Chapter 2
Chapter Two
KELLAN
“Mr. Eve, development has requested a video conference in half an hour. I’ve forwarded you the link.”
“Goddamn it, Edith. I told you I wasn’t going to take any more meetings today.” I look up from my computer screen to see my secretary looking at me with a bored expression.
“Yet I seem to remember a certain CEO telling me to ‘get the entire fucking development team on a call before I shove my fist up Watson’s ass and use him as a puppet.’”
Edith’s impression of me is spot on, but I’m not about to tell her that.
It will only encourage her to keep doing it.
She’s been with me since I took over at Secure, a software company that specializes in data protection.
She was here when the company was founded, and she’ll likely be here long after I retire.
Edith is my right hand, but I’m not entirely convinced she’s not a vampire.
Nothing about her has changed since I got a part-time job here in high school as an intern.
Almost twenty years later and she still doesn’t have a single salt and pepper hair out of place.
“Fine, but after that, clear my schedule. The new nanny is coming today, and Aurora asked me to be there when she arrives.”
“Maybe I should ask your niece for tips on bossing you around.” Edith stares down at me, and I roll my eyes.
“Like you need any help. Besides, I’m not sure I need another woman in my life reminding me how I’ve failed them.”
“Come on, Kellan,” Edith says as she rounds the desk.
It’s not often she calls me by my first name, though I’ve told her to do it countless times.
“With help on the way, things are bound to get better.” She places a hand on my shoulder and gives it a small squeeze before letting go. “It’s not like they can get any worse.”
A month ago, I would have agreed with her, but after the phone call I got in the middle of the night, everything changed. Now I know exactly how much worse things can be, and I’m not trying to tempt fate.
“It’s fine,” I say, brushing off the frustration and exhaustion. “Will you do me a favor and—”
“Go check on Aurora? I already did before I came in here, but I’ll go by and check again,” Edith says as she grabs my empty coffee mug and leftover lunch container off my desk. “She’s set up in the conference room today.”
“Thank you,” I tell her as I run a hand through my hair.
“Anything else?” she asks before she goes to the door.
“No, that’s all for now.” I go back to my computer screen and try to focus on work.
“Mr. Eve?” Edith says, and I look up from my computer. “Try not to be so hard on yourself. Most people don’t get a ten-year-old out of nowhere, but Aurora is a special child. You’ll both be fine.”
I nod as Edith exits my office, but I don’t know if she’s right. How can a child be fine if they’re stuck with me as a guardian? Me, the person who didn’t want kids. I never even put my cock inside a woman because I didn’t want to risk it. The universe has jokes.
Thankfully, what I lack in emotional support, I make up for in wealth. I might not be able to be the person Aurora needs, but I can certainly pay someone to be that person for her.
My shoulders sag as I remember the look of disappointment on Aurora’s face the first time she saw me. My brother and I could have been twins, but our personalities couldn’t have been more different. She took one look at me and knew I was nothing like him, despite the resemblance.
Marshall and I were placed in foster care together after our mom died from a drug overdose.
At the time I was around five and Marshall was a year younger.
We were able to stay in the same home for a few months, but then we were separated and bounced around the state.
Most of my childhood is a blur, and looking back, I think I blocked a lot of it out to protect myself.
By the time I was in high school and working part-time, I had enough money to take the bus to where Marshall was living a few hours away.
I’d try to visit him once a month, but it was hard getting out there.
Plus, at that point it felt like we were strangers more than brothers, and I didn’t try very hard.
When I went to college, Marshall joined the military.
The last time I saw him was eleven years ago when he enlisted and told me he wanted to have dinner together before he shipped out for basic training.
My phone kept going off the whole time, and I was distracted with a new contract that I was sure was going to help me gain recognition at Secure.
Looking back, I can see now that my brother was trying to connect with me one last time, and I blew it.
After basic training, Marshall was deployed overseas, and I never saw him again.
We would talk maybe once a year around the holidays to check in, but nothing more.
It wasn’t until the night I got the call that Marshall had been killed in a car accident that I found out my brother had a ten-year-old daughter that I knew nothing about.
He never mentioned his daughter in any of our phone conversations, and I still don’t know why.
Marshall’s commanding officer informed me that Aurora’s mother died during childbirth, and I was the only next of kin.
He said that I needed to come pick up Aurora or she would be transferred to the state foster care system.
Having been through the system myself, I knew how bad it could be.
Especially for girls. As much as I never wanted kids, I knew I had the means to care for a child.
Certainly not emotionally, but financially I would be able to give her the life my brother would have wanted for her.
It’s been a whirlwind since finding all of this out, and I really haven’t had time to process losing the brother I didn’t know and gaining a child I didn’t want.
Hiring a live-in nanny is the first thing on my list because I have deadlines with work I can’t miss.
There are several projects happening right now, and I need to be hands-on until they are finished.
Once they are complete, then maybe I can unpack what happened with Marshall.
Until then, there’s no time for emotions.
The sound on my computer alerts me to an incoming conference call, and I let out a heavy sigh as I click to join. While Watson starts talking about the development strategy, a pop-up message from Edith appears in the corner of my screen.
Edith: Aurora is in the conference room watching some kind of baking show.
Me: Thanks for checking on her.
Edith: Jones from valet called. He said the au pair arrived in some kind of junk vehicle with her possessions in trash bags.
“Goddamn it,” I say, and Watson stops talking.
“Is something wrong?” he asks, and I look at the video conference to see everyone watching me.
“Yes, the proposal is for fifty percent less coverage than the client asked for. The next time you come unprepared to a meeting, I’m going to start charging you for my time,” I tell Watson as I push away from my desk.
“Do it again, only this time upload the development schematics with what the client has requested.”
I kick everyone out of the video call before ending it. Now that I’ve dealt with one incompetent employee, I guess I’ll go deal with another. What kind of new hire shows up with trash bags? Maybe I can fire her before Jones has a chance to unload her luggage.