Chapter 27
twenty-seven
. . .
Presley
It had been two weeks since I’d returned to the city. Wes had emptied the penthouse of his personal belongings and left everything else. But nothing about it felt like home anymore. I’d never realized how sterile and cold the apartment was.
I’d stared at the artwork last night and wondered why I’d had that hanging in my home. It was dark and kind of creepy. I’d taken all the paintings down and stacked them near the door. I was having them delivered to Wes because he loved them, and he should have them.
I’d taped Gracie’s paintings to my living room wall until the frames I ordered arrived. They comforted me and made me feel close to them.
But my body ached. Physically ached.
I was hardly eating or sleeping. My communication with Cage was minimal. I’d sent a daily text asking how he and Gracie were feeling. His responses were short and to the point.
How’s Gracie doing?
Cage
She’s hanging in there.
How about you?
Cage
Same. You?
I’m okay.
Cage
Okay.
It was the same thing each day, and it was killing me. My heart hurt so badly, and I couldn’t talk to anyone about it.
I’d broken down in front of Lola when she’d taken me to the airport, and she’d been calling every day since I’d returned home. I’d put on a brave face because she would worry if she knew how much I was hurting.
How much being away from them was chipping away at me.
How I longed to see Gracie ride Sally. I closed my eyes, and I could see her sweet smile. Smell the strawberry shampoo that always wafted around her. I could hear her laugh.
Hear the way Cage said my name in that deep, gruff voice.
Feel his arms wrapped around me.
It was an ache that wasn’t going away.
I cried in the shower as I washed my hair and glanced around the space. The shower could hold a dozen people, yet I was completely alone.
I was living in a sterile fucking museum that didn’t even feel like me anymore.
Something had shifted in me when I’d watched Gracie run toward the road. I still heard the sound of the tires screeching against the pavement every night when I closed my eyes. Maybe it was a maternal instinct, but the thought of what could have happened to her haunted me.
Knowing she was okay now was all that mattered.
All the things that I’d thought were so important just weeks ago seemed so unimportant now. My name being on the side of a building next to two men that I had very little respect for seemed shallow and stupid now.
I pulled myself together as I dried my hair and slipped into my navy suit. Today, we were meeting with A.R.C. Network. It was a big day. An important day. Our first in-person meeting. It was my time to shine in front of the partners and the new client. And I felt… nothing.
I applied my makeup and slipped into my nude heels.
I followed my old routine and grabbed coffee on Fifth Avenue. It was my favorite.
After the first sip, I was completely unimpressed.
Cove coffee was sweeter. I’d grown used to it.
I made my way up to the top floor and to the conference room to set up my PowerPoint.
“There she is,” Phillip said, as he came around the table and glanced down at my computer screen. “Are you ready?”
“Yes. I’m ready.” I forced a smile.
“Are you feeling okay?”
“I feel fine.”
“You look a little pale,” he said. “You’ve been working long hours since you returned. You’ve got nothing to prove, Presley. You’re a partner at this firm. You can go home at a normal time. You’ve put in the work. We all know it.”
What they didn’t know was that burying myself in work was the only thing that distracted me from drowning in sadness at the moment.
“I’m just catching up. I’m fine. I promise.”
He nodded and held up his hands. “You know I just worry about you. You’re more like a daughter to me than Brianna is at this point.”
“She’s still not responding?” I asked as I connected my laptop to the screen on the wall.
“Nah. She’s got enough reason to hate me, and I can’t fault her for that. I’m late to the game.” That was the thing I admired most about Phillip. He owned his stuff. He was an admitted workaholic who’d chosen his profession over his family.
“But you can just keep trying. It might not be the perfect relationship, but you can find a way to be in her life. I think she probably just wants you to fight for her.” I’d been surprised by the way my relationship with my mother had shifted when I was home.
It wasn’t perfect, but we were talking more than we ever had.
She was sending me text messages about ravens, which was weird as hell, but I appreciated that she felt like we’d bonded over this.
Even if it was like throwing salt in a wound every time she sent me a fun fact about the nickname that the man I loved called me.
I’d asked her if Cage and Gracie had been by the house to ride, and she said she hadn’t seen them. She’d asked Dr. Jake, and he’d said the same.
It killed me that she wasn’t riding.
I knew how much she looked forward to it.
But it wasn’t my place to tell Cage how to raise his daughter. She was his child, not mine, even if there were moments where she felt like mine.
Where I wished she were mine.
Wished that they were mine.
“I’ll keep that in mind every time she ignores me, and I’ll just keep trying.” Phillip smirked.
“Good morning,” Grant said as he walked into the conference room with Ben on his heels.
I gave another forced smile. Neither of them had asked how my father was doing. Neither had asked if I was okay with the divorce.
They weren’t my friends; they were my work associates.
I’d spent years trying to get their approval, and now, I just didn’t care if I had it or not. Because I didn’t approve of them.
They were both assholes. Ben would stab his best friend in the back if it made him a dollar, and Grant was not shy about the fact that he was sleeping with his secretary, Stacy, not caring that we socialized with his wife at work events.
I chuckled as I heard Cage’s voice in my head. “They’re a bunch of selfish pricks.”
That was happening a lot since I’d been back. When I’d cry at night, I’d hear him.
“You’re okay, Raven. You’ve got this. You were meant to fly.”
I’d always had so many goals. So many dreams. But now that I was actually living the one I’d worked so hard for… it was a bit of a letdown.
Nothing was really different.
These two guys didn’t respect me any more than they did a few months ago.
And I didn’t feel the joy that I thought I would feel.
A part of me wondered if I was still in a loveless marriage with Wes, if all of this today would feel so much grander. Because this was all that mattered for the longest time.
And now, knowing that there was something better I could have in Cottonwood Cove made all of this feel like less than.
“Dan Walker and his team are here,” Stacy said, and I didn’t miss the way her heated gaze landed on Grant. She was half his age, and the man had no shame.
He disgusts me.
“You can send them back,” I said, shooting a glare in Grant’s direction just because he bothered me more than ever now. I didn’t care for men who disrespected women, and Grant was a fucking womanizer.
He raised a brow at me before turning his attention to the door as Dan Walker and his team were escorted into the room. We shook hands and made some quick small talk about the weather. I’d had some pastries and coffee brought in, and I invited them to fix a plate before everyone took their seats.
I stood in front of them and went over a few things about what we would be doing for them now that they were official clients of the firm.
I’d be in charge of cleaning up their messes now, amongst other legal things that would arise.
“There’s a disgruntled employee you should be prepared for,” Dan said as he cleared his throat. “She’s going to claim we had an affair and say whatever she needs to say to squeeze some money out of me.”
I didn’t miss the way Margo closed her eyes briefly and looked away. As if she were irritated by the situation but also irritated by her boss, judging by the look she gave him when he wasn’t looking. It was my job to be aware of all of these things. Prepare for the storm that might be coming.
“Why was she fired?” I asked, because I needed to know what we were dealing with.
“She was Margo’s admin. She wasn’t doing her job.” Dan set his pen down and stared at me, completely lacking any emotion.
Margo opened her mouth and then closed it.
“Did you want her fired, as well?” I asked the woman, who was clearly struggling with something.
She glanced at her boss and then back at me. “She was very good at her job, from my perspective. I wasn’t the one who asked for her to be terminated.”
There was an awkward silence.
“Sometimes we’re too close to the situation to see that it’s a problem. We can speak alone after the meeting,” Dan said to me, as his gaze moved to each of my partners, and we all nodded.
“I’m guessing you just need to throw money at the situation to make it go away. But that’s what we do best, right?” Margo said, reaching for her coffee and taking a sip like she hadn’t just dropped a bomb on the room.
The next hour was tense as the passive-aggressive behavior made it clear that there wasn’t a whole lot of love amongst this group.
We’d said our goodbyes, and Dan Walker stayed back for just a few moments. He didn’t even take his seat after his team vacated the room, and he’d told them that he’d meet them at the car.
“You should be prepared for Tara to say that we had an inappropriate relationship. Just offer a settlement and make it go away.”
Grant and Ben chuckled, as if he’d just said something charming or cute. Phillip glanced at me, waiting for me to handle things.
“How old is she?” It was a fair question. A young woman being intimidated by an older man was not going to go away.
“Twenty-seven or twenty-eight.” He crossed his arms over his chest. Dan was in his mid-fifties, so she was half his age.
“Was there an inappropriate relationship?” I asked, my gaze locking with his.