38. Epilogue—Gideon
Epilogue—Gideon
"Oh, good. You're still here."
Biting back a sigh at my sister's words, I wondered if she'd go away if I pretended I didn't hear her.
I wasn't supposed to be there this late. I’d planned on being out of the office an hour ago so I could get dinner started before Gia got home from school.
It was the first week back from summer break, and as much as I wanted to take her to and from school, she'd insisted on all things being normal, despite what had happened just a few months ago.
Sure, both drivers were PSOs—personal security officers—assigned to keep her safe.
But they weren't me, and they hadn’t been enough before.
Wasn't a father's first and primary responsibility to protect his children?
I was in a never-ending battle of what seemed like a war with no winner—either love my child enough to let her go, even knowing the dangers she could face, or smother her.
Andrie—Dr. Andrie Demming—had assured me that what I was feeling was perfectly normal.
As was Gia's rather fast bounce back to her mostly-normal self after her abduction.
Still, after yet another round of arguing that morning with my daughter, I couldn't help the sense of failure.
I'd failed my daughter. I hadn’t been there to protect her when she'd been taken and her guards shot.
I'd failed her again when I'd let my sister confront the man holding my little girl hostage and do what needed to be done to ensure her safety.
And … apparently … I was still failing when it came to my resolve to stop working so much and spend more quality time with Gia while I still had her.
How was it that my little girl was almost a teenager when it was just yesterday I'd brought a motherless, tiny newborn home from the hospital?
"Did you have a chance to look over our proposal?"
Well, shit. Turning from where I'd been poised to press the button to the elevator and wishing I'd been ten seconds faster coming down the hall, I turned to face the only woman in my life I always had the urge to hug or throttle, sometimes at the same time.
Lessia was my baby sister and a ballbuster.
She could be—hell, was—a handful on her worst day.
I'd been smart enough to double our legal fund the second I'd known Lessia was retiring from her jet-setting days in Europe and settling back home, knowing trouble didn't just follow her … she cultivated it.
And sure enough, she'd blown through that account in less than six months. Despite the headaches, extra workload, and chaos she caused, she was also our favorite. All four brothers admitted it—just not to her directly.
"The one …" I trailed off when I zeroed in on the woman Lessia was practically dragging behind her.
"Jesus, Lessia, slow down before you pull the poor woman off her feet," I scolded, slamming a door on my body's reaction to seeing Madison Harris struggling to keep up with Lessia's much longer stride.
As a former model, Lessia towered over most women, and her legs were certainly longer than Madison's, who was at least six inches shorter.
"Sorry, we just wanted to catch you before you left for the day." Despite her words, she didn't slow a bit until the women reached me in the alcove in front of the door.
"I'm already late," I tried, not wanting to do this now and in front of an audience, but Lessia talked right over me.
"The one I emailed you with the subject telling you to read it immediately." Rolling her eyes, she gave Madison a pointed look as if she was the one responsible for keeping me in line.
Bristling, I punched the button again, not caring if I was being rude. "You know all proposals go through Legal, not me. I have plenty of work that can't be handed off to others, so I'm not in the habit of taking on extra just because you don't like following protocol, Lessia."
Madison's gorgeous jade-green eyes fell to the ground, her body slumping as if she could melt into the floor.
Immediately calling myself an ass, I apologized.
"I promise I know exactly who the blame lies with, and none of it is with you, Miss Harris.
" I was quick to assure her, not wanting her to think I was upset with her in any way.
Madison's mouth dropped open, but before she could speak, Lessia jumped in, with her hands on her hips and a smirk on her lips.
"If you'd bother to read it, like you were supposed to," she said pointedly.
"You'd have known that this was a personal idea.
One Maddy offered to help me with on her own time.
And because it's personal, I can't send it through our legal department.
In addition," she raised her voice when I started to speak, "I wanted your opinion because not only do I value your thoughts and expertise, I had the crazy idea this would be something you'd want to volunteer your time toward, especially since Boone and Keene both already offered. "
Eyes blazing now, she took a step back as the elevator door chimed and opened—right on time for my sister and two minutes too late to prevent me from making a fool of myself.
"But don't worry, I'll take note that you don't have the time or inclination to be a part of anything of this nature in the future. Tell Gia I'll see her tomorrow."
Not waiting for a reply, she grabbed Madison again, towing her back down the hallway.
"Is he always like that?" I overheard Madison whisper as they walked away.
I felt those words, the incredulity and disgust behind them like a stab to the gut.
Because, though Madison had no clue who I was, we knew each other inside and out and had spent months learning almost everything there was to know about the other.
Damn it, I loved her. And didn't that just fuck all, considering she didn't realize the man she'd been talking to over the phone for months—the man who’d broken up with her with a sorry-ass excuse—had just been standing in front of her.