Chapter 18 Midnight Calls #2
The smile seemed forced. It had been forced for the last couple of years, ever since Darren’s first shift. It wasn’t his fault. No one could blame the current situation on him.
Fate was a bitch.
“Sara,” I replied and walked in, closing the office door behind me and sitting on the opposite side of the sofa, making myself comfortable.
We were always playing this game now.
I hated how Sara looked at me. Like a liability. Like I hadn’t already given everything, and still more was being asked of me.
“Your call last night worried me,” she said, and for a moment I thought I saw the sister I once had, that maybe there was genuine concern behind her eyes.
Wishful thinking.
“Not enough to check on me,” I replied.
Her eyes narrowed subtly.
“You’re a big girl; you can take care of yourself,” she said.
“Why have you called me here, even sending your spy to collect and deliver me?” I asked.
“You’ve messed up,” she said.
I sat forward, noticing the plastic folder on the table beside her. She reached for it and handed me the folder.
“It’s the exposure sheet and covenant summary for IronGate Strategic Infrastructure,” she told me as I opened the folder.
The exposure sheet showed over three million in unsecured debt, due to the new valuation of IronGate’s assets.
“I never saw this. The Risk and Assets team never brought this to me,” I told Sara.
“It was in your executive report at the start of the week,” Sara answered.
“I’d have acted, demanded immediate paydown or injection of liquidity, and arranged a meeting to renegotiate terms. I couldn’t have missed this,” I said, reading over the reports.
“You did,” Sara replied, her tone clipped. “You sent a text—a text, really, Cole?—to James saying that it would correct next quarter.”
Sara was furious; her mouth turned down in displeasure.
“This doesn’t make sense,” I said, pulling out my phone to open my emails and find the report.
Sara sat silently, watching me flounder.
“How?” I shook my head. “IronGate Holdings. The names. I met with IronGate Holdings last month; it was under control,” I said, realising my mistake. I skimmed right past them in the report, two customers with near enough the same names, and I thought it was already contained.
“IronGate Strategic Infrastructure, not Holdings,” Sara corrected.
“The names are similar, and it’s been abbreviated to simply IronGate in the report; I assumed—”
“You know what that means,” Sara interrupted.
I growled in frustration.
“You clearly did not bother to read the report thoroughly, and it’s been reported that you’ve been distracted,” Sara continued.
“Distracted? Reported by who?” I demanded.
“Cole, it’s obvious to everyone. Ever since you brought back that omega—”
“She has nothing to do with this. It was an error, a weird coincidence of names and timing,” I said.
“Cole,” Sara said, exhaling in frustration, in the same tone she used when I was a child and she was already an adult, and I would follow her around wanting her attention and not understanding why she couldn’t play with me.
“Don’t talk to me like that,” I said.
“Like what?” she asked.
“Like I’m a stupid child,” I answered.
“You were never stupid,” she said after a long pause. “You’ve been distant for so long now. I feel like we don’t talk anymore. When you called last night, I was surprised. I thought… I don’t know what I thought.”
“No, say what you were going to say,” I demanded.
“I thought maybe you were calling to talk to me, finally,” she said.
“What is there to talk about?” I asked.
“You’re obviously not ready. You’ve always been stubborn,” she told me dismissively. “Fix this.” She waved at the reports in my hand.
“Stubborn? Me? Are you serious? I’ve given up everything for you, for this family! You didn’t ask me; you just expected me to comply. And Hannah, you didn’t give a damn when she left me,” I accused.
“You dragged her on for too long. You knew it couldn’t last, not after the reveal of Darren’s presentation; you should have ended things with her immediately.
Instead, you prolonged your own suffering.
I didn’t ask you because I didn’t have to.
We both carry the responsibility of the future of Sandstorm,” she told me.
I laughed.
“You speak of responsibility when you haven’t had to give up a damn thing.
You’ve always had everything you wanted.
Maybe if you had married an alpha, your son wouldn’t have been a beta like his father.
But no, Sara always gets what she wants, and I’m left to shoulder the responsibility,” I replied, my own anger bubbling up.
“None of this is Darren’s fault,” Sara defended.
“I’m saying it’s your fault, not his. And instead of being grateful for the sacrifice you expect of me—and it’s some sacrifice—you turned cold, stopped speaking to me, stopped our weekly runs followed by brunch, and instead treated me like a brood bitch.
You stopped acting like my sister,” I told her.
Silence.
“Cole, I didn’t…” she trailed off.
I stood.
“I’ll fix this,” I said, waving the folder and going to leave.
“Wait,” she said as I neared the door. I stopped. “You’re not a brood bitch. I’ve never meant for you to feel unappreciated. This has been difficult for everyone.”
I scoffed.
“I know it’s more difficult for you than anyone else—”
“It hasn’t changed a thing for you,” I said.
“You know what will happen if you don’t marry Andrew and continue the line of succession,” she said, her voice losing its edge, its anger.
“You don’t need to worry. I won’t let that happen,” I told her. “You’re lucky I love my nephew,” I added.
“The girl, Harriet,” she corrected, using her name for the first time. “I don’t know what you’re doing with her, but it’s clear you haven’t been the same since you brought her back, and you’ve been worse since the last full moon. I don’t want to see you hurt again.”
“You don’t care about my pain. You’ve made that clear,” I replied.
“You know you can’t risk the arranged marriage with Derecho. It’s been delayed as long as reasonably possible. If Andrew backs out… You need to set aside whatever’s going on with the girl. Once you secure the line of succession, you’ll be free to explore other arrangements. It’s not forever.”
“Nothing is,” I said and left her office.