15. Genevieve
Chapter fifteen
Genevieve
My heels struck the floor with every step I took down the hall of Newman Trust and Financial Group’s top floor. It was louder than I’d intended it to be, and despite me wanting to disappear, I’d caught a glance from almost everyone nearby.
My fingers tightened around the folder of press statements I’d be presenting to the board again.
I did my share of rewriting statements and monitoring PR disasters when I worked for my father’s family business.
I finally thought I’d put that aside when I started my family and began to focus on me and my son.
Reid, however, didn’t think I was done, shoving me into a position to “moderate public relations.” As if anything I said or did could actually ease the nosey press and angry investors.
Even if it did? Nothing mattered truly. Not when he was already planning to let it all burn when it finished serving him for whatever reason.
And he wanted me on the front lines as a witness when it happened, feeling helpless in trying to fix the unfixable.
The hallway curved toward the executive wing and I passed the glass wall of Reid’s office, kept my head straight. I didn’t look in but I felt his presence thick behind the glass, his gaze burning through my skin.
Regardless, I kept walking over to Gregory’s now smaller and so-called temporary office. Reaching the door, I pushed it open, hearing his desperate voice as he spoke into the phone.
“Just get me the investment portfolio. He wants to trace every dollar to know where it went and the return on investment.” The person over the phone spoke and he groaned, leaning back in his chair as he ran a hand over his face. “I don’t care what you need to do. Just do it.”
He ended the phone call, both his hands now running down his face as I knocked on the open door gently.
“How are you hanging in there?” I asked, closing it behind me.
His eyes finally met mine before he shook his head.
“By a fucking thread,” he groaned, looking back to the file in his hand. His desk was a mess of papers and half-drunk coffee, his tie loosened like he’d been fighting it all morning.
Sitting across from him, I sighed. “I know things are a little… heavy right now.”
“That’s a goddamn understatement.” He laughed bitterly, taking another sip of coffee, his eyes trained on the document. He didn’t ask me how I was doing… I doubt he would have even acknowledged me entering the room.
“He’s already turned the board against me,” Gregory muttered. “I haven’t been involved in any of the planning. No updates. No numbers. Nothing. He shoved me in this fucking shoebox like I’m some clueless intern.”
I stayed quiet for a moment, letting him rant and spiral yet again. That reluctant feeling to soothe him, to bring him down to earth… it wasn’t there for some reason.
“And my opinion means fuck all because he’s fucking Reid Kaufman now. Silicon Valley’s golden bastard.” His jaw clenched again, the bitterness and anger radiating off him in waves.
“Greg…”
“He’s trying to humiliate me,” he muttered, his eyes cutting to me before looking away, his snarl deepening. “And now he has my fucking fiancée playing his clean-up crew. I can’t believe you actually accepted this.”
My spine stiffened. “You make it seem like this was a choice… I didn’t ask to be in this role.”
“You didn’t fight it either.”
“What is there to fight?” My voice rose an octave unintentionally, and his eyes found mine again.
This time he held my gaze.
“You could’ve said no,” he said flatly.
“To who, Greg?“ I demanded. “To your father? To the board? To him? Honestly, what do you suggest I should have done?”
“I don’t know, something, Gen! Instead of just letting him drag you into all this. Letting him parade you around.”
I blinked at him, stunned. “You think I want to be doing this? I was fine, perfectly fine, raising our son at home. And now, until I can find someone else, Jamie, who’s in and out of the hospital with cancer, has to watch him.
” Gregory didn’t move. “Do you know how dangerous that is? How much I hate that I even have to ask her?”
My voice didn’t rise. “Our son was already surviving with one parent who was half-present,” I said evenly. “Now I’m going to spend my evenings writing speeches, planning press conferences for your brother instead of spending them with my son. All for a mess you—”
I stopped mid-sentence, biting my tongue as silence fell over us.
My heart was racing in my chest, beating in my eardrums. I could feel it in my throat, my temples, the tips of my fingers.
The mask was slipping. I was losing it. My composure, my restraint, the version of me everyone needed me to be. The home I was trying to keep together was unraveling.
This was exactly what Reid wanted.
He wanted the breakdown. The exposure. He wanted me pulled apart at the seams in front of the man I’d chosen over him.
Gregory didn’t argue or defend himself as I sat there like a deer in headlights. Instead, I heard the quiet scrape of the chair as he stood. His steps were slow as he made his way over to me. I kept my eyes away from his as he stepped in front of me.
Grabbing my hand, he stood me up, pulling me into his chest gently as he rested his chin atop my head.
“I know,” he said softly. “I know, Gen. I’m sorry.”
I wrapped my arms around his frame, my chest rising and falling as I willed my racing heart to slow.
After a moment, he pulled back just enough to look at me. His hands came up to cradle either side of my face, thumbs brushing gently beneath my eyes. His gaze searched mine, still looking for the woman that he knew, the one that wasn’t in the middle of a spiral.
“It’s going to get better,” he said, voice low, steady. “I promise. We’re going to come out of this. I don’t know how but… I’ll fix it. I’ll make it right.”
I nodded once. Enough for him to have the trust he needed. But the sinking feeling in my chest was only getting worse.
I stepped off the elevator and moved toward Jamie’s corridor, heels soft against the tile.
It was late. Visiting hours were over. But the nurses had learned who I was by now; they didn’t bother to question me.
I probably looked exhausted, hair in a looser ponytail, still wearing the wrap dress I’d put on this morning.
Entering her room, my eyes landed on Eugene, who was curled on the couch, his tiny body huddled under a blanket.
I approached his side, my hands running through his hair gently as he leaned into my touch.
His eyes opened just slightly and he immediately reached for me, his arms wrapping around my neck as I pulled him into me.
His cheek pressed against my shoulder, his breathing soft and warm against my skin.
Across the room, Jamie sat upright in a recliner, a worn quilt across her legs. Her face was pale, thinner than last week, but her eyes were bright.
“They cleaned the room twice before he got here,” she whispered, smiling. “Sterilized every surface. I watched them. Nurses didn’t let him touch a thing.”
I nodded slowly, running my palm over Eugene’s back. “I know.”
But I knew better. This wasn’t safe. Not for Eugene or for her. And I still did it anyway. Because I had no choice… Reid was leaving me with no choices. I looked down at my son again, his breath rising and falling steadily against my collarbone.
Jamie shifted in her chair. “You want something to drink? They gave me one of those awful teas to help with inflammation. Probably chamomile with turmeric and ginger. The taste doesn’t really do much for me but it’s supposed to help.”
I smiled gently. “I’m good.”
She gave me a look. “You don’t look good.”
I huffed lightly. “Is it that obvious?”
Jamie didn’t say anything for a moment. I swallowed hard, looking down at Eugene again. My voice came out hoarse. “I don’t know what the hell I’m doing anymore.”
“You’re doing your best,” she said.
“It’s not enough anymore. I hate everything about this…” I whispered. “Leaving him here, feeling worried and stressed. I hate that I even have to ask you.”
“You never have to ask, Genevieve.”
“But I did. Instead of giving you rest, I asked my immunocompromised mother-in-law to watch my energetic toddler while she’s on bed rest.”
“Well, you don’t hear me complaining.”
She never did. Not after her diagnosis or after her affair was brought to light, not even after her son was shunned by her family.
“You never do.”
“The nurses don’t mind him here. Sure, I’ve missed a trip to my doctor to discuss my chemo progress, but I see him every day. And the cancer isn’t going anywhere.”
Another sad smile graced my lips as she shrugged. “You’re supposed to be getting better. Not letting nature take its course,” I scolded, and she waved me off like I’d said something silly.
“Rest is overrated. Besides, this one makes the days go faster. He’s a good distraction.”
I didn’t say anything in response to that. Instead, I shifted Eugene in my arms slightly, brushing the hair from his forehead. He murmured something in his sleep, thumb twitching toward his mouth before falling still again.
I wanted to hold him like this forever.
But a knock sounded at the door, cutting through the quiet. Jamie sat up straighter, eyes narrowing toward it.
“Were you expecting someone?” I asked.
She shook her head. “No.”
The door opened before either of us could say another word. And in walked the man himself.
Jamie’s breath caught. Her fingers curled into the quilt. Her body stiffened. She hadn’t seen him in years. And here he was, older and sharper, yet somehow the same.
He hadn’t seen her since he’d returned. I’d wondered if he ever would come see the woman who gave birth to him. The woman who never stopped loving her son despite everything that happened.
His eyes found her first.
“Reid,” she whispered.
“Jamie…” he simply replied, though I could feel it landed like a punch to the gut for her. His voice held no warmth, no recognition or love.
Her lips parted. But nothing came out.
Then Reid’s eyes found me. And everything else disappeared. All I could focus on was the heat in his eyes, the way they ran over me, the way they lingered on Eugene for a split second before going back to examining every part of me.
The feeling was short-lived. When he spoke, his words came out clipped. “Can you give us a moment?”
It wasn’t exactly a request.
My mind finally snapped out of whatever trance I was just in as my body went rigid, hugging Eugene closer to my chest. “It’s late. We were just leaving.”
His gaze flicked to the sleeping child in my arms once again, then back to me. “I’ll take you home. Marcus will take your car.”
“That’s not necessary—” I said quickly.
“It wasn’t a suggestion,” he replied, voice even and decisive. “I’ll only be a minute.”
The muscles in my jaw clenched. For a second, I almost argued…
almost. But Jamie’s eyes lingered on us longer than I probably wanted them to.
Watching every shift and movement of our eyes, she could probably feel the tension in the room that was so thick a knife wouldn’t have been able to cut through it.
Without another word, I moved toward the door.
Like the gentleman he was, Reid held it open, forcing me to squeeze by him, to take in his intoxicating scent that almost made my knees buckle.
His cologne that warmed my insides in all the wrong places, the heat of his body melting into my skin for just that split second.
I waited only for a short while before turning to walk away when he finally came out. Reid fell into step beside me. Neither of us spoke as we stepped into the elevator.
The doors closed, and only then did I find my voice. “What did you have to talk to her about?”
He didn’t even look at me. “Nothing important.”
The elevator chimed, opening to the quiet lobby. I adjusted Eugene’s weight in my arms, his little body still limp against my chest, and stepped out first.
Outside, the air was cool with night chill. Reid’s car was already waiting, parked illegally near the curb as if it had every right to be there. Like the world started and stopped with him, bending to his will, the rules of it having no effect on him.
He opened the back door without me asking.
I slid in carefully, buckling Eugene in.
I made a move to sit, but I could feel his hand on my elbow, silently telling me to get out of the car.
Reluctantly, I stepped back out into the night, hugging myself protectively as he closed the door, his jaw clenching as he watched me.
“You didn’t tell me you needed someone to watch Eugene.
” He towered over me, his forearms bulging out of his rolled-up dress shirt, his upper chest on display as his top few buttons were undone.
The hint of stubble graced his jaw, giving him a five o’clock shadow.
He looked tired, disheveled—and dangerous…
“I don’t,” I said quietly.
“I could hire you someone,” he added, his tone nonchalant. As if all of this wasn’t his fault. “A nanny. Just until—”
“I said I don’t need your help,” I said, my tone clipped this time.
“Clearly you do,” he countered, his tone too casual to be harmless. “You brought him to a center… to sit beside someone with a failing immune system. While she’s on bed rest. That’s not just desperate… it’s reckless.”
I stiffened. “You think I don’t know that?” My voice cracked. I hated that he noticed the moment it did.
I shook my head. “You don’t get to stand there and point out how I’m drowning when you’re the reason I’m under the water in the first place.”
“Vieve. You and I both know you were drowning long before I came back into the picture.”
“I was doing just fine before you came back. My son and I were perfectly happy.”
“Really?” The way he said it made me flinch almost. “Lying yourself, lying to everyone around you made you happy? Pretending to be the picture-perfect woman in this fabricated family makes you happy?”
“What is it with you and this stupid rhetoric?” I snapped. “So what if I have to pretend? You keep digging and digging, like you want me to admit something I’m not even allowed to feel. Why can’t you just let me be happy?”
He didn’t hesitate.
“Because I want the truth.”