giving me a soft kiss.

I returned his kiss with just as much gentleness, always enjoying the feel of Raven’s lips on mine.

“Please don’t tell me you invited us here just so we can watch you two make out.” Briar frowned. “If I wanted to watch PDA, I could’ve just sat on that one bench in the park.”

“Yeah, right. Good luck getting to that bench. It’s always so busy,” Laurel said as he took a seat beside me. “Sky, random question! How do you feel about green peppers?”

“Indifferent?”

“See? Like I told you, Briar.” Laurel rolled his eyes. “Most people don’t have an opinion about green peppers, either way.”

“That’s because most people don’t have any taste, either way.” Briar shrugged while he took a seat next to Raven. “And speaking of people with no taste--”

“I swear to God, Briar, if you say anything about my outfit tonight,” Raven playfully warned.

“I wasn’t going to say anything,” Briar continued. “Not out loud, anyway.”

“And on that note, I need to go to the bathroom.” Raven sighed. “Can you two watch Sky, please? I’d hate for my boyfriend to slip away so quickly after we finally labeled the relationship.”

“Boyfriend?” Laurel seemed excited. “Oh my god! Raven! Sky! Congratulations!”

“Congratulations,” Briar muttered, his attention focused on the alcohol list on the table.

“I’ll miss you,” I whispered to Raven.

“I’ll miss you, too.” He smiled as he made his way to the bathroom.

“So, what have you two been up to--” I started.

“Your father is trying to ruin Raven’s business,” Briar cut me off. “Raven didn’t want us to say anything, but people keep canceling on him left and right, and he’s so stressed out that he’s barely functioning at work.”

Laurel nodded. “It’s like he’s a zombie.”

“What?” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “My father is trying to ruin Raven’s business? How? Why?”

“Helping the competition poach our clients,” Briar explained. “And why? I’m guessing it has something to do with you secretly being a prince. Or whatever Raven said about you. I forget.”

“He’s not a prince, Briar. He’s an heir,” Laurel corrected. “Right?”

“Right,” I replied in a calm tone, even as my blood started to boil.

Why hadn’t Raven told me what was going on at work?

Here I was, thinking that we were blissfully in love, seemingly falling for each other more and more each day. And yet, Raven hadn’t even trusted me enough to tell me the truth about my father’s attempt to ruin his livelihood.

Although, to be fair, I’d never gotten around to telling him about the meeting I’d had with my father either, the one where he’d expected me to propose to Irene, right then and there.

As I thought more about the situation, my anger toward Raven softened into understanding. I was still pissed off about my father, though, and I knew that I needed to confront him about his shitty behavior, sooner rather than later.

But as Raven came back to the table, as I looked around and saw him and his best friends, all laughing and joking with each other, I decided that I was going to hold off on thinking about my father, on thinking about anything outside of this moment.

And the rest of the night went by in a bright flash of friendship, drinks, and love.

* * *

“Why didn’t you tell me about my father?” I asked nearly as soon as Raven and I walked through his front door. “Why would you ever keep something like that from me?”

“Do we really have to do this right now?” he whined. “Sorry. It’s just... I had way too much tequila tonight.”

“Yeah, we have to do this. Right now,” I replied. “Raven, you can’t keep shit like that from me. How am I supposed to help you if I don’t even know what’s going on--”

“And how exactly are you supposed to help me with this, Sky?” he asked. “What are you going to do? Outspend your dad? Or are you going to talk to him about it and see if he’ll let up?”

“My dad isn’t unreasonable. He can just be an asshole sometimes--”

“Yeah, I know.” Raven laughed. “But it’s okay. I can handle it. If Edward is anything like any of the other bullies I’ve ever known in my life, eventually, he’ll just get bored and want to go home.”

“You shouldn’t have to handle this alone.” I took a step closer to him. “Just let me help, okay? I can talk to my dad, see what the hell is going through his head--”

He shook his head. “No. You can’t talk to him.”

“Why not?”

“Because.”

“Because why, Raven?” I was getting a little frustrated with his non-answers.

“Because if you talk to him, then he’s going to win!” he shouted. “Because that’s how this works! You talk to him and he convinces you that the best way to get him to stop fucking with my clients is for you to marry Irene! And then you marry her and I’m… I’m…”

His shouting turned into sobs.

And my heart shattered into pieces.

He still didn’t trust me. It didn’t matter that I was willing to go to bat for him. It didn’t matter that I’d kissed him in front of everyone at Neon City, in front of everyone at the wedding. It didn’t matter that we’d spent the last few weeks, wrapped up in each other, seemingly inseparable.

Raven still thought that I was going to leave.

I didn’t know how to make him believe that I was going to stay.

“Raven--”

“Go.”

“Raven, no. I’m not going anywhere--”

“Please! Just go!” He sobbed again. “I don’t want to be the person you resent in a few years, because I made you give up your inheritance or your legacy or whatever the fuck. I can’t be that person for you, Sky. I can’t have you look at me one day and think you made a mistake.”

“I would never feel that way about you. I love you--”

“I love you, too.” He smiled through his tears. “That’s what makes this so fucking hard.”

Then he gently pushed me back toward the open door, back toward the hallway of his apartment complex.

“Raven, please. Please, don’t do this,” I begged. “Please.”

“I’m sorry. I love you. I’m sorry,” he whispered.

And then, he closed the door, with me on the other side.

* * *

I didn’t know what to do.

I didn’t know how to make Raven trust me. I didn’t know how to prove to him that he means the world to me, that he matters more to me than anything.

And the further I got away from his apartment, the more it felt like our time was running out. He hadn’t officially broken up with me, at least he hadn’t said the words, but I knew that what I had with him was on its final gasps.

Although, as I thought more about the way things had turned out with Raven, the more I wondered how a connection as strong as ours could’ve possibly gone so horribly off the rails, there was only one name that came to mind:

Edward.

My father had wanted to come between us, and it looked like he’d succeeded. I knew that he was willing to cross a few lines when it came to the family business, but I’d never expected that he’d stoop this low.

Before I’d even realized where I was going, I found myself standing outside of my father’s hotel room, almost as if my body had brought me there via muscle memory. I banged on his door with all the strength I had in my fist.

He answered the door with a wide smile. “Sky! What brings you over so late, son?”

“You need to stay out of my life.”

“What?”

“You need to stay out of my life!” I repeated, firmly this time. “And Raven’s life, too.”

“Ah. So, I’m guessing he told you about our little meeting.”

“Why would you do something like that?” I snapped. “Why would you try to ruin Raven’s business? What the hell, Dad?”

“I was only trying to protect you, Sky,” my father continued. “What happened with Raven’s business was nothing malicious, I can assure you. I just wanted to put a little heat on him so that he’d--”

“So that he’d what? Break up with me?” My voice shook. “Is that what you wanted? For me to get my heart broken?”

“Is that what happened?” My dad’s voice was low. “Did he break things off with you?”

“Why are you acting like you care?” I scoffed. “Congratulations! You win. Just like always.”

“Sky--”

“You may have lost a son, but at least you got to prove your point.” I cut him off with my response. “I hope you’re happy with what you’ve got left.”

I turned away from my father, confident that it was the last time we’d ever see each other.

But then he reached out for my shoulder, keeping me in place “Sky! Wait. I’m sorry. Son, I’m sorry for what I did to you and to Raven, too. You were right. I was just trying to prove a point. I thought that you and him...” He sighed. “I thought that you and Raven weren’t built to last. And that was my mistake. If I’d known how you felt about him, if I’d seen it… but maybe I was just too blind.”

“Maybe so,” I suggested.

“Seeing you like this, son, I know that you love that man.” He nodded. “And if he’s the one you want in your life, then I’m not going to get in your way. Not anymore.”

“What about the Marseille family?”

“They’ll be fine.” My father waved his hand. “I always suspected that you weren’t Irene’s first choice anyway. If she plays her cards right, she can end up married to a nice billionaire.”

“And? What happens to the family business?”

“We can talk about that later.” He smiled again. “But for now, I suspect that you may need a father, more than you need a business partner.”

“You’re right,” I admitted. “Dad, I don’t know what to do. I love Raven so much, but I don’t know if he believes me. I don’t know how to make him trust me.”

“Hmm. Your mother and I had the same problem when we started out,” my dad replied.

“Wait. Really?”

“Well, I was a trust fund party boy, and your mother was a good girl who never stayed out past nine.” He chuckled. “It was hard for her to believe that I could ever change my ways, so it took a bit of convincing on my end.”

“How’d you do it?”

“A lot of patience, and one grand gesture.”

“One grand gesture?”

“It always takes at least one, doesn’t it?” My father smirked. “Why don’t you come on in, son, and we can talk about it over a pot of coffee?”

“Okay,” I relented and stepped inside my dad’s hotel room.