Chapter 23

Trevor was back at his hotel hours later. He didn't have the heart to leave when he promised his father he'd stay till the end. Also, he'd just reconnected with people he hadn't spoken to in a while. Who respected him and were excited to see him. He could do nothing but spare that little time. Even if he'd rather not.

He took the phone numbers he could and went back to his hotel room, despite Quentin insisting he stay over. There's no way he's going to abandon his hotel room free of anyone, to stay there. The man probably wasn't going to let him have some peace and quiet if he'd agreed.

After he was done with his shower, he dried and dressed up before waiting patiently for the wine he'd ordered.

However, his patience ran out after a bit, so he decided to research. He was going online to search up Tina like he should've from the beginning. So he picked up his laptop and went straight to the table close by.

He hesitated a bit after he sat. He didn't know what results he was going to get when he typed in her name. Not worse than what she'd said, he was sure.

So he went online and confirmed all Tina had said, and more.

Trevor was disappointed in himself for not knowing such public information. He'd been too focused on his own business and problems, wallowing in pain from how they'd broken up. He'd pushed himself to do nothing but work and everyone encouraged him.

He paused when he thought of something.

Tina for sure wasn't a stranger to the media if she had a whole ass company. And if people knew her, then it meant the people around him knew where she was since. His Dad... Mom... Mike... Everyone encouraged him to work, ignore social media, ignore dating for now, try to go out with particular women if he's interested...

Not knowing how to feel, or what exactly to do with himself, he called his best friend.

Mike picked up quickly. "Hey! How's the whole business dinner?"

"We need to talk about Tina," Trevor said, ignoring the question.

"What?"

"Did you know about her from the beginning?"

"W-what?" Mike sounded confused and a bit worried. "Trevor, I don't-"

"Is that why you weren't happy when I first saw her? You knew she lived close by... You've always known where she's been. You just didn't tell me. Am I right?"

There was a moment of silence at the end of the other line, before Mike responded to his accusations. "I'm sorry."

Trevor sighed. "Of course you are."

***

They were driven to their hotel in silence, with Lamont glancing at her occasionally while they were in the car. She could see him from the corner of her eyes, opening his mouth and closing it a few times, most likely trying to find words to say.

Usually, she'd be unwilling to open up, but with him, she felt like she could. Like she would. It wasn't such a bad idea. She didn't really have anyone to talk to. Enna and Andrew had been trying to reach out, but she'd claimed she's busy. Or just ignored their calls, especially Enna's. She wondered why she was trying to act all familiar with her. She really wasn't interested in getting to know anyone now.

Especially when she hadn't been very honest with her closest friend, she thought, turning her head to meet his eyes and after looking into his curious and worried eyes for a bit, she said, "I'll tell you when we arrive, don't worry."

She didn't wait for him to say anything before she returned her attention back to the window beside her, eyes not really looking at anything. Just the reflection of her sad face.

It didn't take long for them to arrive and walked inside, not bothering to look around. They were hungry and tired. But that wasn't the most important thing.

When they got into their room after Lamont had rattled off what they wanted to eat, it was time to talk. And Tina didn't know where to start.

He shrugged as he got comfortable seated beside her on the bed. "Start anywhere. You don't have to say anything today. Just the important bits. We can always come back to this topic."

"You remember who my parents are, right?" she began. "And the whole deal with my surname."

He nodded. "You told me from the beginning."

"Well," she said, looking down at the sheets. "Trevor never knew. I never really thought it as a necessary information."

Lamont paid attention to her as she narrated everything she could, before he spoke again. "Are you going to talk to him?"

"I don't know." She had to talk to him though. "I don't want to make him more angry. I bet he's already gone to check everything out, told his family, too. Now I'll have a whole family hating me."

Just great.

"But it's not your fault though," Lamont whispered. "It's your family's fault. And the only thing you got from them is the house and winery. He shouldn't hold it against you."

He was right though, she had nothing else owned by her parents but her place. It'd been intentional, because the building was new. Because she couldn't stay in those other places owned by her parents, so she gave them to some of her relatives who were all-too-willing. It was better she did that, because they backed off from attacking her when she came back into the picture.

She sighed, closing her eyes as he patted her shoulder. "My grand parents are the reason his family went bankrupt at a point. They didn't do all of that legally. They have files of everyone there... It looked like they were about to do worse things before they died."

It seemed they were eyeing some properties owned by the Samuels. The entire family had always been paranoid about being the richest. To them it probably felt like some random people just came and took the spot from them. It was crazy how she never knew much about this until she came back.

She never had much bad thoughts about her grandparents. She had a soft spot for them. But when she found out the files, piled up in her grandfather's name, she felt more furious about the kind of family she came from. To think they were the ones who wanted her to live with them after she left her parents.

"He'll forgive you," Lamont said, sounding confident. "You said you guys were together for a while. Friends before lovers. This shouldn't be enough to push him away."

Tina didn't say anything to that. She wondered why she was so bothered about Trevor's reaction to everything. It's not like they were together anymore. She shouldn't be crying. She shouldn't be sad. She should be happy! Because now he probably wouldn't bother with her anymore. He'll be able to properly let her go, with hate in his heart.

He'll get to be in a relationship and...

She felt her chest hurt a bit at the thoughts. He had the right to do whatever he wanted. He had no loyalty to her. She wasn't his most important person anymore. She hadn't been in a long time. And it's all her fault.

"Should I call him?" she blurted, to which Lamont gave her a stern look.

She bursted into an unamused laughter at that. He wouldn't pick up her call anyway.

"I'm hungry," she said quietly after she moved away from his arms to lie in between the cool sheets.

"Just relax. When they get here, I'll tell you."

"Okay." Then she added, "Thank you, Lamont. For everything."

She felt a hand brush hers as he responded, "You don't have to thank me. We're not just boss and employee, we're also friends. And friends care about each other."

Those words made her feel a bit better for some reason, even though they weren't profound. It was just...nice to hear.

Really nice.