Page 68 of Hate On
Roman recalled the phone ringing a few hours earlier—he and Julianna had been very much distracted at the time and he suppressed a wince as he wondered how Charles Castle would handle it if he knew what Julianna had been doing at the time.
I’m sorry, sir. Your daughter and I are engaged in some very strenuous water sports and can’t currently come to the phone.
He bit back a laugh.
Of course, the older man may very well already know about him and Julianna. She had told him that her mother knew and she might have already told her father.
Somebody cleared a throat behind him and Roman turned to face Michael Montrose.
From the corner of his eye, he saw Julianna leading her parent away.
He didn’t look away from his father. It was the first time they’d seen each other since their fight. Michael was dressed in funeral suit of all black and a blindingly white shirt. The tie, too, was all, black, as was the small pocket square of the suit.
Michael Montrose had chosen to attend what could be one of the most important meetings of his career dressed like he was going to a funeral.
Roman couldn’t help but notice it and he wondered at the significance. His father was sending a message, but he wasn’t sure if it was for him…or somebody else.
“Hello, Dad,” Roman said, slipping a hand into his pocket.
Michael inclined his head, his eyes straying behind him to linger briefly on either Julianna or her father.
He was betting on Julianna. Roman could see the flicker of anger there, the questions, the determination.
He hadn’t softened even the slightest, Roman knew. But Roman hadn’t expected otherwise.
“What’s this all about, Roman?” Michael asked in a wintry voice. “Some smokescreen to try and distract me from what’s going on between you and that Castle woman?”
“She has a name,” Roman said mildly.
Michael’s glare intensified. “You going to answer me?”
Moira Templeton’s appearance wasn’t so much a rescue but a temporary reprieve. Things between Roman and his father were far from settled, he knew. And after the meeting… Roman didn’t want to think about how much moreunsettled things might get.
“Hello, everybody!” she said, walking in.
Her eyes landed on Michael and Roman and without blinking an eye, she walked right up to Michael and dropped a kiss on his cheek.
He grudgingly allowed it and gave her a stern smile.
In contrast to his formal black, she wore a dress of bright, peacock blue and looked quite cheerful as she drew away from the elder Montrose and tapped his arm.
“Michael, stop looking like such a mean old grouch,” she said with a kind of charm unique to the Templeton family. “Come, everybody…let’s have a seat and get started.”
On her way to her chair at the head of the table, she paused by Julianna and her father, giving Julianna a quick hug and giving Charles an echo of the kiss she’d given Michael. “It’s good to see you, Charles,” she said in a warm voice.
By the time she’d got herself a cup of coffee, everybody was seated, although Roman’s father hadn’t lost the cynical, dour expression.
Roman slanted a sidelong look toward Julianna. She met his eyes at exactly the right moment and he wondered if she knew what he was thinking.
Things weren’t off to a great start.
At least not on the Montrose side of things.
* * *
“Let me just say in conclusion,”Moira said, her lips curving in a pleased smile. “This is one way our three families will cement their positions asthetop names when it comes to fine jewelry. We can do something great together, the three of us. If we can all work together.”
For a long, tense few moments, nobody spoke.