Gilded Craving - Olivia Jaymes Page 0,52

is. The truth doesn't care about our delicate feelings. It's just the truth."

Jack cleared his throat. "All I'm asking you to do is be kind when you talk to them. That's it."

"But you didn't ask, Dad," Ryan argued. "You never asked me to do that, and I would have done that anyway. I don't want to hurt them. But no, you never asked. If you had, I would have said yes."

"Fine," Jack huffed. "Ryan, will you please be kind to Skip and Lilly when you talk to them? They're going through hell and I don't want anyone making it any worse for them."

"The last thing I want to do is make it worse. Of course I will be kind. But I will do my job."

Everyone was quiet at the table. The tension still thick. No one seemed to want to speak and that made Mariah antsy. She couldn't take the prolonged silence. Someone had to say...something.

"I think I'm going to run to the ladies' room before we have dessert." She hopped up from her chair. "I'll be right back."

Liza jumped up as well. "That's a good idea. Save us some cheesecake. We'll be back in a few minutes. I need to freshen up my lipstick."

In the summer, dessert was always served on the back terrace as long as the weather was good.

Liza linked her arm with Mariah and practically dragged her out of the dining room. On second thought, maybe it was a bad idea to leave Ryan alone with his parents.

"Perhaps I should go back," Mariah whispered, glancing over her shoulder. "Ryan might need me to run interference."

"Mike will do it. Besides, it's not your job anymore, remember?"

She did, but it wasn't easy. Having Ryan in the same room, sitting right next to her, overrode all the good reasons they weren't together.

And they were good reasons. She had lots of them.

If only she could think of a couple...

Wait. She had one.

He was a stubborn jerk about his parents, and he needed a sharp kick to his shin. She just might be the person to do it, too.

19

This was one of those nights when Ryan barely recognized himself. Everything had been going smoothly at dinner and then...bam. Tense words were exchanged. This time he couldn't blame it on his father. This was all on him. He'd escalated the situation and ruined everyone's digestion.

He simply couldn't seem to stop himself from saying something that would piss his dad off. Of course, Jack didn't truly know if Skip was aware of Brad's gambling but if that's what his father wanted to believe, who was Ryan to knock over that apple cart? He should have just let it go but he hadn't, opening his big mouth instead and challenging his old man.

Jack Beck never backed down from a challenge. Neither did Ryan.

It looked like Mariah had been right about that one. He had quite a bit in common with his dad after all. In fact, Mariah had been correct about a lot of things, including that Ryan wasn't blameless for the tension between him and his parents. Looking back, he'd carried at least half of the load. Jack and Patricia were only fifty percent to blame. Now he had a hell of a lot of thinking to do about the relationship with his parents. If he could change a bit...let things go...

Everything always had to be your way. You couldn't compromise, ever.

Mariah's words haunted him. She'd told him when they'd broken up, and then she'd told him again that first night he'd been in her apartment. How many times did he need to hear it before he believed it?

A whole bunch, apparently.

He had changed over the years but when he was back with his parents it was like he was a kid again. And he was acting like it. He needed to straighten up and act like the man he professed to be. He didn't know how he was going to fix his tattered relationship with his mom and dad, but at least now he knew he wanted to.

Realization had hit him between the eyes and that's the only explanation for why he was now standing in the middle of his childhood bedroom. It wasn't like he hadn't seen it in years. He didn't stay in it when he visited for the holidays - that's what the apartment was for - but it was a handy place to retreat to when family get-togethers became a little too much.

Tonight, however, it felt like he