24. Genevieve
Chapter twenty-four
Genevieve
The jet reflected the sun against the morning sky, its sleek silver polished to a mirror shine. It was the kind of aircraft people only dreamed of stepping inside of maybe once in their life.
Eugene practically vibrated beside me at the sight of it. “Mom! It’s so big!”
His little sneakers slapped against the tarmac as he tugged me forward, his excitement bubbling over. He’d only ever been on a commercial flight once, but he was too young to remember. It sure was nothing like this.
Reid walked ahead, broad shoulders covered by his dark jacket, his strides powerful. He didn’t look back at us, but I saw the subtle shift of his shoulders, the way he slowed just enough for Eugene to catch up to him.
It was a small gesture, something no one would have noticed. But I did.
We reached the top of the stairs, and the cabin opened before us like another world. Warm lighting, cream plush leather seats, a bar stocked with glass decanters and crystal tumblers. Sunlight pouring through oval windows, catching on metal and wood so polished it practically glowed.
It smelled of cedar and mahogany, faintly of the man in charge.
And inside the cabin I saw her.
Cara.
The nanny Reid hired that I usually kept my distance from.
Perfect ponytail, not a hair out of place, pastel long-sleeve, jeans, embodiment of the girl next door who everyone trusted with their children—but I knew she was more than just that.
With how meticulous Reid was, I was sure her resume had to be pages long and her bubbly persona and aura could be turned off with a switch if need be.
She greeted us with a warm smile. “Eugene!” she chirped, kneeling to be at eye level. “Ready for our trip?”
Eugene lit up, running straight into her open arms with the kind of effortless familiarity that stabbed me in the chest.
“Miss Cara, look! I brought my car!” he said, proudly waving the little toy he refused to go anywhere without.
She laughed softly. “Of course you did. And I brought your coloring books, remember? They’re all in the back waiting for you.”
Of course they were.
A pang of jealousy surged through me. I hadn’t packed those; I was too busy trying to get all his essentials, plan for the meetings Reid would inevitably drag me to, and find time to spiral in between it all.
Cara rose, her hand already grabbing Eugene’s to guide him toward the rear cabin.
“How are you, Ms. Devereaux?” she asked with a polite smile.
I nodded, trying to reciprocate it. “I’m great, Cara… Thanks for tagging along.”
“Oh, of course, no worries.” She beamed, then turned to Reid. “I’ll get him settled in, Mr. Kaufman.”
Reid gave a short nod, barely more than a tilt of his chin as they walked away. Eugene didn’t even look back at me as he followed her, bouncing down the aisle. My heart clenched as I watched.
Reid finally looked at me, his gaze not apologetic; instead it was infuriatingly unreadable. His gaze swept over me once before he gestured toward the opposite row of seats.
“Sit,” he said simply.
The command threaded through me before I could stop it. I moved toward my seat, placing my bag beside it as he took the one across from me, legs stretching out in a relaxed and deliberate invasion of my space, his knees nearly brushing mine.
His eyes flicked down my body as his jaw ticked.
He was looking at the slit in my white pencil skirt.
It was modest enough to pass, suggestive enough to irritate him.
The blush-colored silk blouse I’d chosen didn’t help.
Professional, yes, but the low V-neck dipped whenever I moved, the fabric shifting just enough to make him look away.
He clenched his jaw again, but I pretended not to notice.
The door sealed behind us with a hiss, and I began preparing for takeoff, to be enclosed with this man for the next six hours.
“Cara’s good with him,” he said, slipping his jacket off, muscles and veins bulging out of his fitted polo, almost like it was a second skin, his figure making the fabric and cut more attractive than it would be on anyone else. “She already knows his routines.”
The words “Apparently better than I do these days,” slipped out before I could stop myself.
His eyes flicked up, studying my expression. He was so annoyingly perceptive. “That’s not possible.” He began, “You’re his mother. He knows your place in his life.”
There was no warmth in his tone. No attempt to soothe me; he said it simply as if it were fact. But still… his words settled under my skin, and I was unsure why. Maybe because they made me feel… better.
After staring at me for long enough, Reid finally broke eye contact, reaching for the folder on the table between us. “I have personal matters to attend to in the valley,” he said, flipping a page. “Handling the press there helps sell the narrative that things are stabilizing in the Newman Trust.”
“…Stabilizing how exactly?”
He didn’t even look up, just shrugged. “By giving them what they need to hear.”
“You said that before…” I muttered.
Finally he looked back up, placing the documents to the side as he tilted his head. His knee brushed mine again, barely, but enough to drag a tremor up my spine.
“Investors want reassurance. I’m giving it to them. They want a savior. I’m letting them believe they have one.”
I crossed my leg. His eyes immediately followed the gesture, his gaze lingering on my knee before his gaze returned to mine. “The last time we spoke about this, you also said you came back to burn the company down, take back what was yours.”
“That hasn’t changed. Revenge takes time, Vieve.”
“It also seems to take a trip across the country, dragging your brother’s fiancée as your plus one.”
A small smirk played at his lips, the silence dragging lightly as his ankle gently hit mine. Accidentally maybe, but I knew better. “My brother’s fiancée?” he repeated. “Yes. I know who you belong to on paper.” His eyes stayed on me a moment too long. “So why did you agree to come?”
“You didn’t exactly give me a choice, Reid.”
“But you’re not angry with the choice… not anymore…”
I sighed, “I just didn’t want to fight.”
“Not the answer I’m looking for,” he muttered, and I could only roll my eyes. “Try again,” he murmured.
I let out a slow breath. “Reid—”
“Something happened,” he said quietly. Dammit, he knew me too well. “Before the conference meeting yesterday. Before we boarded the jet. What was it?”
“Well your actions during said meeting didn’t exactly help my state of mind. You think that has anything to do with my behavior?”
“That was to distract you from whatever happened before you entered into the room. What happened, Genevieve?”
Nothing in his tone was cruel. It was simply inquisitive, knowing almost…
How do you explain to the man you love that the man you left him for isn’t the one for you? That he’s inadequate as a partner and as a father? All the things I knew, all the things he said to me before?
I looked away from him. “Nothing happened,” I muttered.
“That’s twice you’ve lied to me in under a minute.”
He leaned forward, elbows on his knees, closing the space between us.
“You know I know when you lie, Vieve,” he murmured. “Your throat tightens in the same way when you’re trying to hold back your tears.”
Heat crawled up my spine. “Stop analyzing me all the time,” I snapped. His eyes lingered, no answer forming between his lips as I shook my head. “I told you it’s nothing.”
“Is it Gregory?”
I glanced over to him, watching as he waited patiently for my reply. His voice had softened, causing that stupid warmth to spread through my chest.
“When isn’t it him…” I whispered, shaking my head with a sigh. “He didn’t come home the night of Eugene’s soccer game.” My fingers tightened around the arm rest.
“…And that’s something you’re used to already,” Reid replied, raising an eyebrow. “What else happened?” My throat tightened again. I hated that he saw it instantly. “Vieve,” he pressed, voice mix with worry and impatience.
My grip on the arm rest tightened, and I froze as his palm covered my hand, forcing it still.
“I…” My heart hammered at the memory. “I don’t know what I saw.”
He waited for me to continue. Thankfully, he didn’t rush me to get the words out.
“I don’t know what I’m seeing when he’s with Cheryl and doesn’t come home. He smiles easily with her. He treats her daughter better than his own son.” I dragged in a breath, willing my words to slow. “I don’t know what I’m seeing.”
His thumb brushed once across the back of my hand, slow, but there was nothing comforting about it.
At least that’s what I was repeating over in my mind.
I could see it in his eyes: he was choosing which version of himself to be with me in this moment.
The vengeful man who wanted to rub my choices in my face…
or the man who used to love me. Who knew everything about the person I was.
“You’re seeing him be the man he pretends to be with you… for someone else. You’re seeing him give softness,” he muttered, “give effort, his presence to another woman. Things you begged for. Things he never bothered giving to his own son.”
My fingers curled involuntarily beneath his hold.
His grip tightened around it. It wasn’t painful, now only inescapable, holding me, steadying me despite me wanting to pull away and lean into him at the same time.
“And you don’t know how to process it,” he murmured, “because for years you convinced yourself his neglect wasn’t deliberate and that this life he gave you was perfect. You convinced yourself that you were okay with his failure and his inability to be there for you.”
“I didn’t—”
“You did.” He didn’t raise his voice when he cut me off. “And now you’re watching him choose someone else. Give what you thought he was capable of giving you and your son… to someone else.”
My lashes fluttered, an overwhelming feeling of embarrassment flooding through me as I looked away from him again. His other hand met the side of my face as he turned me to look at him. A tear slipped before I could stop it.
“You’re not confused, Genevieve. You just can’t lie or deny something that’s right in front of you.
” We were closer somehow, the heat of his body radiating off of him in waves, his eyes darkening as he watched me.
“The only reason you’re angry and tired now…
is because you finally see him the way I always did. ”
His thumb caressed my face. “Even though I forced you onto this plane, you still came willingly. You came with me,” he murmured, “because staying behind with him felt worse.” My breath shivered. “And you can’t admit that yet,” he added. “But you will.”
Silence settled between us as the engines hummed beneath our feet, the cabin vibrating through the quiet.
Somewhere behind us, Eugene’s voice carried faintly, chattering to Cara about superheroes and the snacks she’d bribed him with to sit still.
And I was here, breaking in front of the man I couldn’t get to leave my mind.
Reid’s hand slid from my face, from my fingers, retreating like he’d given too much in that moment. He leaned back, picking up the folder again, eyes lowering to the page, pretending nothing just happened between us again.
“We land in a few hours. You’ll need your head on straight,” he said, tone turning flat, businesslike.
I stared at him, my mind still refusing to catch up.
He noticed. His gaze lifted to mine one final time. “Get some rest while you can, Vieve.”
I turned toward the window, heart still pounding, my reflection faint in the glass. Clouds drifted beneath us, soft and distant.
I had let Reid leave before because I wanted to stay with the safety net, the facade, the life I’d convinced myself was enough.
But here I was, running back to the one man I should’ve stayed away from.
Because he was right. Staying had felt worse.