Chapter 2
CHAPTER TWO
Atlanta—Present Day
Declan had steeled himself for this moment, but nothing could have prepared him for how it felt to have her standing in front of him again. She was thinner, too thin, and the dark circles under her sapphire eyes spoke to long hours. Her dark hair was shorter, but the shiny waves were as beautiful as he remembered. Declan’s fingers twitched. He imagined the strands would still be as soft and rose-scented as they had been the last time he ran his fingers through them.
Four years ago, when he was still CEO of Bloom Communications, Declan heard rumors of a lightning-fast microprocessor being developed by a small electronics company in Atlanta. The company didn’t have a prototype yet, but he’d put them on his radar. A processer as fast as the company promised would make the streaming services that the Bloom Communications’ Digital Media Division sold the best in the industry.
For a moment, when he’d opened the dossier his team had compiled on the key stakeholders at Armstrong Electronics, Declan thought he was hallucinating. He opened dozens of these folders a week—a perfectly ordinary action that rocked him to his core in seconds.
Her first name was different, but the wide smile and mesmerizing eyes, looking up at him from a nondescript vanilla file folder, were the same. Eyes he’d last seen swimming with tears in the crowded Shannon airport.
“’Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, but bears it out even to the edge of doom,’” she quoted the passage to him with a watery smile.
“Sonnets? Have you given up on the Romantics?” he teased. Declan tucked Rose’s dark hair behind her ears, unable to resist the urge to touch her one last time.
“I don’t want to say goodbye,” she choked out.
His eyes stung and the bridge of his nose prickled. Neither do I. “How about ‘See You?’” he joked, trying to resist the impulse to grab her hand and run back to the rental car.
Her lips twisted in an attempt to smile even as tears slipped over her cheeks. “Maybe.”
His Rose.
But Rose wasn’t her name. Not her first name anyway.
Olivia Rose Adler.
After the initial shock, Declan was amused to discover she hadn’t been completely honest with him either. Even with a false name, Declan could have found her at any time over the years. He hadn’t tried. Couldn’t let himself even entertain the thought because that way only led to pain—the what ifs and the maybe somedays…
There was no place in his life for someone like her. She deserved better.
His eyes drifted to the man sitting to Richard Armstrong’s left—his son Kyle. Olivia’s ex-husband. Something ugly rose from deep inside Declan. He knew she’d lived a life without him—in fact, his team’s research proved she’d led an impressive one—but, seeing the evidence of that life in front of him was different.
Olivia Rose Adler, CFO, married to Kyle Scott Armstrong, VP.
When Declan saw the line in her dossier, four years ago, he’d wanted to howl—the pain so deep he couldn’t breathe. She was married. He hadn’t been able to bring himself to read Kyle’s information. Declan preferred not to know the details of this man she’d chosen.
It was easier for Declan to think of Kyle as a nebulous entity, not a flesh and blood man that he could imagine her with. Holding her. Touching her.
Declan’s jaw clenched, and he forced himself to relax.
The head of Armstrong’s Research and Development Division came to his feet and nodded at a man by the door to dim the lights for the presentation. Chairs swiveled to watch the slides projected onto the far wall. Declan tuned the man out as he detailed the benefits of XEROS.
Declan already knew what he needed to know about the processer. He was much more interested in watching Olivia where she sat, farther down the table. Indulging himself when no one else would notice, their attention directed the opposite way.
Olivia fidgeted with her papers, and Declan could tell by the twitching lines at the corner of her lips that she was angry. Hurt.
It’s better this way, Declan assured himself. Let Olivia hate him. It would be easier for both of them. Heaviness settled over his shoulders like a blanket.
No matter how much Declan wanted her, he could never have her. A connection to him would put her in danger, making her a target for his enemies. So, he would keep up the charade and pretend that she meant nothing to him even as he ached to claim her as his own. It was the only way to keep her safe.
Stuart wrapped up his presentation with an awkward science joke, and Olivia gave her colleague a smile before she stepped to the end of the table and flipped to her first slide—the financial position of Armstrong Electronics—the only piece that should matter to an equity firm.
Declan wasn’t particularly surprised to learn she’d become the CFO of the small family-run business. Olivia was clever and quick, and he knew all too well how excited and determined she had been to be successful.
Somehow, all Olivia had achieved during those years apart almost made the pain worth it. Validation that the decision they made twelve years ago, to limit themselves to only one week, had been the right one.
Before meeting Olivia, Declan had worked hard to solidify his role in his father’s media empire, needing to prove he was more than simply his father’s son. He knew the position he was poised to take after returning from Ireland would require his full attention and dedication, and that left little room for a relationship.
Olivia had her own ambition. She’d finished her course work on her MBA, and when he last saw her, she was excited about starting her first job—at what he now knew was this same electronics company.
Declan rested his chin on his hand, using his fingers to obscure a smile as he listened. Stiff at first, most likely because of him, Olivia soon relaxed and moved through her presentation with ease, speaking in a clear, confident voice. She was magnificent.
Olivia parried several pointed questions from his team without hesitation, making it harder to hide his smile. He’d seen plenty of people fold under less pressure at these meetings.
She wasn’t lying… exactly , but Declan knew from their research Olivia was presenting the data in the best possible light. His team knew it too. More than one had questioned why he wasn’t going harder at the electronics company—challenging their accounting.
Armstrong Electronics carried massive debt accumulated by buying the warehouse attached to their offices to use as manufacturing space. They had also hired an army of skilled engineers and techs to develop XEROS.
Declan had a well-deserved reputation for being cut-throat in his business practices. He never bought when he could simply take, so a few on his team had asked about the generous purchase price. Declan could buy a similar company and use whatever means necessary to duplicate XEROS, but that would take time. Time was something he didn’t have, because Bloom Capital wasn’t the only corporation interested.
Bloom Communications’ new CEO, and Declan’s former best friend, Chris Keller was also bidding on Olivia’s company.
The price wasn’t about her.
Declan had to get control of XEROS. It was necessary for him in his bid to win over the Bloom Communications board and reclaim his rightful position as CEO of his father’s company.
Yet, as Declan listened to Olivia speak, he wasn’t thinking about getting his revenge on Chris. Instead, he was filled with a deep aching regret for what could have been.