Chapter 27 #2
Suddenly, I loathed the fakeness about our relationship. “Nothing splashy. I promise.”
“I’ll hold you to that.”
I chuckled, my cock twitching the moment she regrouped, blowing me a kiss. After she’d left, I stood by the window staring at the pool for at least ten minutes.
Turning my head, I stared at my phone, which I’d dumped on the surface of the desk.
I’d thought about calling Carson several times over the weekend, but hadn’t begun to know what to say.
Seeing the roses on Caroline’s gravesite had been as unnerving as taking Vanessa.
I hadn’t brought flowers in at least two months.
Avoiding the pain.
The guilt.
Now it continued to haunt me. Vanessa was right about forgiveness, only until my brother and I came to an understanding, I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself.
With deliberate steps, I moved toward the desk, hesitating before grabbing my phone. After a deep breath, I dialed his number.
Voicemail.
“Hey, dudes. Leave me a good one and maybe I’ll call you back.”
I rolled my eyes. He’d become a comedian, but I knew better. The man was hiding behind the pain. Only I’d been too arrogant to give a shit. “Carson. We need to talk. Give me a call.”
Whether or not he’d return the call was all up to him. A part of me wanted to say I’d done my job in making an attempt, walking away feeling self-righteous. With Carson, it had been so easy to do for so long, and old habits were hard to break.
But for some reason, I felt as if I owed Vanessa an act of good will.
Hell, I wasn’t entirely certain any longer what doing the right thing even meant.
I aimlessly rubbed my fingers across the phone, noticing the time before the screen faded to black. I had time to kill before the meeting and in truth, the last place I wanted to be was at the office.
I moved to my laptop, easing down into the chair, drumming my fingers on the wooden surface.
Thoughts of Vanessa were never far from my mind.
Maybe that’s why before I realized what I was doing, I’d navigated to the Perfect Pairing website, immediately flipping through the pictures taken of various events.
She really did have a good thing going with her company. With every picture I found with her in it, my cock became more uncomfortable.
I shifted to the original marketing trailer I’d watched, enjoying it all over again. Perhaps even more. To my delight, I noticed a second trailer had recently been added.
I guess what Vanessa had told me was correct.
Her business was booming. The video was even more powerful than the first one and for some reason, watching it had prompted me to take some notes.
I might be considered a ruthless bastard, but I was good at what I did. Maybe she wouldn’t mind a few pointers.
Maybe I was out of my freaking mind, but I couldn’t help myself. She’d ‘schooled’ me on my business. All was fair in love and war. Right?
Sometime later, a bang against my front door jarred my senses. What the hell?
With a quick glance at my watch, I realized I stood a chance of being late to the meeting. An hour and a half had passed. How the fuck had that happened?
Well, shit. Still, Lopez could also wait. Before I had a chance to stroll toward the door, another hard pound on the door assaulted my senses. Whoever was behind the door better have a damn good reason why I was being interrupted.
As soon as I threw open the door, Michael pushed his way inside.
“Where in the fuck have you been?” His entire face was pinched.
“Busy. I’m headed to the meeting now. Why aren’t you there?”
“Why didn’t you answer your phone yesterday or last night?”
“Because I was busy. I told you.”
He slapped his hand on his face and threw his head back. “Then you don’t know.”
“Know what?”
“That Lopez signed with Blair Development.”
“What the fuck?” Every muscle in my body tensed. “That’s not possible.”
“Evidently it is.”
I had no idea what to think. “Lopez called you.”
“Hell, no. He held a press conference. Late yesterday. Why the fuck do you think I was calling you?”
Exhaling, I looked away. “What the fuck happened?”
“I think I know why. You haven’t paid any attention to the news. Have you?”
“I never do. Why?”
He pulled out his phone, shaking his head while cursing under his breath. “I heard it on the radio and found this when I was sitting at a traffic light on the way over. Take a look. I don’t know when this was filmed.”
It took me a few seconds to realize what I was looking at. “Fuck. It’s live. This goddamn thing is live.”
“You’re kidding me.”
“No. I need to get to Vanessa. She can’t handle this. Not with what’s happened with her brother.” I immediately headed back to the door.
“Wait. There’s still a chance to recoup the contract, but you need to come with me to Lopez’s hotel. I think we can make an offer he can’t refuse.”
“I need to get to Vanessa. You don’t understand.”
“What if she planned this and has been working with her father all along? You need to ask yourself that question. Did she lie to you?”
“Fuck. That’s crap, Michael. I was the one who lied to her, manipulated her.”
“Are you so certain she wasn’t doing the same?”
“Shut the fuck up!” I reared back, clenching my fist and Michael was shocked.
He shook his head again. “Fine. Then you’re going to need to make a choice. Vanessa or the contract. I’m no miracle worker.”
The thought was daunting and any other time in my life, I would have chosen the contract.
Not this time.
“Then I choose Vanessa.”