A Deal with the Bossy Devil by Kyra Parsi

34

The airport had descendedinto chaos.

The storm had more-or-less shut down all air travel to and from Southern Ontario, New York, and all surrounding areas, which meant that the airlines were slammed and scrambling, trying to accommodate their panicking passengers, all of whom had A Very Important Reason for needing to be on the very first available flight out east. And since I didn’t already have a ticket booked, I was their lowest priority.

But Finn, the extremely impatient customer service agent who’d looked like he’d already had enough of my bullshit before I’d even opened my mouth, was going to “see what he could do. Next, please!”

To top off my already crappy day, ticket prices had skyrocketed due to demand, and since I didn’t have a job anymore, splurging on a hotel room in addition to what would likely end up being a two-thousand-dollar flight was now out of the question.

I really should have gone home when I’d still had the chance. What the hell had possessed me to stay? How had I anticipated this whole thing would end if not in utter disaster?

I tried not to think too hard about it though—tried my best not to feel.

The absolute last fucking thing I needed was to have a breakdown in the middle of the airport, so I nabbed the first seat that opened up in the public zone and concentrated on suppressing the hell out of my emotions.

The text came twenty minutes later.

Unknown Number

I’m sorry.

I blocked the number and slipped my phone back into my jacket pocket. It went off again almost immediately.

From: Adhir King <[email protected]>

Miss Sanchez,

I hope this email finds you well. It has been brought to our attention by our CEO, Adrien Cloutier, that you may be experiencing travel disruptions brought on by extreme weather conditions impacting your destination and are likely stuck at the airport.

We understand how frustrating this must be and would like to offer you the use of our Presidential Suite for as many nights as you need.

A car is on its way to pick you up from the airport, and all other necessary arrangements have already been made to ensure—

I stopped reading, turned off all notifications from the sender, and got up to treat myself to a small white hot chocolate from Timmies.

Approximately forty-five minutes after that, Finn found me, looking significantly more chastised than he had during our first interaction. He was accompanied by a woman in a crisp black pantsuit who shook my hand and introduced herself as the airport general manager.

The introduction was followed by a rapid string of apologies about the weather in Toronto—as though she was directly responsible for its bad behavior—and the insistence that I take advantage of one of their VIP lounges while a private suite on the third floor was being prepared for my overnight use. Free of charge, of course.

She’d become increasingly flustered (and almost pleading) as I continued to refuse her offer.

An airline manager came next.

More apologies about the weather. More insistence that they were doing the absolute best they could under the circumstances. More VIP lounge access offers.

I had a headache by the time I’d finally gotten them off my back and made my escape to the second floor. I found a quiet spot to rest while I waited for the available flight notification to hit my inbox, which Finn and the airline manager were now insisting would likely be “no later than noon tomorrow.”

I slept across the length of a hard two-seater with my knees curled up to my chest and woke up with a sore neck and a stiff everything else. But none of my valuables were stolen, so that was something.

By the time I’d splashed some water on my face and grabbed a cup of coffee, I’d received a notification to head to the nearest information desk as soon as possible.

I practically ran there.

“Miss Sanchez! Hello!” The young woman shot to her feet when she saw me, beaming like we were long-lost pals.

“Hey, yeah, I just got a notification telling me to come down here. I’ve been trying to get back to Toronto. Is there—”

I stopped talking when she waved her hand. “We’re well aware of your situation. Your seat on the next flight out has been secured, but it’s in a different terminal. I’ll be more than happy to escort you there if you’re ready?”

I didn’t even question it. At this point, I’d row back to Toronto in a fucking canoe if it meant I’d get to sleep in my own bed tonight, with Toebeans trying his best to suffocate me.

And that was the exact moment I remembered that Adrien had forced me to move into his stupid building when this whole nightmare first started. I groaned internally, so preoccupied with trying to figure out the logistics of having to explain everything to Jamie, pack up all our stuff, and move back to our apartment as soon as humanly possible, that I didn’t notice how much quieter my surroundings had become until the echoing of our steps grew so prominent and loud that it finally snatched my attention.

I blinked, glancing around. The long hallway I was being led down was surprisingly empty, save for the two people walking a few meters ahead of us and a handful of suited employees standing behind desks belonging to airlines I’d never heard of.

“Um, question for you…”

“Anna,” she said, noting the not-so-subtle way I was trying to catch a glimpse of her name tag.

“It’s nice to meet you, Anna,” I said politely, only now realizing how suspiciously quiet she’d been during our walk so far. “Can you tell me what airline I’m flying with, exactly?”

In lieu of an answer, Anna slipped her employee card out of her breast pocket and flashed it to the two uniformed men standing outside a pair of ebony doors.

“After you.” She gestured to the door as one of the men held it open for us.

I stepped inside and… a lounge. She’d led me straight to a fucking lounge.

My molars crammed together as my frustration peaked. I tried to keep my voice calm and centered. I really did. “Listen, I’m not trying to be rude or anything because I know you’re just trying to do your job, but I’ve had a reallyrough twenty-four hours and I just need to get home. So, if you could please just give me my flight information—”

“That will be all, Miss Ross, thank you very much.”

My brain tripped over itself when the voice registered. I turned to the source, my brows leaping when I saw him.

“Gampy?” Or was I supposed to call him Robert now? I wasn’t sure what Adrien had told his family about us since I’d left yesterday—if anything.

“Good morning, Ria.” He smiled.

He was decked out in a pale pink sweater vest, a checkered bowtie, and matching socks. I’d have spotted him from ten miles away had my brain not been so mushy.

“Wh-uh… what are you doing here?” I asked.

“Impromptu visit to Toronto,” he answered swiftly. “Long overdue. My college buddies live out there.”

I fiddled with the handle of my carry-on, twisting my fist around it. “You decided to spontaneously fly to Ontario on the tail-end of the biggest storm of the year?”

He simply shrugged in response.

“On the day of Julie and Anthony’s anniversary party?” I pushed. Wasn’t it supposed to be kind of a big deal?

“Oh, they were quite understanding. In fact, Julie insisted I go. Tea?”

He meandered over to the stacked bar where the bartender was already pouring two steaming cups of freshly brewed… peppermint tea from the smell of it, and began filling a large plate with a colorful variety of pastries and scones.

My stomach twisted and growled as I eyed him. I’d skipped two meals yesterday and it was starting to catch up with me.

“Did Adrien put you up to this?” I asked when he moved to sit at a small walnut table. The bartender followed with the teas.

Robert’s mustache twitched. He thanked the bartender before returning his attention to me. “No, my dear. That boy isn’t putting anyone up to anything today. Not in his state.”

I wasn’t going to ask.

He wantedme to ask, but I wasn’t going to ask.

My lips rolled as I shifted on my feet. I needed to leave, find Anna, and beg her to at least give me a hint about when I could expect to get my hands on some flight information. But also, I didn’t want to be rude, because Adrien’s family had been nothing but sweet, kind, and welcoming from the moment I’d lied my way into their home.

“We’ve got just under an hour to go before boarding,” Robert noted as he spread a thin layer of red jam onto a small scone. “You’re welcome to stand there and stare at me the whole time, but I’d really love it if you’d join me here.”

I chewed the inside of my bottom lip, eyeing the doors. “When you say not in his state… is he… what does that mean?”

Not that I cared whether Adrien was okay or not, because I definitely didn’t. It wasn’t even curiosity. It was just small talk while I decided whether I should sit down and have a pastry before leaving.

Robert’s lower lip pushed at his mustache as he considered my question. “On one hand, he’s doing significantly better than Joshua. A fractured ring finger and a split brow will heal much more quickly than a broken nose, fractured cheekbone, and dislocated jaw. I reckon it’s a lot less painful too. Could have been much worse, though. It took five people, including three members of our staff, but they managed to pry Adrien away before any permanent injuries were sustained.”

My mouth popped open.

“On the other hand, however, I’ve never seen my grandson quite so… distraught, for lack of a better word. What happened yesterday morning really did a number on him. He’s inconsolable. Wouldn’t seek treatment for his hand until his mother put her foot down and dragged him to the hospital.”

Maybe this should have been good news—like justice being served or karma doing its thing—but it just felt awful. I was nauseated all over again.

“Ria, I would really love it if you’d sit down with me, please.”

I hesitated. It wasn’t a good idea for me to talk to him about anything Adrien-related. And I’d spend the entire week partaking in one bad idea after another.

“Thank you, but I really think I should… go…”

His phone went off as soon as I started talking. Five little dingsin quick succession, and a sixth when I trailed off. But he simply kept smiling up at me.

“You should maybe get that,” I said.

Robert waved me off. “It’s likely just Alice with more Adrien updates.”

A seventh ding, an eighth.

“What if it’s important?” There was a good chance my carry-on handle was going to be permanently mangled by the time this conversation was over.

“It probably is.”

Nine notifications. Nine!

Fuck. Okay. I’d sit down with him for five minutes, but only because my stomach was turning inside out with hunger. And if, in the meantime, Robert decided to check his messages and confirm that his idiot grandson hadn’t done any more idiotic things or sustained any more idiotic injuries, then so be it. That was his prerogative.

I sat down, very much pretending like I didn’t notice the way Robert’s mouth twitched in amusement as he watched me, his eyes glinting. As soon as I reached for a scone, he reached for his phone. I sipped my tea, he checked his messages. I scooped up a small spoonful of honey, he… frowned.

And in what could only be described as a gross overreaction, my heart leaped up to my head and immediately filled it with a plethora of highly improbable worse-case-scenarios as I watched him tap away at his screen, his face scrunching farther into itself with every passing second.

“Is everything okay?” I eventually asked.

“Hmm?”

“Is Adrien okay?” The panic cut clear through any effort I may have put toward keeping my tone casual and calm.

“Oh,” Robert said, not taking his eyes off the screen. Then, “No.”

Instead of elaborating, he simply put his phone away again and bit into a cucumber sandwich.

I grit my teeth, squirmed in my seat, told myself it was fine. After all, Adrien deserved to suffer a little over what he’d put me through. What he didn’t deserve was to have me sit here and care about what happened to him; or to have my insides lurch with worry over him.

“Oh, and before I forget, I think it’s important for you to know that Joshua is no longer welcome in our family home.”

My scattered attention zoomed back in on Robert. “Pardon?”

“That boy has been on thin ice with us for a while now,” he said with a new firmness. “I never really did forgive him for what happened with Mandy, but Addy insisted we let it go because he didn’t want it leaking to the media. They have a bad habit of twisting stories about him to get clicks so we… Anyway, the point is, you won’t have to worry about running into Joshua should you decide to come back here and visit us again. Which, by the way, we really hope you would.”

That was never going to happen. If Robert knew—

“Adrien told us everything.”

I doubted he actually meant everything—

“And I do mean everything. Addy spilled the beans once Joshua, Mandy, and Kenny were removed from the property.”

Okay. But there was no way he’d told them about the relationship—

“Including the true nature of your relationship. We’re aware the engagement wasn’t real.”

I felt my shoulders deflate as my gaze dipped to the untouched scone resting on my plate. Things were about to become very awkward.

“Addy was also very adamant that we all understood none of this was your idea or your fault,” he said firmly. “So please don’t think anyone is angry or upset with you, because that simply isn’t true, and it’s also not what this conversation is about.”

I risked a glance up at him. “What’s it about then?”

He considered my question before committing to an answer. “In light of all the recent… dishonesty, I think it’s important for me to share a few truths with you. Just so you have a better understanding of how things look from where Alice, Julie, Anthony, and I stand.”

I sipped my cooling tea as the realization crept in. He was about to hit me with one of those “we’re not angry, we’re just disappointed”talks, wasn’t he? In his defense, I deserved it. In mydefense… I still deserved it. My justifications and excuses weren’t his problem, so I just kept my head ducked and listened.

“I understand that your engagement wasn’t real, but the changes I’ve seen in my grandson over the course of this trip certainly are. And I believe—as does the rest of my family—that these changes have everything to do with you.”

I sunk a little lower in my seat, preparing myself for the worst. But then he said, “I’ve never seen him laugh with anyone the way he does with you.”

And it was so unexpected that it snagged my full, undivided attention. His smile was faint but kind, and his eyes carried none of the judgment I was expecting.

“That’s a truth,” he said softly. “We were all very surprised by it. It was a rather hot topic of discussion among us just yesterday morning, shortly before the guests arrived. We’ve also never seen him quite as enthralled with anyone as he is with you. Look at anyone the way he looks at you. And don’t get me started on the fact that you somehow managed to convince the boy to turn himself into a human blueberry.”

My neck warmed. “I didn’t convince him to do it,” I defended. I hadn’t needed to. He’d all but dove into the makeup stool headfirst.

Robert nodded, looking suspiciously like he was suppressing a quiet laugh. “Fair enough. The point is, I also haven’t seen my grandson engage in that level of play since he was two feet shorter than he is now. It was refreshing, to say the least.”

Okay, well, you know what wasn’t refreshing? Being lied to and straight-up manipulated.

…

But I guess Robert would already know that.

Still.

“Here’s one more truth for you to consider,” he went on. “I was there the day Adrien found out about Joshua and Mandy’s affair. I saw his reaction in real-time. He may have held on to some feelings of resentment toward Joshua that ended up festering, but with Mandy… it was night and day compared to what he’s been like the last twenty-four hours. Josh was lucky the confrontation happened while others were around to mediate the situation. And Addy will be lucky if charges aren’t pressed, but I digress.”

“To be clear, I didn’t encourage—or expect—there to be any physical retaliation when I told Adrien about what happened between Josh and myself.” I just thought he’d… I don’t know, maybe feel shitty about what he’d done for a bit, then move the hell on.

Robert shook off my concern. “Adrien’s a grown man, and he’s very capable of making his own decisions. I’m not here to blame you for his actions.”

I sucked on my cheek, wondering how I could ask this next question without being rude.

“You’re wondering what my angle is,” Robert cut in before I could string the question together. “What I’m trying to achieve by telling you all this.”

“Kind of,” I admitted.

He made a point of checking his wristwatch. “All right, I’ll cut to the chase, then. I’m trying to stall.”

Huh? “Stall for what?”

“Well, I could sit here all afternoon and talk your ear off about more truths we’ve all witnessed, but I really don’t think I have the words to accurately describe what Adrien’s currently… well, you’ll see.”

Uh… the fuck I would.

“Please tell me he’s not on his way here,” I pleaded as the panic set in.

“Okay. He’s not on his way here,” Robert deadpanned.

My eyes narrowed. “Are you lying?”

“Doesn’t feel so good, does it?” he chided with a pointed look.

Fuck.

“You said Adrien didn’t put you up to this!” I exclaimed, positively appalled by the level of treachery. It was always the innocent-looking ones you had to watch out for.

“Oh, that part was true. This was all Alice and me. Mostly me, though I’m sure she’ll try to claim otherwise if all goes according to plan.” He took a long sip of his tea. “But if it backfires, she’ll say she had nothing to do with it. Just watch.”

“Is this more stalling?”

“No. The next stalling item I had on the agenda was to ask for your input on a very serious disagreement Alice and I are currently having about the physical location of the matching tattoos she wants us to get for her birthday. She is being extremely impolite about the ordeal, and we’re both convinced that you’re the exact right person to settle the argument. But don’t worry, it should only take a minute or two of your time.

“You see, I’ve suggested a lower back placement for the tattoos, because then I can inform people who didn’t ask that I have a gramp stamp. But Alice claims that I’m not, and I quote, ‘a basic enough bitch’ to get away with a lower back tattoo. And even though I’ve repeatedly pointed out to her that you can’t get more basic or fragile than an overprivileged elderly white man, she simply refuses to see things my way. What do you think, Ria? Am I basic enough to pull off a gramp stamp? Or is my judgmental granddaughter correct?”

He nodded at his phone. “It’s actually what she was texting me about before you sat down.”

I rolled my lips, my palms hitting the table as I pushed up to my feet. “Well, I wish I could say this was nice, but I’ve very recently been taught a hard lesson about lying, so I’ll just say this: Alice is wrong, gramp stamp is hilarious, and I’m really sorry about lying to you all, but I’m going to leave now, and hopefully we never have a reason to—”

I cut off when I heard his gruff voice echoing outside, the rushed and unhappy pounding of his feet. My heart thrashed in my chest, adrenaline spiking through me.

Robert leaned back in his chair, his hands folding in front of him like a man who’d gotten exactly what he wanted.

I muttered a curse, twisting around just in time to watch the doors open, and for Adrien Cloutier to strut into the room in all his… glory?

Oh.

Oh, my god.

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