Chapter 41
Gabe
The weather had turned. Spring was here, and in another two weeks Tori would be my wife.
It had seemed a lifetime ago when I’d first asked her, and now it was finally here.
I watched the people walk by, enjoying a stroll in the warm weather.
Birds ran in front of them, snatching crumbs from the ground.
“I always hated this park,” my father said, taking a seat next to me.
I kept my sight on the path. “Is there anything you don’t hate?”
“Not much.”
Silence fell over us, and I glanced at him. He looked relaxed and tanned. Khaki had never been a color my father wore, granted it was rare to see him out of a suit, but he wore it today with a polo shirt, something I’d only seen him wear when he had last visited me at the office.
“Retired life seems to be treating you well,” I said, turning my focus back to the birds.
“It’s surprising, but I’m enjoying it.”
“Look,” I started, unsure of what I wanted to say to him.
“Let me start,” he interjected. I peered over to see him lean forward, his hands clasped. “I was hard on you.”
I snorted. “That’s an understatement.”
“And maybe I didn’t make the best decisions.”
“You think?”
“You called me, William. Not the other way around. I put it in your hands, and you made the first move.”
“Because I wanted to hear your excuses. Hear what could possibly make you think I’d forgive you for laying a hand on me, for hurting me so badly that I still carry the scars.”
“My father.”
I snapped my gaze to him. Creases lined his brown eyes, his age clearer now than I’d ever noticed.
He let out a sigh, rubbing his hands together.
“It’s not an excuse. I know, but he would take his belt to me, his fist, sometimes whatever he could find when he was drunk.
I left when I was eighteen and never looked back.
A scholarship to Harvard I’d earned by throwing myself into my schoolwork was my way out.
I worked every part-time job and accepted every internship, and when I met your mother, I swore I would never treat her like my father had treated my mother.
That I would never raise a hand to my children. ”
He lowered his head, running his fingers through his hair. “I made the same promise when Olivia was born and when you were born. Promised I wouldn’t be my father. But your mother’s depression continued to haunt her.”
“Bradman?” I asked.
“Yes.” He looked up at me, sitting back.
“She witnessed everything, and he’d been set to do the same thing to her when I found her.
I beat the shit out of him and took her roommate to the hospital.
His parents hushed it up, and the girl dropped out when she found out she was pregnant.
Your mother was never the same. It would come in waves.
I know now she was bipolar, but back then, we didn’t know that.
“I didn’t kill your mother, William. Depression did. But I was a weak man, and I left her to deal with it on her own. I didn’t know how to help her, and when I was home, it just reminded me of how weak I was, how helpless it made me.”
“So you decided beating me would make you a man?” I snarled, my anger surfacing.
“Yes. I didn’t mean it to happen, and the first time I hit you, I left for a week, telling your mother I had a business trip and sleeping in the office instead.
It scared me, but then the anger at the situation returned when I stepped into the house again, and…
I became my father. I never hit your mother, never hurt your sister—”
“Not with your hands, but you still hurt her.”
“I was tough on her.”
“Tough?” I laughed. “That’s your idea of tough? Telling her she’ll never make it in a man’s world? How dumb she was? That she needed to give up her fight and stay in the kitchen?”
“It shaped her into the woman she is today. She fought everything I told her, proving me wrong at every turn. She’s not some spoiled rich girl. She’s strong, smart, and can hold her own against any man.”
This was the first time I’d ever heard my father compliment my sister, and it left me stunned. My jaw went slack as I stared at him. “Did you ever think of telling her that?”
“No.” He bent forward again. “Maybe I should have.”
“Yeah, you should have.”
“I made mistakes, William. Too many to take back, but it made you both into adults who are formidable.”
I didn’t know how formidable Liv was with her manicures and spa days, but I didn’t argue.
“You could have done the same without the abuse.”
“Maybe, but I can’t and won’t take it back. It’s too late. All I can do now is try to mend things.”
I stood, straightening my jacket. “That’s a difficult thing to do, and I’m not sure I want to mend anything.”
“Your fiancé thinks you do. She’s smart and impressive.”
“I know, and she left the decision in my hands. I’m just uncertain about what I want to do with it.
Mending fences with a man who used me as a punching bag instead of getting help for his anger issues seems a waste of my time.
” I pulled the invitation from my pocket, weighing it in my hands. “This is as far as I’ll go right now.”
I handed it to him and walked away.
“William.”
I stopped and turned back to him.
“Ask Victoria how she found out about the CFO position. I’m not the monster you think I am.”
My brow creased as his words knocked around in my mind. Turning from him, I continued my path, leaving his puzzling words and excuses behind. When I returned to the office, I went straight to Tori’s office.
She looked up from her computer, her smile filling her face. “How did it go?”
“Not the way you wanted,” I admitted, closing the door behind me. I walked over to her and dragged her from her chair, needing her touch to calm my spirit.
“That bad?” she asked as my hands climbed up her sides.
My mouth was on hers, stealing kisses. “I gave him the invitation.”
“That’s a start,” she murmured, her head falling back as I scraped my mouth over her cheek and down her neck. The dress she wore wrapped around her body, and I had the urge to untie it and let it fall open.
Remembering my father’s words, I asked, “How did you hear about this position?”
“A recruiter called me two days after I left Bradman.”
I halted my attempts to seduce her and met her eyes. “I didn’t use a recruiter.”
She squinted at me. “Of course you did. She said she saw my resume…which I hadn’t put up yet. I didn’t even question it.”
“What was the name of the company?”
“WPI Recruiting.”
I pinched the space between my eyes, hating that my father had yet another hand in my life. “Damn him. My father owned that company. He sold it right before I took him down, and I thought he was trying to find money in a last-ditch effort to avoid selling the larger holdings.”
“What are you saying, Gabe?”
What was I saying? That my father had brought us back together?
But that made no sense. He was the one who had torn us apart.
But the visit, running into Tori in the building, none of it had been coincidence.
The candidates he had turned down, the excuses that they weren’t the right fit.
He hadn’t been planning to give me back the CFO position.
He’d known what Liv and I had planned and was waiting for the right moment to woo Tori from Bradman.
I leaned against the desk trying to stay upright.
All this time I thought I’d been in control, yet he’d been manipulating all the strings.
“Gabe?”
“My father wanted you here. He wanted us to reunite. He had the recruiter call you because he wanted you here.” I squeezed the bridge of my nose. “Why did you check in that day we bumped into each other?”
“The recruiter told me to check in at ten.”
Exactly when my father was signing the papers. My world fell from under my feet, and I held onto the desk.
“Gabe, what’s going on?” Tori stepped up to me, and I dragged her between my legs, burying my face in her chest.
“I thought I had him, and all this time, it was just a series of tests. He knew everything. He already told me he knew we were scheming. But he knew I was taking him down, knew I’d be waiting in the lobby that day at that time. Knew you’d be checking in and would likely bring Reid with you.”
She lifted my head, her blue eyes darkening with worry. “He brought us back together?”
“He tested me. All of it was a test, and when I was where he wanted me, where he thought I was strongest, he set it up to reward me. Let me buy the company, let me think Liv and I had beaten him, let me have every holding I bought from him over the years, and put you back in my path.”
“Making up for what he did to us?”
“Maybe.”
Cobalt orbs searched mine as her fingers draped over my jawline. “You still did all of it, Gabe. He didn’t let you do anything. You proved yourself by taking it from him. That was the test. He didn’t hand it to you. You took it just like he wanted you to.”
“But what if you’d married someone else? How could he have known you would return to me?”
“You said he knew about Reid, right?” A nod of affirmation. “He was watching me just like he was watching you. He knew we were both still in love with each other, and if we weren’t, then he would never have let our paths cross again.”
“That’s a lot of credit to give my father.”
“As much as you just gave him.” She brought her face closer to mine. “Stop overthinking it. We’re here. We’re together, and we’re getting married in two weeks. Nothing will come between us again, and if you sit around and think only about what-ifs, you’ll miss all we can truly be.”
I wrapped my arms around her waist and stood. “You’re right.”
Arms coming around my neck, she kissed me, saying, “I know I am. You’ll get used to that.”
I chuckled and untied her dress.
“Gabe!”
“Hush. I want you to show me what we are, luna mia.” I picked her up and planted her on the desk. “Show me what awaits me when you’re Mrs. Icinda.”
Her dress fell open, exposing the matching bra and panties I’d watched her pull on that morning. “You already know what awaits,” she argued as I cupped her breast.
“I need reminding.”
She let out a moan as I pressed into her so she would know how desperately I wanted her.
Within seconds, we both forgot the unlocked door, and as she fell apart for me, I didn’t care who walked in because there was no way I was stopping.
In fact, I didn’t stop until she’d come undone a second time with me following not far behind.
Three days before our wedding, I awoke to find Tori’s side of the bed empty.
Unusual since I was typically up before her.
Yawning, I rose, pulling a pair of boxers and sweats on.
Searching the house, I scratched my head, wondering where she and Reid were.
I grabbed some orange juice from the fridge and after pouring myself a glass, I walked over to the windows, seeing neither of them on the deck or the beach.
We’d moved Tori out of her hotel suite, setting up home in the house instead but keeping my penthouse suite for nights we didn’t want to commute.
The front door opened, and Reid came running in. He came to a halt, looking mischievous as Tori closed the door behind them.
“You’re up,” she said, coming to me and kissing my cheek.
“What are you two up to?” I asked, squeezing her waist and giving Reid a wink.
“We have a surprise,” she said, and Reid looked like he was ready to explode. “Come sit down.”
I looked between them and let her lead me to the couch. She seemed nervous, and Reid seemed way too excited.
“You two would not make good poker players.”
She ran over to her purse and took out a manila envelope. Handing it to Reid, she put her hand on his back. “You give it to him.”
“Give me what?” My curiosity was on overdrive.
Reid handed me the envelope, and I questioned them both with my eyes.
“I had a meeting with our attorney this morning,” said Tori.
“He pulled some strings when I gave him a copy of our marriage certificate.” My brow rose as my curiosity hit its peak.
We’d gone to the courthouse to get our marriage license a few days before, making us officially married.
A day we’d celebrated in bed, after taking the day off and dropping Reid off at the childcare center. “Just open it.”
I unhooked the metal tabs and reached in, pulling out the papers. The envelope fell from my hands as I stared at the birth certificate listing Victoria Abigail Icinda and William Gabriel Icinda as Reid’s parents. Pressure built in my eyes.
“There’s more,” Reid said excitedly.
My fingers slipped as I pulled the second document from behind it. A court order recognizing a name change. Changing Reid’s last name to mine.
“It’s official,” Tori said, and I heard the tears in her voice.
I couldn’t talk. All I could do was pull Reid into my arms and hold on to him. He was officially mine now, and nothing had felt better than that moment except the moment Tori and I had signed the marriage certificate.
I held him tight, tears stinging my eyes. When I looked up at Tori, I saw tears streaming down her cheeks. We had made it. After everything we’d suffered, every mistake, every agonizing step. We had gotten to our happy ending, and I would never let us lose it again.