Chapter 40
CHAPTER FORTY
New York—Present Day
Declan tapped his pen impatiently as he listened to other members of Bloom Capital present what they thought should be the next target for acquisition. There was no reason he needed to be here in person, he realized, and mentally made a note to tell Todd to schedule these meetings virtually in the future. The trip to New York wouldn’t be a complete waste, however. Declan planned on collecting more of his belongings from his apartment in the city to take back with him to Atlanta.
His family might think he was stubborn, but once he made a decision, he rarely veered from it. Declan had made the most important one of his life—Olivia was his future.
Declan glanced at his watch. It was almost time for lunch. He’d bet his fortune Stuart was angling to get Olivia to go to lunch with him. A smile toyed around his lips. He would prefer her to tell the man to get lost, but Olivia was too nice. Too afraid of hurting his feelings.
Declan looked forward to the day he could claim her publicly. The day he could finally let the world know Olivia was his. His attention strayed to Alan Carrol seated at the table. He knew the man couldn’t be happy about his change of plans. Alan had been eager for the connection to the Bloom family.
What was Carrol even doing at this meeting? He wasn’t involved in these types of decisions. Surely, Alan wasn’t so stupid as to think he could change Declan’s mind.
After Olivia’s attack, Brady confirmed Declan’s suspicions. Before going to Olivia’s house, Kyle had been drinking at the Magnolia Country Club with a large group of people, Fiona included. There had been a scene when management informed Kyle that he was no longer welcome on the property. Declan had no doubt who filled Kyle’s head full of poison about Olivia that night.
Following a very tense phone conversation, where Declan outlined exactly what would happen if Fiona came anywhere near Olivia, Fiona had wisely kept her distance from him. He couldn’t prove she pointed Kyle in Olivia’s direction, but she wouldn’t get a second chance from him.
Alan lingered as everyone filed out of the Manhattan board room. “It’s been a while since you’ve graced New York with your presence.”
“I didn’t know you missed me,” Declan drawled.
The man pursed his lips, craggy eyebrows dropping over eyes glinting with anger. “I don’t give a shit where you’ve been. I am, however, concerned about the unhappy calls I’ve received from my daughter.”
Declan felt his hackles rise. Fiona was unhappy? She’d wound up a psycho and set him loose on Olivia.
"Oh?"
The man glowered at him. “Yes, oh . She told me you’ve been embarrassing her.”
Declan struggled to hold on to his temper as his anger built. “Did she?”
“Yes, you cold bastard. I never expected that you were going to be some sort of Romeo for her. This is a business agreement, but I’ll be damned if you are going to make a fool of my daughter because you can’t be discreet.”
Declan set the pen he twirled in his fingers down and rose to his feet with a smile. The older man scowled as Declan took a few steps closer.
“My daughter is a woman of the world. She knows what to expect. But I’ve made inquiries. You are openly living with this woman.”
“I’d be careful with the next words you choose, Alan.”
“Fiona deserves more than you parading some sl?—”
Declan pinned Alan against the wall, his forearm pressing hard against Alan's throat. The gurgle Alan emitted wasn’t enough to satisfy him. He was vaguely aware of the wide-eyed onlookers on the other side of the glass wall, but he didn't care. Declan pressed harder, watching as Alan spluttered and his face turned purple.
“That woman ,” Declan said, his voice silky soft, “will be my wife . And unless you want me to cut your tongue out of your mouth, I would suggest you never mention her again.”
Declan released him, and Alan clutched his throat, glaring furiously. “Your wife ? What about Fiona? You promised.”
“I promised nothing. We discussed it as a possibility,” Declan said, straightening the cuffs of his jacket. “Apparently, during all your phone calls with your daughter, she failed to mention that I made my feelings about her, and our lack of a future, crystal clear weeks ago.”
Alan’s chest heaved. “You can’t do that. You need me. I won’t stand for?—”
Declan took a step forward, closing the distance between them. “You won’t stand for what? I don’t need you to regain what is rightfully mine.”
His smile was so cold, uncertainty flickered in Alan’s expression. “My father’s murder might have distracted me for a moment, but I think it’s time you and the rest of the world remember exactly who it is you’re dealing with.”
Declan tugged on the man’s tie. “And if your viper of a daughter comes near Olivia again, or does anything I feel could be traced back to her…” Declan let his mask slip, allowing the man to see his rage. “I will bury you, and that is not a figure of speech.”
“You’ll regret this, Bloom. You aren’t half the man your father was.”
Declan didn’t even bother looking back when he said, “Thank god for that.”
A few nights later, after his plane landed, Declan made a brief stop on his way to the house to pick up Olivia’s surprise.
Declan: I’ll be there in about an hour need to make a stop first.
Olivia : I can’t wait. I made spaghetti Bolognese hope that’s okay.
Declan smiled. A year ago, he would have eaten at whatever exclusive restaurant Todd had made a reservation. Tonight, he couldn’t wait to sit at her small kitchen table and eat a pasta dinner.
Using his thumb print to unlock the door, Declan adjusted the red bow around the neck of the puppy tucked under his arm. Olivia stepped into view, her face full of welcome, until her gaze fell to the bundle in his arms. Her hands flew to her mouth with a gasp, and Declan’s stomach shifted.
Fuck.
Was it too much? Was he rushing her?
“You got me a puppy.” Olivia’s voice quivered.
“You said you always wanted one. He’s a German Shepherd, but if you’d rather…” Declan was having a hard time reading the emotion on her face.
Is she happy? Freaked out?
“He’s perfect,” Olivia exclaimed, rushing forward to take the now squirming puppy out of his arms. She held him close, smothering his nose with kisses. “Aren’t you, Oscar?”
Warmth spread through him even as he rolled his eyes at her name choice. “Oscar? Really?”
“Don’t listen to the silly man, Oscar.” Olivia carried the puppy into the kitchen, Declan forgotten. He grinned at her retreating back. The look of sheer joy on her face, and the fact he’d been the one to put it there, made his chest swell.
Declan was clearing the dishes when Olivia’s phone lit up on the counter. The contact displayed made his blood run cold before swiftly heating to sizzle through his veins. He snatched up the phone, his grip so tight he was surprised the screen didn’t crack.
“What is this?” Declan barked, lifting the phone. When Olivia flinched, her face leached of color, his heart dropped to his stomach. “Oh, fuck. Baby. I didn’t mean… I’m sorry,” he said, setting the phone down, running an agitated hand back through his hair. “I’m not mad… I…”
Olivia’s face was blank, completely devoid of expression, which had a terrifying combination of fear and fury running through him. When Declan got his hands on Kyle Armstrong, he was going to enjoy every second he made the abusive asshole suffer.
Declan kept his voice soft, his hands relaxed at his sides. “Petal, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have yelled. I’m not angry.”
Olivia’s chin tilted up, and he was relieved to see even that small sign of challenge.
“Not at you.” He amended. Declan moved slowly toward her, his hand outstretched, almost like he would with a frightened animal. “But even if I were. Even if I were furious with you, I would never hurt you.” His fingertips brushed her shoulders, running lightly down to her elbows and back up again. “I promised you I would never let anyone hurt you again, and that includes me.”
Olivia released a long, shuddery breath, and her stiff shoulders slumped forward. “I know. I’m sorry. I hate that I still react that way sometimes.” Her eyes met his, and his chest cracked open at the fear and vulnerability he saw there. “I’m trying, I really am. I know you wouldn’t hurt me like that… it’s… a reflex.”
“I know.”
“It doesn’t make any sense.” Olivia scowled, frustration evident in every line of her body. “I’ve done everything the therapist told me to do. It shouldn’t happen anymore.”
Declan tugged her to him and laid a cheek against the top of her head. “I don’t think this kind of thing is a linear equation. I did A therefore B . Even if it were, it was only a couple of weeks ago that Kyle attacked you. I think you have been amazingly brave after what happened.”
Olivia huffed an angry breath, but nuzzled deeper into his chest. His arms tightened around her. Declan wished he had been there for her during the years she had shouldered this alone. All the years Olivia felt like she had to hide what was happening to her.
“You are an incredible woman, and you have nothing to be ashamed of.”
“Why were you upset about the phone?” He heard her ask against his chest, and he let her go when she stepped back.
The reminder had his temper brewing again. “Why is he calling you?”
“Who?”
“Chris Keller.”
Olivia shrugged. “He mentioned helping me find a job.” Her mouth firmed, and her gaze caught his, her confidence seeming to have rebounded now that she was talking about work. “But I don’t need to find a job, right? Because you are going to be so blown away with my final proposal on manufacturing XEROS, that you will see selling off Armstrong would be a colossal mistake.”
The words ‘you can have the company’ were on the tip of his tongue, but he held them back. She wouldn’t appreciate that. Olivia had worked hard, and sacrificed so much, making the company her entire life—Declan could understand that drive.
It was important to Olivia to earn what she had—and while she may not fully understand that he would give her whatever she wanted to make her happy—being gifted Armstrong Electronics would do the opposite.
Working with Olivia, it had quickly become apparent that she had essentially been running the entire company for years. Considering how hamstrung she was by her former father-in-law’s conservative business beliefs, and the dead weight of her asshole ex-husband, it was remarkable what she had created.
Would he give her the CEO position along with the keys to the company just to make her smile? Absolutely. But he didn’t need to. Declan recognized that, given free rein over the next couple of years, Olivia could double Armstrong’s profit. He looked forward to shoving that down Carrol’s throat when he told the investors of his decision.
Olivia set her jaw, and Declan sighed, realizing he’d been silent too long. “Definitely a colossal mistake, so you can go ahead and block him.”
Olivia narrowed her eyes. “I know the two of you don’t get along, but Chris Keller is influential, with a lot of connections. He may have lost out on XEROS, but that doesn’t mean Armstrong might not have a product that Bloom Communications would want in the future.”
Declan ground his teeth. “If your concern is Bloom Communications, let me assure you, you can pitch me over breakfast anytime, because I will be the one making those decisions in the future.”
“Declan—”
He waved a hand, cutting her off. “It’s not a pride thing. The fact of the matter is, after the shareholder meeting in two weeks, Chris Keller won’t be the CEO. I will.”
Olivia paled. “How?”
Declan frowned, not understanding why she was upset. “I’m going to call a vote of no confidence based on the morality clause in his contract.”
“Based on what? The two of you have history, but I’ve never heard of him doing anything that would come close to the level that would get him removed.” Olivia’s throat bobbed as she swallowed hard, and Declan’s frown darkened. What was she worried about?
He watched as Olivia straightened her spine and squared her shoulders. “Is the morality clause an excuse to call a vote, because you know that with Alan Carrol’s votes, you’ll prevail?”
Declan blinked, confused for a beat, and then understanding crashed over him. “I’m not marrying Fiona.”
Olivia’s body relaxed slightly, and he reached forward and caught her hands in his. “I told Fiona there wouldn’t be a partnership the day after your attack. It’s been over.” Declan stared at her. “Did you think I was lying these last weeks? Telling you I love you, promising to take care of you...” Anger colored his words.
“No.” Olivia shook her head. “I’m selfish, I haven’t even thought about Fiona or your whole situation with…” She waved a hand. “I’ve let myself enjoy what we have together. I forgot all that was still out there.” Her brow furrowed. “You won’t have the votes without him.”
“I will. Chris has some nasty skeletons in his closet, and one of them is willing to talk to the board. Once she tells them her story, along with the assistance of some photos I found in my father’s vault, the shareholders won’t want to risk the chance of a public scandal.” Declan smiled. “They know that even if this woman doesn’t release her story about Chris to the press… I certainly will.”
Olivia still looked skeptical. “Courtney will still vote to support him, and now Alan Carrol will too. How many votes do you need?”
Declan grimaced. “I need every other major shareholder.”
Her eyes widened. “Unless you have a witness to him murdering someone, I don’t see...” Declan stayed silent, holding her gaze. Olivia’s mouth fell open. “You’re not serious.”
“Deadly.”
“But who? How? Why isn’t he in jail?”
“This is going to be a long story,” Declan warned.
Olivia pulled out one of the kitchen chairs and sat, watching him expectantly.
“A little over three years ago, Chris killed an escort while driving drunk in my car. Another escort in the car was injured. It seems Chris was already involved with Courtney at that point, even though she was ostensibly living with my father. The two of them saw this as an opportunity to further their plans.”
“What does that mean?”
“My father was notorious for his relationships. Except for the women he had children with, at almost exactly the year mark, no matter who it was, he always ended the relationship.”
Olivia made a face.
“To be fair, he was upfront with the women he dated, and was extremely generous during that year… But there were plenty of women who thought they would be the one to change him.”
“Courtney?”
Declan nodded. “My father and I were no longer close when he got involved with her. Too many years of battling over business.” His lips quirked sadly. “In some ways, he and I were very similar. We both wanted to do things our way. It led us to… We were barely speaking by then.
“When my father abruptly announced he was marrying Courtney—right at that year mark—we, my family, were shocked. Cara even said she had seen signs he was close to ending the relationship.”
“What did he say his reason was for the change?”
Declan’s jaw hardened. “He didn’t. He refused to discuss it with Cara. The twins weren’t really talking to him either.” Olivia lifted her eyebrows. “That’s a story for another day. He and Courtney married quickly, and soon after, my father became ill. Before the next year was out, he was dead. I immediately suspected Courtney had killed him, but his doctor, Chris Keller’s father, signed the death certificate as natural causes. When they read the will, we learned everyone had been disinherited. Courtney got everything.”
Olivia’s mouth hung open. “That’s the plot of a TV movie. Wouldn’t that be easy to challenge?”
Declan shook his head. “They were smart. The only witnesses to the will were people my siblings and I trusted. Luke and James were convinced it was our father’s last ‘fuck you’ since we wouldn’t let him control us anymore.”
“Chris was a witness,” Olivia murmured.
“And his father. They didn’t inherit under the will, so on paper it looked legit.”
“Wow.” Olivia let out a slow exhale. “That was genius. You and Chris were friends, and he gained nothing by the will, so why would you suspect him?”
“Exactly.”
Olivia frowned. “What does this have to do with the car accident?”
“My father would never have married Courtney of his own volition. After the accident they, Courtney and Chris, manipulated some photos, with the help of Courtney’s son, to make it look like I was the one driving.
“Courtney blackmailed my father with the photos, and he married her to keep me out of jail… Though it is just as likely he did it to protect the Bloom name and his precious company,” he said bitterly.
Declan explained to her how he’d eventually convinced his siblings of the murder, and how they discovered the truth about the blackmail and Courtney’s secret escort service.
Olivia pulled out the bottle of whiskey she’d bought for him and poured two glasses while he revealed how Cami discovered that Courtney’s son Trey was a murderer and tricked him into confessing on tape. Caught up in bragging about his mother, Trey had revealed the details of how Chris and Courtney forged David Bloom’s will and poisoned him in order to inherit.
By the time he was done, Olivia was horrified.
“And your father… He…”
“Believed them.” Declan’s voice was grim, refusing to acknowledge the dull pain that spread through him every time he thought about his father’s lack of faith in him.
“Not in the end, though,” Olivia insisted. “As ill as you say he was, your father wouldn’t have risked traveling to Ireland to get the photos if he didn’t believe something was wrong with them.”
Declan snorted. “You sound like Cara. She still wants to cling to her vision of him—that he wanted to put things right. It’s more likely that he was interested in protecting his legacy and wanted to keep the photos from coming to light. Under the terms of the will, his widow Courtney would have been the next one to open that vault.”
“You’re wrong. Your father didn’t write that will,” Olivia reminded him. “Courtney did. You said Trey confessed. Your father would have assumed whoever inherited under the old will would receive the pictures.”
A crack formed in the wall he’d constructed around his feelings about his father.
“You know the will was forged now,” she continued. “Maybe he figured out what Courtney was doing in the end, and wanted to fix things with you before he died.” Olivia’s voice gentled. “He didn’t know he had so little time left.”
Declan's ribs squeezed over his pounding heart. He’d been so caught up trying to prove his father murder, and getting the company back, he hadn’t really taken the time to process what everything they’d discovered meant.
Could Olivia be right? Would his father have reached out to him? Declan rubbed at his chest.
Things had been a disaster between them for years. Once David Bloom realized that installing his son as president didn’t mean he would still be running the corporation de facto, the battles began. When he was named CEO it only got worse. His father had assumed that Declan would still follow his lead. When his father finally grasped that wouldn’t be the case, it eventually led to a nuclear level fight and subsequent estrangement.
“I built this company. You have no idea the things I’ve done. You think because I handed the position to you, it makes you more qualified than me?” His father sneered across the wooden desk in his study at the Rhode Island estate.
Declan clenched his fists. “The acquisitions of the last few years are entirely due to me. We are now positioned to be the most influential media company in the world. I earned it.”
“You don’t know what it takes to run a company like this. Raised up in prep schools, playing at being a gangster every time your brother gets in trouble. Look at that mess I had to clean up with the Albanians. Do you know what that could have cost us? Not only you. The company? Your brothers and sister?”
Red mist curled at the edge of Declan’s vision. “You’ve made hundreds of millions as a result of that deal. You may have had to pay them at the time to ‘help Seamus,’ but don’t fucking sit in front of me, like the two of us don’t know exactly how that agreement gave you access to Eastern Europe.”
His father’s eyes turned to flint. “Your brother would be dead if not for me.”
“And you’ve never let me forget it. My benevolent father,” Declan mocked.
Something passed across the older man’s face but was gone too quickly for Declan to identify. “You don’t know what it means to sacrifice for this company ? —”
“Sacrifice,” Declan shouted. “You gave them money. Money that made you more money. I sacrificed everything that night.”
Declan hadn’t waited for his father to respond, worried that if he stayed in the room a minute more, he might do something he couldn’t come back from.
He didn’t know that argument would be one of the last times he and his father would ever have a private conversation. A year later, his father had married Courtney and refused to meet with him alone. A year after that, he was dead.
Declan felt Olivia’s arms wrap tight around his waist, and he ran a hand down her hair. “I’ll never know what he was thinking at the end.” He closed his eyes and rested his cheek on the top of her head. “It’s almost worse to think that if we’d had a little more time…”
The phone in his pocket buzzed. He ignored it not wanting to let go of Olivia, but when the phone kept buzzing, he released her and frowned.
“It’s my brother.”