to shreds.
Through all of that, she had raised Eric and Nina. Together.
Still…Nina was not her grandmother. She would never be Celeste de Vries. And it was time to be honest. In all likelihood, she would also never live up to the impossible standards this family set for her.
Nina forced herself to meet Calvin’s eye. “I—of course not. You’ve been very kind to me, Calvin. I’d never say otherwise.”
He relaxed, plucked an oil-soaked beet from her plate, and sat back again. “Good. Then we’re clear.”
Nina frowned. “What? But I—”
“But you what, princess?”
Nina frowned at the cold hunk of meat on her plate. He wasn’t really going to make her say this, was he?
He was.
“To be honest, I really only ever imagined myself marrying someone for love,” she told her food. And immediately flushed red. As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she wanted to take them back.
Not because they were wrong. Nina did feel that way. But there again was Peppe, his kind, weathered face crinkled with a melancholy smile. Wondering at her naivety, even if he never said anything out loud.
Nina felt as though her chest was twisted into a solid knot. Love. What did that matter now, when the man who owned her heart wasn’t someone she could ever have? Especially in a world where most of the women she knew married for reasons that had nothing to do with their hearts. The notion now seemed childish. Like she was, in fact, the naive young princess Calvin accused her of being.
Calvin looked at Nina like he was sorry for her. “Good lord, did you think I meant forever?”
Nina looked up. “Um, I—I’m sorry, what do you mean by that?”
“I meant temporarily, you silly girl. Obviously this would be an arrangement. We’d share an apartment—separate rooms, of course—for a year or two. However long you think it would take for the bloom to fall off the rose or whatever so I can make an exit that won’t land you in the papers for too long. What do you think your grandmother would prefer? Divorce after a year or a baby out of wedlock?”
It sounded so crass, the way he said it. Nina’s first thought was neither.
As if he could read her mind, Calvin clapped a wide, moist palm on top of Nina’s, its heavy weight trapping hers to the linen tablecloth.
Nina had to fight not to pull her hand away. “And what do you get out of this?”
Calvin shrugged. “It’s simple. I know you’ve been asking around about me, princess. You’re not that subtle, you know.”
Nina had the grace to blush. To whom had he been talking?
“And you’re at least smart enough to know I’ve got some irons in the fire, since you keep asking about them. But I need connections to make them happen.” Calvin shrugged as he finally removed his hand, though he swiped an oil-soaked potato from her plate and popped it in his mouth. “So, you get to avoid disgracing your family and keep your good name. I get to be a part of the de Vrieses, if only for a little while, and I’ll have some doors opened that I need right now.” His face darkened significantly. “Unless you’re looking for a repeat of what happened to your cousin?”
Nina swallowed. The family hadn’t even come close to recovering from that debacle. Eric continued to go rogue, so to speak—currently gallivanting his way around California, as far as Nina could tell from friends—and Page Six was still having a field day speculating about the city’s missing heir.
Calvin knew just as well as she did that her family was not to be trifled with. And that her grandmother wouldn’t take to another scandal.
“I will be a success in this life, Nina,” Calvin said. “It’s the only thing worth doing right.”
Nina opened her mouth to ask what exactly he meant by that, but before she could, they were interrupted.
“N? Nina, is that you?”
Nina turned with shock to find her best friend, Caitlyn Calvert, weaving her way between the tables.
They had formed a friendship as children when Caitlyn received a scholarship at her preparatory academy, where she had boarded instead of commuting from her hometown of Paterson. She had even stayed with Nina’s family several times when her own home life had been more…difficult.
Even so, the girls had somewhat drifted apart over the last few years. Nina had gone away to college, but Caitlyn had stayed put on the Upper East Side, by what means, Nina