Chapter two
Tara
I stared at Caine from across the living room, trying to figure out what the hell had just happened. A week ago, we were having a conversation about sending Devyn to Switzerland.
It was a conversation. He never mentioned that he made a decision. Yet somehow his daughter was leaving next week for Switzerland.
How the hell did we get here… to the point where he had decided and everything without any input from anyone?
“You signed the papers already?” I asked angrily. Caine didn’t answer right away and that annoyed me even more. “Are you gonna answer me Caine?”
“Yeah.”
He answered the question like he was talking about the weather. Like he hadn’t just dropped a bomb in the middle of the great room that shocked me and Devyn.
I laughed a short, disbelieving laugh. “How? When? You told me you were on a business trip,” I said.
“I was,” he replied simply.
“In Zurich, Switzerland?”
“No.”
“So, how did you end up there?” I asked.
“I just couldn’t stop thinking about Devyn, Dylan and their bond. I want more for my daughter than a street boy,” he stated.
“I understand that, but you told me everything was on pause.”
“It was.”
My eyebrows shot up. “Well, clearly, it wasn’t if you signed papers to ship her off next week,” I retorted.
“Look Tara, I made the decision that I felt was best for Devyn. Now, can you please let it go? I have a headache,” he said.
“Oh no!” I held up my hand. “Don’t do that.”
“Do what?”
“Act like you’re just gonna drop this info on me and expect me to not be confused.” I pushed myself up from the sectional sofa. “Last time we talked, you said you weren’t making a decision to send her now.”
“I wasn’t.”
“And now she’s leaving next week. What happened to cause you to make such a rash decision without any communication to me?”
As I stood there waiting for a response, he just stared at me like I was asking too much.
His silence was starting to irritate the hell out of me.
One minute we were discussing possibilities and the next minute the decision had already been made…
without me, without another conversation, and without so much as a heads up.
“What changed?” I folded my arms. “What happened?”
“I just told you. Why do I have to keep repeating myself when I know you understand what I’m saying?”
“I just don’t understand how you can just make that decision without discussing it with me first.” I shook my head.
His expression darkened. “Well, I can make the decision that I feel is best for my daughter without talking to anyone because she’s MY child! And that’s just what it is.”
“Oh wow!” I expressed myself in shock.
I knew Devyn was his daughter, but he always talked to me about anything concerning her. Even if it was just to get my opinion or advice.
“So, this is what we’re doing now?” I asked as I took a step closer.
He still didn’t say anything so now I knew something was up because Caine Vaughn always had an answer… always. The fact that he didn’t want to give one told me there was more to the story.
“You went out of town.” His face remained unreadable. “You came back.” No response. “Then suddenly your mind is made up.” I pointed towards the door. “Now your daughter has run out and is probably crying her eyes out somewhere because you decided to ship her across the world.”
His jaw flexed, which was a small reaction, but he remained silent. Somebody needed to acknowledge the fact that Devyn was devastated.
“Excuse me but wasn’t that shit your idea?” he countered.
Oh wow! Is he really doing this right now? Putting this on me…
“Yes, but…”
“But what? Out the blue, you came to me with the information, pictures, the website, everything. Now you’re not happy about it! Can you make up your fucking mind?”
“Don’t talk to me like that!” I snapped.
“Fine. Bottom line, Devyn is MY daughter. I make all the decisions when it comes to her. I don’t need to ask for your permission or anybody else’s for that matter!” Caine barked angrily.
That really hurt my feelings because he had never thrown that in my face like that before. He specifically used the words “my daughter”, which let me know that when it came to Devyn, I didn’t have a say in any decisions. Or at least that was how he made me feel in that moment.
“Wow!”
My heart hurt so badly that I could only manage to get that one word out.
“You think I don’t know that Devyn is upset?” he asked. “And having you yapping in my face doesn’t help the situation at all.”
“So now I’m yapping,” I said as I nodded my head.
“You know what I mean.”
“I know what you said.”
I wasn’t sure anybody who had just watched their daughter beg to stay would’ve signed those papers. The room went silent and for several seconds, neither of us spoke then Caine exhaled heavily.
“This isn’t about right now.”
I frowned. “What?”
“It’s about ten years from now.”
I rolled my eyes. “What does that even mean?”
His voice sharpened. “You asked why I signed the papers to send her away to school.”
“You already told me… because she’s YOUR daughter and you can make whatever decision you want,” I repeated.
Caine side-eyed me and for the first time all evening, I noticed how tired and stressed he looked.
“Because she deserves more,” he replied.
The answer caught me off guard. “What?”
“She deserves to have opportunities that I didn’t when I was growing up,” he said. I stared at him and he continued before I could interrupt. “She deserves the best education, the best connections and the best future.”
“And you think that future is in Switzerland?”
“I know it is and don’t forget, you thought it first.”
I honestly wish I had never brought that school to his attention. Devyn and I had just started getting along and making strides in our relationship. We were in a good place, but now she blamed me because she had to leave. And technically, it was my fault.
“You know what I think?” I asked.
His eyes found mine. “What?”
“I think you made this decision by yourself and thought everybody else was just gonna get on board.”
His jaw tightened again, probably because he knew I wasn’t entirely wrong. I grabbed my purse from the side table because I was not going to stay here and listen to this bullshit.
“Tara.”
“Did you even think about how this would effect my relationship with Devyn?” I asked.
“What you mean?” he countered.
“Devyn and I were finally in a good place. She was finally coming to me for advice and everything. We haven’t had an argument since before Thanksgiving, and now you decided to pull this shit! You know she blames me and she’ll probably hate me forever!”
“She doesn’t hate you Tara. She just said that out of anger,” he reasoned.
“You can’t speak for her, so you don’t know that for certain,” I countered.
“I know my daughter and she’s not like that,” he said.
“Whatever!” I scoffed as I headed towards the foyer. “You don’t need my opinions or input about anything because you’re just gonna do what you want anyway.”
“Where are you going?” he asked.
I stopped long enough to glance over my shoulder. “Away from you,” I said. “I need some space!”
“Seriously Tara?” he asked. “You just had a week of space while I was out of town.”
I shook my head as I continued to the door because I knew arguing with Caine Vaughn was like arguing with a brick wall, especially when he had already made up his mind about something.
As the front door slammed behind me, I realized Caine was going to spend the rest of the night alone… with his decision and a daughter who hated him.
And for once, there wasn’t a damn thing his money or power could do to fix it.