Chapter 3
CHAPTER THREE
Atlanta—Present Day
Stuart grinned as they walked to the elevator. As the chief developer, part of the purchase package from Declan’s company had included a hefty bonus for him. Bloom Capital’s offer was generous—too generous—and that had alarm bells ringing in Olivia’s head.
Even if the financial snapshot was completely accurate, and Olivia knew her valuations wouldn’t stand up under closer scrutiny, the number was too high. Not to mention there were far too many perks for those in management positions. Something was wrong with the situation, but she couldn’t put her finger on what it was.
Olivia rubbed at her forehead, as the all too familiar throb started behind her eyes. Was she being paranoid? The pressure of the deal, seeing Declan again—it was too much.
Over the last couple of months, Olivia had argued frequently with the Armstrong board, consisting entirely of her ex-in-laws. She’d tried to explain that failure to disclose all of their shareholders was borderline fraud. Technically, they only needed to declare a list of the majority shareholders, which was composed of the Armstrong family. Only a handful of people knew that Richard, his sister, and their children, now held the minority position in the company.
Kyle, who operated as the in-name-only vice-president, argued that if one of the potential buyers challenged her reports, Olivia could always say she made a mistake.
A mistake… where she had somehow missed the twenty-six people who owned the other fifty-two percent. He was a moron.
However, because no one person owned over two percent of shares, Olivia finally gave up trying to convince them of the danger. After listing the Armstrong immediate family members individually, along with the percentage of stock they held, she added one line that read “two percent owners,” and hoped no one noticed the ‘s’ on the end of the word ‘owner.’ It was dishonest and made her look incompetent. Olivia hated it.
The morning of that final board meeting, Richard had arrived straight from one of his treatments. Clearly weak and sick, he’d made it into the office. But as they sat around his desk, he had sided again with his son with the words, “This is his inheritance, Livvy. His opinion matters.” A not-so-subtle reminder that no matter Olivia’s professional expertise, she was no longer family.
Later that evening, Olivia was the last to leave the office after spending hours perfecting her presentation. She found Kyle waiting for her by her car.
“You always have to be right,” he spat, his voice dripping with venom. The civility he still gave her in the office for his father’s benefit was gone, replaced by the Kyle she’d lived with for too many years. “Everyone in the room tells you something is okay, but you just have to be a know-it-all. Little, insecure Livvy wants everyone to tell her she’s right.”
He stepped into her space, his chest almost touching hers. Actively resisting her fight-or-flight instinct, Olivia’s eyes slid away from the rage in his.
“My father is fighting for his life. You know the doctors aren’t sure if the chemo will be enough this time. Doesn’t he deserve to finish out his years enjoying what he worked so hard for?”
Her eyes snapped back to his, her own anger spiking. “We both know this isn’t about Richard. This is about you wanting the millions you’ll get for your stock.”
Olivia wanted to shove him off, but she knew it would only make him angrier, and they were alone in the dark parking lot. After she left Kyle, Olivia made sure they were never alone together, and now she cursed herself for becoming complacent. Kyle barely came into the office anymore, even for meetings. It never occurred to Olivia he would exert the effort to wait for her in a cold parking lot.
Kyle barked a laugh close to her face, and she tried not to react as his hot breath covered her.
“That’s what this is about, isn’t it? You’re acting like a selfish, petty bitch because you won’t get any of the stock buyout.” His eyes glinted. “You want to wreck the deal for everyone. Breaking my father’s heart once by destroying our family wasn’t enough. Now you want to stress him out more when he’s dying. You really are a cold-hearted bitch.”
Olivia swallowed past the lump in her throat. “I would have filed for divorce years ago if not for your father, and you know it.”
He rolled his eyes. “Ugh. I’d forgotten about your daddy issues. Can’t make your own happy, so you latched onto mine. No wonder you were such a terrible wife. You only married me to get into the family and get that promotion. Thank god, I’ve got a real woman now.” Kyle’s smile turned vicious. “And since she already has a kid, at least I know her parts work the way they are supposed to.”
Every syllable sliced through her. Olivia had wanted a baby so badly. In the early days of their marriage, and when things were still good—before Kyle’s true personality had revealed itself—she’d gone off birth control with no success. After she learned of Kyle’s infidelity a year later, while lying naked from the waist down on an exam table, as her gynecologist wrote her a prescription for the STD Kyle had given her, they were rarely intimate again.
Olivia should have left Kyle then. She shouldn’t have believed his lies, that the affair was a onetime thing… That he would change.
“Don’t take shit.” Grandma Rose’s voice rang in her ears. She would be so disappointed in Olivia if she were still alive. But then again, she’d have to get in line.
There was some truth in Kyle’s accusations, and Olivia wasn’t proud of it. Richard Armstrong had been her mentor since she got her first part-time job at Armstrong Electronics in high-school, doing basic administrative tasks. She’d known him for years as her best friend Jessica’s quiet, but kind, uncle.
When he offered her a position that she wasn’t fully qualified for, straight out of college, Olivia felt like her dreams had come true. Richard said he saw something in her, and over the years had encouraged her to take on more and more responsibility until she was essentially running the company.
Olivia knew that a large factor in her saying yes to Kyle’s marriage proposal was she wanted to be part of the family. She’d been working at Armstrong for more than five years at that point, growing in position and authority faster than she ever would have been able to at another company.
When the fireworks exploded at the company picnic, and Kyle fell on one knee in front of everyone, her overwhelming feeling was one of being trapped. If Olivia said no, she would have to find somewhere else to work, and she’d poured her heart and soul into Armstrong Electronics. She loved Kyle, or thought she did, and when Jessica began screaming “Congratulations!” and rushed to hug her before Olivia even answered, it all felt inevitable.
Jessica knew about what happened with Declan in Ireland. He was all Olivia could think about for months after she returned to Atlanta. She’d sobbed on her friend’s couch more times than she could count, missing Declan so much she thought she would die.
“If you marry Kyle, we will be family for real.”
Olivia grinned. “His amazing cousin is a big selling point for him.”
“So, you like him?”
“It’s only been a couple of dates. He’s nice.”
Jessica’s eyes narrowed. “Why does it sound like you’re about to come up with some dumb excuse why you don’t want to go out with him again, like you always do?”
“We work together, Jessica. It hasn’t gone beyond a couple of dinners. We could still be friendly if we end it now. But if we keep going… What do I do when it doesn’t work out? He’s my boss’s son.”
“Don’t say when. You don’t know that it won’t work out.”
Olivia didn’t look at her friend. It was hard to tell her best friend that her cousin left her feeling flat. Kyle was attractive and polite. He’d even made her laugh a few times. But it wasn’t the heart-stopping feeling she was looking for… the one she still longed for.
Jessica frowned. “You’ve got that faraway look in your eyes again. This is why you shouldn’t read romance novels. You think all those book boyfriends are real. That’s not real life.”
“How can you say that? Do you remember when you met Gavin?”
A soft smile crossed Jessica’s face. “Fair enough. But we’re not perfect, and sometimes he eats potato chips, and I want to strangle him for chewing so loudly.” She waved a hand in the air. “Have you kissed him yet?”
“Jessica! He’s your cousin.”
Jessica waved her hand. “Meh. I’ll pretend we aren’t close. How did it feel?”
As people hugged her at the picnic, Olivia knew the root of her dilemma. Jessica, like the rest of the Armstrongs, was extremely close to her family, and they would close ranks against an outsider—her.
Olivia would lose her career and her best friend if she turned Kyle down. In a daze, she’d let the excitement sweep her along, telling herself that everything was fine and that it was time to let go, once and for all, of the fairy tale she’d clung to.
Just as Olivia predicted, within months of the wedding, Richard informed her that now that she was officially family, he could finally promote her to the executive suite.
She’d smiled and convinced herself she was happy—that it was worth it. Sure, Kyle got on her nerves, and in the bedroom she usually had to finish herself, but it was a pleasant enough existence. She had the job of her dreams, a nice house, and her parents finally looked at her like she’d done something right.
Did it matter that sometimes Olivia dreamed of violet eyes, dark curls, and an Irish accent that called her Petal?
As time went on though, the downhill slide of her marriage picked up speed. Kyle no longer hid his affairs, blaming her for their lack of sex life and her inability to get pregnant. Once Kyle decided she was the problem, it only got worse. Olivia worked too much, he accused. And his favorite refrain: Olivia’s success emasculated him in front of the rest of the company.
In his eyes, and her parents’, she was a failure as a wife.
“You act like your job is more important than him.”
“There’s more to life than ambition.”
“Stop being so selfish. You need to see it from his side.”
“It’s unnatural for a woman to not want to be home more.”
“You should try harder to make your husband happy.”
Soon, Olivia was to blame for anything and everything that went wrong in Kyle’s life. Perceived slights became intentional insults in Kyle’s world, and he was determined to make Olivia pay for them. Until the day he went too far. When she lay bruised and bleeding on the kitchen floor because the Chinese take-out she’d brought home was missing his spicy mustard, Olivia knew it was time to leave.
The elevator doors opened with a quiet whoosh, pulling her from the unpleasant memories. Everyone stepped on. But she hesitated, her stomach suddenly rolled and sweat broke out at the base of her spine. Adrenaline crash. The reality of what had transpired in that conference room for the past hour was finally hitting her.
Don’t throw up, Olivia told herself, breathing through her nose as she joined the others. The elevator jerked into motion, and the momentary weightlessness as they descended perfectly mirrored her thoughts. Watching Declan, oblivious to her, had felt like falling. As if she’d somehow simultaneously become untethered from reality only to also need to be present at what could be the most career-defining meeting of her life.
For twelve years, she’d held on to the memory of that week in Ireland. Whenever things seemed bleak, or Kyle told her she was unlovable, or her mother looked at her with open disappointment that she wasn’t more like her sister, she’d clung to those memories. Declan loved her, and she’d been lucky to have that connection with him. Even if it only lasted for that perfect week, it was more than some people got in a lifetime.
Now, Olivia was forced to acknowledge that Jessica was right all those years ago when she urged Olivia to move on. It wasn’t real. She’d over romanticized it. Olivia rubbed at her sternum.
“You okay, Olivia?” Stuart stayed back as the others disappeared into the parking lot. The plan was to reconvene at the office to go over the Bloom Capital offer.
“I’m fine,” she lied.
“You’re really quiet, and you’ve been pale ever since the meeting started. Have you eaten today?” He peered at her through his round tortoise-shell glasses.
“No.” She latched onto the excuse. “I skipped breakfast because I was nervous about the meeting.”
He frowned. “You shouldn’t skip meals. I see your uneaten lunch in the break room almost every day.”
It was true, the stress of the last few years had taken its toll on her, but she hadn’t realized anyone was paying attention.
Olivia gave him a grateful smile. “I know. Once we sell, I’m planning on a long vacation full of frozen cocktails on a beach somewhere. Completely unplugged.”
Stuart snorted. “You won’t last twenty-four hours.”