Chapter 17
Chapter Seventeen
Lucas
“I want to meet the woman who figured out what you couldn’t and almost cost this company a serious amount of money,” my father said as we sat in the conference room reviewing the financial reports.
“She should be here in a few minutes.” I let out a sigh. “I sent her a text message last night telling her to come straight to the conference room.”
There was a light knock on the door, and when I looked up, Jenna stepped inside, holding a coffee from Starbucks. My father turned around, and instantly, a wide smile graced his face.
“You?” He grinned as he got up from his seat.
“Hello, Mr. Thorne. I’m Jenna Larson.”
I sat there, narrowing my eyes at both of them.
“Am I missing something here?” I asked.
“I had no idea.” My father walked over, took Jenna’s hand, and lifted it to his lips.
“Your father helped me with my shopping bags yesterday when I arrived home,” Jenna spoke.
“She certainly had a lot of them.” My father smiled. “We must be paying her an awful lot of money.”
“Well, considering her educational background, we are.”
“I would love for you to join the two of us for dinner tonight,” my father told her.
Shit.
“Actually, I have?—”
“Cancel them. I insist you join us.”
“All right. If you insist.”
“Excellent. Lucas will fill you in on the details.”
“Looking forward to it.” She looked at me as she bit down on her bottom lip.
“You can get to work now,” I said. “I’ll drop by your office later.”
“Okay. It was nice to officially meet you, Mr. Thorne.”
“And you as well, darling.” He smiled. “That one is a little spitfire,” he said as he sat down across from me.
“Why do you say that?”
“I can tell from the brief conversation we had yesterday about shopping. Did you know she’s pregnant?”
I swallowed hard as I could feel the beads of sweat forming.
“Yes. She told me before I hired her.”
“She’s not married, but I assume there is a boyfriend.”
“I don’t know, Dad. She’s just one of my employees. I don’t know her personal life.”
“I see. Well, that’s the best way to keep employer/employee relationships.”
After we finished reviewing the financial reports, I went to Jenna’s office and shut the door.
“Hey,” she said as she glanced up at me.
“You told my father you were pregnant?” I took the seat across from her desk.
“He asked me if I did a celebratory shopping because I got my cast off. I told him no, that I was pregnant, and that nothing fit me anymore. Don’t worry. He doesn’t know you’re the father and never will.” She rolled her eyes.
“I have a feeling he’s going to be asking you many questions at dinner, so you better be prepared.”
“Don’t worry about me, Lucas. I can handle your father.”
“Nobody can handle my father, Jenna. Dinner reservations are for seven o’clock at Daniel. Please try to be on time. If there’s one thing he hates is when people are late.”
“I’ll be there on time.”
I got up from my seat and headed towards the door.
“By the way, why didn’t you tell me you were getting your cast off yesterday?”
“I honestly didn’t think you’d care.” She smiled.
“Fair enough. Why are you wearing that thing?”
“I have to for a couple of weeks when I’m here or out and about. I don’t need to wear it at home.”
“That’s good. I have to get back to my office. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Okay.”
I went to my office and shut the door. Sitting behind my desk, I turned my chair around and stared out at the city. My father wasn’t stupid; she and I needed to be very careful with our conversations tonight.
Jenna
After freshening up a few of the waves in my hair, I changed into a black short-sleeved baby doll dress and slipped my good foot into a comfortable black flat shoe. As I stood at the elevator waiting for it to stop on my floor, the doors opened, and Lucas stood there.
“Hey,” I said as I stepped inside.
“Hey,” he spoke as he stood there with his hands tucked tightly into his pockets. “You look nice.”
“Thanks. So do you.”
“Since we’re leaving at the same time, you can just ride with me, I guess.”
“That’s okay. I have a cab waiting for me,” I spoke.
“We’re going to the same damn place.”
The doors opened, and I stepped out.
“Then maybe you should have offered that earlier today, and I wouldn’t have called a cab,” I said as I walked away and out the lobby doors.”
I climbed into the back of the cab and shut the door as Lucas stared at me. I arrived at Daniel before he did and was taken to his father's table.
“You look lovely, Jenna.” He stood from his seat and kissed my cheek.
“Thank you, Mr. Thorne.”
“Please, call me Lincoln.”
Just as I sat down, Lucas walked over and shot me a look.
“Son. I’m surprised you didn’t have Jenna drive with you since the two of you live in the same building.”
“I suppose it slipped my mind,” Lucas said as he looked at me.
“Well, I’m assuming it won’t slip your mind to drive her home.”
“No. It won’t.”
The waiter walked over and took our drink order.
“I’ll have water. Thank you,” I said while Lucas and his father both ordered a scotch.
“So, Jenna, tell me about yourself,” Lincoln said.
“Well, there’s really not much to tell. I’m originally from Massachusetts, graduated from M.I.T., and moved here over a year ago.”
“Which big company lured you to the fine state of New York?”
“Actually, I moved here because my best friend lives here.”
“What about the baby’s father?”
“Dad, come on. That’s none of our business.”
“We aren’t together anymore. Things didn’t work out between us.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. How far along are you?”
“Almost seventeen weeks.”
“Being a single parent is hard. I should know. My son’s mother died during childbirth and?—”
“Dad, that’s enough!” Lucas snapped.
“Anyway, I trust you’ll be able to handle it. You seem like a strong woman.”
“Thank you, Lincoln. I’m not worried.” I gave him a small smile.
After a stressful dinner, I said goodbye to Lincoln and climbed into the back of the car. Lucas slid in next to me and slammed the door shut.
“I think he suspects,” he said in an angry tone.
“Why do you think that?”
“Because he’s connecting all the dots, Jenna. I know my father.”
“You never told me your mother died.”
“Why would I?” He stared out the window.
“Your father raised you alone?”
“No. I had two nannies and servants who did most of the raising. The only thing he cared about was grooming me to take over the company one day. I feel like this is history fucking repeating itself.”
“What are you talking about?” I asked.
“Nothing. I’m done discussing this.”
I shoved my key into my purse and set it down on the counter as I removed my shoe.
Lucas Thorne had two sides, which became clearer this evening.
One side of him was a powerful, rich man who had a caring nature when he decided to let it out.
The other side of him was a frightened boy who never knew his mother and lived with a man he called his father, whom he tried to please his entire life.
But I felt that no matter what he did, it was never good enough.
I knew Lucas was damaged in his own way, but I didn’t know to what extent.
We were opposites. While he was trying to show his father he could be the best, I was showing my parents that I didn’t want to be.
I suspected he sought his father’s approval for everything while I sought my parents’ disapproval.
At first, when he told me he couldn’t be a father, I thought it was because he loved his bachelor life too much and that he was just a selfish man who couldn’t be bothered. Maybe that was still the case, but after meeting his father and seeing them together, I believed it was much deeper.