Chapter ThirtyThree
They call it the last good day.
Twenty-four hours after my father regained consciousness, he said he needed to rest his eyes and slipped back into a coma.
Except this time was different. His health declined rapidly over the weeks. His entire system was shutting down in front of us, and there wasn’t anything we or the doctors could do to stop it.
It was exactly eight weeks later when he finally succumbed to his illness and passed away.
The entire world and its surroundings no longer looked the same, as if they mourned his loss, too.
Over the last year, I watched my dad die in slow motion. Though my heart ached for the loss of him, a part of me was relieved that he was no longer in any physical pain.
I took time away from work, leaving an emotionally distraught Kerry in charge, who, despite crying more tears than me and Flynn put together, was happy to step in while I sorted out funeral arrangements.
Flynn could no longer ignore me, a small blessing in the midst of sadness. He said he needed someone to lean on, someone who was able to keep him together and not allow him to go running to the closest bar to bury his sadness.
I was proud of him when he admitted that to me.
Though Jaxon didn’t attempt to hide his displeasure, I let Flynn stay in our home the days after Dad’s death. The thought of him going back home, sleeping in that empty house all by himself, I wouldn’t wish that on anyone never mind my own flesh and blood.
Jaxon refused to forgive Flynn after handing over our address to Laurence. Something I knew was going to have to be dealt with sooner or later, but I didn’t have the fight left in me to face it just yet.
Plus, I didn’t want to plan the funeral all by myself. Jaxon offered to help, refusing to leave me for more than a day. He was my piece of dry land during the waves of grief threatening to drown me. But I felt it was only right that Flynn and I planned the funeral.
By the time the funeral rolled around, I was completely numb.
People from all over the world came to pay their respects.
I shook the hands of countless faceless people who offered their condolences.
I read a poem during the service, though my own voice was disconnected from my body.
I stood with Jaxon on one side, Flynn on the other, and watched them lower my father’s coffin into the ground while rain fell like teardrops from the sky.
Grief was a funny thing. It had the ability to draw out the most painful moments and make other days pass in the blink of an eye.
Before I knew it, June was upon us.
I was back to keeping Reynolds Regality Jewels running smoothly and only two months away from finally stepping down as CEO.
“Can we talk?” Flynn ran a finger along the spines of the books in my home office.
I zipped up my bag. “Can you make it quick? I’ve got a meeting in an hour with the owner of that building Jaxon found for me in Soho. If it’s as amazing as Jaxon says, it’ll be perfect.”
After spending weeks unable to move from beneath my duvet and eat anything that wasn’t ice cream, Jaxon attempted to keep my mind from being overwhelmed with sorrow. He started to find places that could possibly be the future home of my publishing agency. He booked a couple places to view, whatever it took to get me out of the house.
He was genuinely excited when he came across the place in Soho.
Honestly, I knew he was doing it for my benefit as much as his. The weeks after the funeral, his phone rang non-stop. Frederic called day and night, and whatever was going on, Jaxon refused to answer a single one of his calls.
I tried to ask, but he promised me that it wasn’t important.
“I miss Dad.”
Grief sunk its blunt claws into my chest. “I miss him, too.”
“What’s going to happen in August?” Flynn asked. “Once you step down, am I expected to just jump straight into the role?”
I nodded. “Pretty much.”
“What if I need help? What if I don’t know what I am doing? Dad isn’t here to keep me right, and you’ll be too busy running your own company.”
“You’ll have Kerry there,” I said. “She can be difficult to deal with at the start, but she’ll come round to you being in charge and be your second in command like she was to Dad.”
“What if it’s not what I want? What if it wasn’t what I ever wanted?”
I opened my mouth and then closed it.
“You get it, don’t you? You’ve been doing it for a year, and I can see how much you hate it.”
“It was never my job to have,” I said. “Dad knew that. I only stepped into this because he got sick, and you were still in university. It was never my dream.”
“I never wanted the job either, and I told Dad time and time again that it’s not right for me, but he refused to listen.”
“Maybe you’ll feel different when you start?”
Flynn shook his head dramatically. “Let’s cut the crap, Evie. You and I both know I cannot run a company. Fuck, I am barely able to keep my own life from falling apart, never mind a multi-billion-dollar company.”
“I thought that about myself, too. Yet, I managed to keep it going.”
“Because of Jaxon,” he said. “I love you and all, but we both know that if it weren’t for him, you wouldn’t have gotten this far.”
Harsh but true.
“We both know what I am,” my brother continued. “I’ve been denying it for some time now, but I know how everyone sees me. Alcoholic. Druggie. Waste of space.”
“Flynn, that’s not…”
He interrupted me. “It’s true. I know I have problems. Problems I want to fix, I really do.”
During his time living with us, I didn’t witness him drink as much as a drop of alcohol. I thought he was doing better. Away from his university friends who were poor influences and away from the party lifestyle. The empty bottles Jaxon found stashed in the flowerbeds of the back garden told a different story.
“Please, don’t give me the job. Don’t make me do this.” Flynn gripped the ledge of the bookshelf. “I’m begging you. I can’t be the reason Dad’s legacy fails. I am not strong enough to handle that if it happens. It’ll kill me.”
As tears welled in his eyes, I ran across the room and wrapped my arms tightly around him.
“Please help me,” he sobbed. “You’ve done so much for me already, but please, Evie, I need you.”
“It’s going to be okay, Flynn,” I soothed. “I’ll look after you, I promise.”
I signed a five-year lease for the building in Soho.
My own publishing house.
My dream was starting to take shape right before my eyes.
I wished Dad was still with me to see it happen. He always believed in my writing, encouraged it from a young age, and was the first to openly brag to the world about my work.
Yet all I could think about was the tears streaming down my brother’s face and his admission to needing help in more ways than one.
First thing was getting us both away from our dad’s business. I racked my brain trying to think of a solution. Dad never wanted the business to end up in the hands of a stranger. He wanted it to be family-run, but neither of us were truly cut out for the job.
Jaxon, on the other hand, took to running the business like a fish to water.
He was built to run a company.
If somehow, I could convince him and Frederic to buy or, hell, just take my shares in the company, they would become the biggest shareholders and could vote to merge the two companies together. I’d happily abdicate my position as CEO, Flynn too, and that way, the Dade brothers would be in control.
They’d run the business alongside their own.
No longer competitors but rather one large unstoppable company.
I’d be able to walk away, Flynn too, and Frederic Dade would get more than just access to our European markets.
He’d get everything.
I needed to speak to Jaxon first.
Saunders drove me across the city to Reynolds Regality Jewels, where Jaxon was spending the day arranging Flynn’s takeover for me.
By the time we pulled up, the warm summer sun had tucked itself behind dark, threatening rain clouds. I ran into the building, narrowly missing the sudden torrential rainfall bouncing on the pavements.
Jaxon’s former office door was closed, and before I bothered knocking, I heard the muffled sounds of voices on the other side.
He was in a meeting.
I could wait.
Heading into my own office, I took out my phone and grinned like a damn idiot. The paperwork for the place in Soho was sitting in my inbox, along with an email confirming my business registration.
I was actually doing it. I was making my dreams come true and staring at the screen, there was only one person I wanted to share my happiness with.
“Don’t be stupide.” Jaxon’s voice sounded through the air vent. “I don’t feel sorry for the fucker. All I am saying is that he is dead. What more is there to achieve?”
“The original plan. Him dying was always going to happen. It’s simply a shame it happened before we had time to implement the final act of our plan.”
Was that Frederic?
What the hell was he doing here? Why wasn’t he still in Monaco?
“How long were you planning on keeping this a secret?” Frederic asked. “This is why you’ve been dodging my calls, isn’t it?”
Silence.
I knew it was wrong to eavesdrop on them, but I moved closer to the vent.
“You’ve been sitting on this information for months!” Frederic snapped. “Why didn’t you tell me you found the golden ticket to taking this whole place down?”
“Because it doesn’t matter anymore.”
“Don’t you dare tell me it’s because of that redhead warming your bed at night?”
“Careful how you talk about her in my presence,” Jaxon warned. “Things have changed. I’ve come to realize that what we are doing isn’t the answer.”
Frederic’s cold laughter sent a shiver down my spine. “Why? Because you love her?”
“I told you to watch your tone.”
“No, I’m done with this,” Frederic seethed. “The only reason you are married to her is because of me. The only reason you are where you are today is because of me. All I asked of you was to do one simple thing, and you can’t even do that properly? Instead, you fuck it all up for your meal-ticket bride.”
Darkness swept into the corners of my sight.
“I don’t know what else you want me to say.” Jaxon’s voice remained level. “I understand your frustration, but I’m telling you that moving forward with this piece of information isn’t going to bring you what you think you want.”
“What I want? Don’t forget, this was what we wanted.”
“I still don’t believe the file Reynolds is talking about is the answer.”
Frederic pushed on. “We’ve already leaked the information on the harassments and mob shit, why keep this final thing secret? She’s never going to forgive you, might as well finish the job you started.”
Oh god.
A thunderstorm exploded behind my eyes. The honey porridge I had for breakfast rushed up and scorched the back of my throat.
It was Jaxon who leaked the information to the press.
He stood by my side, pretending to give a shit and helping me clean up the messes those leaks created. All the while, he was the reason they were public.
I was definitely going to be sick. Or pass out. Or maybe both.
“You’ve let yourself get blindsided by a woman,” Frederic sighed. “You had one job. One fucking job. Marry the girl and use her to take down her piece of shit father. It’s not rocket science. Evelyn is a means to an end, nothing more.”
“A means to an end,” Jaxon repeated calmly. “Nothing more.”
“Exactly. Destroying Lexington and making him pay for what he did to our family. That is and always was the mission.”
“I understand that…”
“Then why are we still talking about it?” Frederic interrupted him. “The man’s dead, not much we can do about that now. Shame, I would have liked to see his face when he realized you were the one destroying his company. Ruining his daughter at the same time is an added bonus.”
This wasn’t happening. This couldn’t be real. Jaxon wouldn’t do this to me.
Was I so blinded by love that I missed the wolf in gray sheep clothing, waiting for the opportune moment to strike?
“But you still have your chance to lay waste to his life’s work. Tear it down brick by fucking brick like we always wanted.”
“And what happens to Evelyn after all of this?”
“Why does that matter? You surely realized that you’d never be able to keep her? I said it before, love comes and goes, but the chance for revenge? For justice? That’s rare.”
“It’s a simple question. Once this is done, once I choose justice and revenge, what happens to Evelyn?”
“You shouldn’t care!” Frederic snapped. “You’ll be divorced soon enough. She won’t be your concern. She’ll have served her purpose, and you won’t have to think of her again. You can go back to your happy bachelor life.”
I reeled back in horror.
A means to an end.
I didn’t know what to do, but I knew I couldn’t listen to the man I loved reveal that I was nothing more than a pawn to him.
I ran away from Jaxon’s cruel words.
I ran away from the pieces of my broken heart lying outside my husband’s office.