Chapter 17
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Atlanta—Present Day
The week since returning from New York had not been pleasant. Richard and Stuart had bought the story that she had suddenly become ill, but Kyle wasted no opportunity to jab at her. When Jessica called to say she was in town for the holidays, Olivia had been excited to reconnect with her old friend.
Olivia held her coat tightly around her as she made her way toward the restaurant door with an odd mix of anticipation and anxiety. The two women hadn’t sat down, just the two of them, for years.
When they were married, Kyle didn’t like her meeting Jessica alone, probably concerned that Olivia might reveal what was happening in their home. As time passed, their old telephone marathons grew shorter and shorter, replaced by texts and memes.
It hadn’t been a problem until Jessica learned Olivia had left Kyle and hadn’t told her the truth about them living apart for over a year before Olivia filed for divorce. Jessica claimed she understood that Olivia was trying to protect Richard while he was ill, but Olivia got the distinct impression Kyle had done a better job of swaying his family to his version of their marriage.
The hostess seated her, and Olivia draped her coat over one of the chairs. She toyed with her water glass and ordered a peppermint tea, not sure why she was so nervous. Jessica was late, but that wasn’t a surprise. The steaming mug was placed in front of her just as Jessica bustled in.
Her chestnut hair was shorter than the last time Olivia had seen her, and though a wide smile stretched across her face, Olivia imagined she saw a tinge of something forced around the edges. Olivia came to her feet, but instead of the usual tight hug, Jessica gave her a half-hug and an awkward pat on the back.
“It’s so good to see you. It’s been way too long.” Jessica shrugged out of her coat, but paused before she lay it on top of Olivia’s. Her face pinched slightly as she stroked one hand down the cashmere. “This is nice.”
“Thanks.” Olivia wanted to joke she’d found it on sale like they used to, but something in Jessica’s tone kept her silent.
“Do you want some tea?”
Jessica wrinkled her nose. “I’ll have a glass of Chardonnay, please. Make it a large one.” She let out a little laugh as the server walked away. “It’s mommy’s day out. I’m sorry I’m late. You know how kids are… Right when I’m ready to walk out the door it’s, ‘Mommy, where’s my shoe’ and ‘Mommy, Clementine is breathing on me.’” Jessica laughed before sobering. “I’m sorry I didn’t mean…”
Olivia smiled back, ignoring the old hurt that spiked in her chest. “Nothing to be sorry about. I love hearing about your kids.”
“Pfft.” Jessica rolled her eyes and took a sip of her wine. “Not nearly as exciting as your life. High powered CFO jetting off in a private jet to a black-tie gala.” There was that edge again.
“It’s not all it’s cracked up to be, trust me.” Olivia reached for a piece of bread and slathered it with butter, even though her appetite had disappeared.
They ordered their food, and Jessica ordered another glass of wine before she made a face at Olivia. “I’ve been patient… now tell me everything .”
Olivia fiddled with her tea bag, not meeting her friend’s eyes. “It’s been really busy. Everyone at the company is excited and nervous about the offers. I think we know which way we’re going to go?—”
“Ugh!” her friend exclaimed. “Not that. Don’t get me wrong, I’m pretty excited about the payout I’m going to get for my stock. Things have been tight lately with me staying home with the kids, so this buyout is a godsend. Who knows? Maybe I’ll even buy a fancy coat like yours.” She scrunched her nose. “Maybe not. I have a feeling that coat isn’t kid friendly.”
Olivia managed a smile. Was she looking for jabs where there were none?
“What I want to hear about is Mr. ‘Hold on to the Headboard and Scream My Name.’ It must have been crazy seeing him again. I googled the company when Uncle Richard told me who the buyers were… I almost passed out when I saw the picture. I thought the name sounded familiar.”
A knot formed in Olivia’s stomach, but she forced her face into a neutral expression. An unintended perk of her life with Kyle. She’d learned to mask her emotions. Call it instinct, but something was off between her and Jessica, and Olivia wasn’t sure she trusted her anymore.
“He didn’t remember me.” Olivia shrugged and gave a self-deprecating laugh.
Jessica set her wineglass down, her mouth hanging open.
“I wasn’t expecting anything,” Olivia hurried on, “but it’s pretty mortifying.” She had no intention of telling Jessica about what happened in New York or that she was convinced Declan was lying.
“Wait? So, he didn’t remember it the same way? What did he say?”
The knot in her throat grew. “No. As in, didn’t remember me, didn’t remember me.”
Jessica’s brow wrinkled, but there was something in her expression that made Olivia uncomfortable. “What did he say when you told him?”
“Nothing. I didn’t say anything. It was a business meeting. Perhaps, the most important one of my career. I wasn’t about to say, ‘Hey, I guess you don’t remember me, but I told you my name was Rose twelve years ago, and we fucked like bunnies across southern Ireland for a week.’”
Jessica winced. “Yeah, I can see how that would be awkward.” She took another sip of wine. “I always knew the guy sounded too good to be true. And when we found out he’d lied to you about who he was...” Her frown deepened. “It won’t affect the sale, right? I know that sounds callous considering he basically peed on your fantasy, but you know what’s at stake with this.” Jessica leaned forward. “For my uncle, I mean. You won’t let your hurt pride get in the way of the deal…”
Olivia felt sick. Jessica had been her best friend, her only friend really for most of her life. The person she’d confided in and cried to in the months after she returned from Ireland. She knew what that week had meant to Olivia.
Intense loneliness swept over her. Olivia had thought if anyone would understand how difficult this situation was, it would be Jessica. But the day Olivia filed for the divorce, was the day their relationship changed. “Of course not,” she said smoothly.
Jessica must have registered her cool tone because she grimaced. “I’m sorry. I’m an asshole. You created a whole fairy-tale memory around this guy, and to find out he was just using you for sex?—”
“What are you talking about?”
Jessica stared at her, lips in a firm line. “Liv, I love you, but ever since you came back from Ireland, you’ve been obsessed with this guy. You almost didn’t marry Kyle because of it.”
“Yeah, what a tragedy that would have been.”
Jessica’s lips pressed together until they almost disappeared. “I’m not saying my cousin is flawless, but you never gave him a real chance. You never let him into your heart because you had this imaginary man who was ‘perfect.’” She rolled her eyes. “How could any real man compete with that?”
Olivia gripped her tea cup, slightly surprised that the handle didn’t snap off in her hand. “You know that’s not why we got divorced.”
“I know. I remember. He wasn’t nice to you… hurt your feelings.”
Embarrassed and ashamed of what her personal life had become, Olivia had hidden the worst of it from the world, but she had no idea this was how her friend felt.
“It was a bit more than that.”
Jessica’s eyes softened. “I know. Kyle told us about how not being able to get pregnant affected you… the marriage.”
Hurt and disbelief slammed through her.
“It’s understandable,” Jessica continued. “I know how much you wanted a family, how much your mom and sister were pressuring you… and I was having kids…”
Olivia’s heart pounded in her chest, and her lips tingled.
As if from a distance, she heard Jessica say, “Marriage is hard. God knows, half the time I want to kill my husband.”
Color and noise rushed back in, and Olivia could hear her own harsh breathing.
“Did you know he gave me an STD?” Olivia blurted out. Her voice was too loud, and out of her periphery, she saw people glancing their way. Her cheeks heated, but she was too enraged to care. She was tired of hiding Kyle’s bullshit for the sake of saving face.
“I found out he was cheating when the doctor handed me my prescription. That was a fun moment. Kyle didn’t even deny it, though he was sorry that time. He claimed the affairs he had later were my fault because I embarrassed him at work. I apparently didn’t make him feel like a man.”
Olivia shook her head, ignoring Jessica’s pale cheeks and wide eyes. “Like an idiot, I still stayed. I thought I could fix it. I wasn’t about to be a failure at marriage, not after…” She didn’t need to tell Jessica about the pressure Olivia’s family put on her to get married and start a family. “I tried for years!”
Jessica’s embarrassed fidgeting broke Olivia from the spell she was under. She bit her lip, ordering herself not to cry. She’d been about to reveal more than she’d ever told anyone. Olivia cleared her throat and reached for her purse.
“Goodbye, Jessica.”
Can this line move any slower? Olivia groused to herself, checking the time on her phone. Normally she didn’t mind lines, but she was already running late after meeting with the board that afternoon. Using work as an explanation for why she was late would only lead to a lecture from her mother.
She should be relieved that the decision was finally made. Her vote hadn’t mattered in the long run as the decision to go with the Bloom Communications offer was unanimous. But Olivia couldn’t shake the feeling that Declan would not take losing lying down.
Over the last few days, Olivia had done some research online, and reading between the lines, she thought she had a pretty good handle on where the animosity between Declan and Chris came from. Only the notification of leadership change had been reported in the business pages. It was in the gossip blogs that she learned all the nasty details about what happened after David Bloom’s death.
It was obvious the two men were looking to destroy each other, and she hated Armstrong was caught in the middle. However, on paper, the decision was straightforward. Chris’s offer was better, not only because the purchase price was higher, but because Chris had readily agreed to add the stipulation Richard wanted—that all the current employees would be retained.
They had sent the same stipulation along with their questions to Bloom Capital, but Declan hadn’t deigned to get back to them. Richard was eager for it to be over.
The woman in line in front of her stepped back suddenly and bumped into Olivia, causing her to lose her hold on the three bottles of her mom’s favorite wine that she had cradled in her arms.
Shit! Olivia frantically fumbled for the bottles as her purse hit the ground, but one slipped through her fingers. Before it could smash on the floor, a tanned hand shot out and caught it, just as the scent of sandalwood and bergamot hit her. By the awestruck look on the other woman’s face, it was exactly who Olivia feared it was.
The woman practically leered as she gave Declan a detailed once over. “Your reflexes are amazing. Are you a professional athlete?”
“No.”
The light in the woman’s eyes only dimmed slightly. “Well, you’re certainly good with your hands.”
Did she just lick her lips?
Despite herself, Olivia bristled and considered accidentally hitting the woman over the head with one of the bottles.
“I think this is yours.” Olivia wanted to ignore him, but Declan nudged her with the bottle. Olivia turned just enough to take the bottle, refusing to look at him.
“Thanks.” Her purse still sat on the floor. Thankfully, it had landed upright. As she tried to figure out how to gracefully hold the bottles while also picking it up, Declan bent again.
He was standing too close, and it was playing havoc with her body. Her skin prickled. She was burning up.
The woman in front of them wasn’t happy being ignored. “Such a southern gentleman.”
Olivia was proud of herself that she didn’t laugh outright. Declan’s chest brushed against her back, her temper making her heartbeat pick up its pace.
Or, at least she told herself it was her temper. He was trying to intimidate her, but little did he know, she’d promised herself years ago that she would never let a man make a fool of her again.
Olivia pivoted, elbows out, but instead of forcing Declan to take a step back as she intended, Olivia practically bounced off him, while he barely budged, even when her elbow collided with his abdomen.
Which made her angry.
The situation was made worse when his hands immediately shot out to steady her, before he plucked the bottles out from the crook of her arm with one of his large hands and tucked them into the same arm where he still held her purse.
“Let me help you with these.” He had the audacity to smirk at her. “You seem a bit unsteady.”
If looks could have killed, Declan would be laid out on the floor in front of her. Dead.
“I’m fine. Thank you.” Olivia said through her teeth, as she reached to reclaim her bottles. But Declan had them so snug between his bicep and forearm, nothing less than a fight was going to get the bottles back.
“That’s so sweet of you.”
Olivia gave the woman credit. On the outside Declan looked like a dream. It wasn’t until later you found out it was all a lie. After all, hadn’t she agreed to a week with a stranger in a foreign country after only eighteen hours and some mind-blowing sex?
“Succubus,” she muttered.
The woman’s forehead creased. “What?”
Declan’s lips twitched. “Pretty sure that has to be a female.”
Olivia turned the full force of her glare on him. “Have you seen your eyelashes lately? They're longer than most women’s” She turned to face forward again, only to realize he was still holding her wine and purse.
Damn it! He makes me crazy.
The line moved forward, but their line mate still gaped at them. “I would kill for eyelashes like that.”
It was Olivia’s turn to smirk. “My point exactly.”
The woman looked horrified. “Not that it’s feminine on you… I mean, you are very masculine… I mean…” The woman looked like she wanted to fall through the floor.
“Thank you.” Declan sounded pained.
Good.
“The line’s moving.” Olivia lifted her chin to indicate the woman should move up. She was being rude, but really? This was the last thing she needed tonight.
“In a hurry?”
“Yes,” she bit out.
“I’m not.”
Why did he sound so friendly? She looked suspiciously at him over her shoulder.
“I’m heading to my sister’s for Christmas cocktails,” he added.
“That’s sweet. I’m Vanessa, by the way,” the woman said, clearly not willing to give up. “I’m close to my family too.”
“Maybe we should swap places.” Olivia said with a tight smile. “You two probably have a lot in common.”
The woman’s eyes lit up, but Declan spoiled her escape by saying. “But I have all your stuff.”
“You could just hand them to me.” Olivia bared her teeth at him, pretending it was a smile.
A mischievous light shone in his eyes, and for a second, she forgot to breathe. Because he looked like her Declan.
“Where is the chivalry in that, Rose?”
Olivia ground her teeth.
Vanessa frowned. “Oh, you know each other.”
“No,” Olivia said, at the same time Declan said, “We work together.”
“No, we don’t, and we never will.”
The light disappeared, along with his playful expression. “Explain.” He snapped, his expression darkening.
Eyes rounding, Vanessa spun and took a few steps closer to the person in front of her.
A stabbing pain started behind Olivia’s right eye. She shouldn’t have said anything. It wasn’t like her to make mistakes like that. This is his fault, she thought, scowling.
“Your board said they would let us know of the decision the week after Christmas.” Declan’s tone sent chills down her spine as he slipped into full billionaire boss mode.
“ Let you know , not make our decision.” Olivia rubbed at her eye. “Look, I shouldn’t have said anything, but I guess it doesn’t matter now. The board voted this afternoon. We will be accepting the Bloom Communications’ offer.”
Declan’s jaw worked back and forth, and his eyes turned black. “We haven’t given our response to the questions you sent over.”
The pain was spreading to her temples, a viselike grip that would soon have her entire skull at its mercy. “I am aware. Bloom Communications responded within an hour of receiving them. Richard felt it showed how much they cared.”
She sighed. Declan was making her tense, and her neck muscles contracting weren’t helping stave off what was shaping up to be a killer migraine.
“To be honest, it all came down to employee retention. You were upfront about the fact your plan included the elimination of positions. Richard wants his company to live on, not be stripped down to be sold again.”
The muscle in Declan’s jaw ticked. “So, this isn’t personal? This isn’t because I didn’t remember things the way you did.”
Olivia shook her head, and then immediately regretted the movement when her eye twitched. “My god, your ego!” She rubbed at her temples. “You honestly believe I would tank a deal, for the company I’ve dedicated my entire adult life to growing, because you hurt my feelings?”
He tilted his head. “Did I hurt your feelings?”
“Ma’am,” the annoyed voice of the cashier cut through their tension.
“Right. Sorry.” Olivia stepped forward but refused to acknowledge Declan when he put the bottles and her purse on the counter.
The first bout of nausea hit her as she pulled her credit card from the reader, snatched her bags, and with a terse Merry Christmas, bolted from the store as a second cashier rang up Declan next to her.
She had to get out of there. Between what she knew would be an awful evening with her family and running into Declan, Olivia had reached her limit.
Freaking anxiety-induced migraines. Her body constantly failing her made Olivia feel weak. But she didn’t slow her pace until she reached the safety of her car. She grabbed for her door handle, the remote key unlocking the door.
Declan’s large hand appeared next to hers, and he pushed the door shut, crowding her against the car. Furious energy rolled off him in waves.
Her stomach tightened into a knot, and a vise tightened around her lungs as panic began its crawl through her veins, and her head throbbed.
She breathed deep through her nose. “Step back.” Her voice wasn’t nearly as strong as she’d intended. He didn’t budge. “Now.”
Abruptly, he stepped back, and Olivia turned to face him. Declan’s face was blank, but his eyes were concerned as they scanned over her. She held a hand out for him to keep his distance. He looked from her trembling hand, suspended in the air between them, back to her face, his mouth turning down.
“I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“Then you shouldn’t accost women in parking lots.” Olivia said, leaning into her anger. “I know you are upset?—”
“Chris is going to gut your company. He’s lying. Bloom Communications has no need for an electronics development company. All he wants is XEROS, and he is only saying what you want to hear in order to get it.”
“The employee retention clause will be in the contract.” Olivia ignored the rising pressure in her head. These were the same arguments she’d given the board, but had been ignored.
Olivia had been fighting for months… years, really. She was exhausted.
“There won’t be any employees to retain if he shuts the doors. You can’t trust him.”
“And I should trust you? That’s a bit like the pot and kettle, isn’t it? You’ll say whatever it takes to get what you want, too. Chris might be a liar, but I already know you are one.” Olivia took a deep breath. “Look, it’s done. This is over.”
“The fuck it is,” Declan growled.
“The board voted.”
Declan’s lips parted, probably to argue, just as a fiery arrow of pain lanced across both eyes. His expression changed in a heartbeat. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. You gave me a headache with your stubbornness. I’m late for my parents, and I know you have somewhere to be as well.”
Olivia forced herself to meet his eyes. This was it. There was no reason for her to see him again.
The tightness in her chest intensified but it had nothing to do with her anxiety. “Goodbye, Declan.”
He stared at her silently as she yanked open the door and tossed the wine into the passenger seat. As she pulled away, she saw him still standing in the same position watching her.