25. 25 ADRIAN
25 ADRIAN
“Iwant visual confirmation that those flowers were delivered.”
“Mr. McIntyre, we don’t require that of our delivery drivers.” The woman’s confusion is evident in her tone; it grates on my skin like sandpaper.
“Then it’s time you do! Can you send the delivery driver back and ask them to take a picture of the bouquet?”
“I assure you the arrangement was delivered at ten am yesterday and received.”
I stare out of the floor-to-ceiling window of Colossus Corp. I know I should give up this office overlooking the square, but it’s the last of my father’s holdings, and I haven’t been able to let it go yet.
“I want to know without a doubt that those flowers were delivered, and I want to know right now.”
I turn at the sound of the door opening behind me. My father steps in the room, in a suit, no tie, which passes as casual for him.
“Mr. McIntyre, I can’t accommodate that request.”
“Of course you can!” My father raises an eyebrow at me. I uncurl my fist, take a deep breath, and flop into my office chair. “Are you sure those flowers were delivered?”
“I’m very sure, Mr. McIntyre,” says.
“Thanks.” I end the call.
“Taking your frustrations out on poor florists?” My father says.
“What frustrations?” I rub my face.
My cell phone chirps with an incoming call, but I ignore it.
“You might find this hard to believe, but your sister has been a source of aggravation for me over the years.”
“Ava has nothing to do with this.”
“No?” My father takes the seat in front of my desk and crosses his heel at his foot.
“No,” I say.
But it’s not true.
If Ava hadn’t given that sound bite to a reporter, and the media hadn’t tracked Mckenna down, I wouldn’t be yelling at florists.
When she didn’t come back out of Club Lust that night, I knew I blew it.
We’re in an impossible situation because I can’t guarantee that I can forgive what her parents did. But I love her. I’ve been absolutely miserable without her these past three months.
“You’re working too hard.”
“Only ninety hours last week.”
“Adrian, you gotta stop this.”
“Stop what? Working? That’s what you trained me to do.”
“And I shouldn’t have!” My father thumps the desk with his closed fist. I meet his eyes for the first time.
“Dad, I know I’m off my game. I’ll get over it.”
“I don’t think you’ll get over Mckenna. I don’t think you should.”
His words send my heart beating madly out of my chest. “What do you mean?”
“Adrian, when you took over, I was relieved. I thought you handled the situation perfectly. It gave me a reason to…hide in the sand.”
“No, it’s what I was supposed to do. It was my duty to protect your legacy.”
My father shakes his head. “I refused to deal with a mess, and I let you take it off my shoulders, and that was unfair.”
“It’s what needs to be done! You don’t trust me?” My head spins, wondering what my father is talking about and where he’s going with this.
“Adrian, you have proven yourself to be a capable and smart CEO. I trust you. The problem is, I shouldn’t have given up my responsibilities. Davis Moran is a friend. Without his scientific brain, we wouldn’t have a successful company. But when I heard he was selling our secrets to the mob, I shut down. I couldn’t process it.”
“Dad, that’s completely understandable! It’s hard when one of your oldest friends betrays you.”
Dad holds up his hand, as if he’s stopping traffic. “Your mother tried to get me to listen, to intervene before it got to that point, but it was easier to blame Davis and let you handle it than to realize that I needed to retire.”
“You wouldn’t have had to if Davis hadn’t sold you out.”
“Adrian, I’ve needed to retire for the last five years. I need to take better care of my health and take your mother on that cruise. I owe her that. One fuzzy video is not proof of Davis selling to the mob.”
“It’s more than that. It’s money missing.”
“Which our accountants haven’t found yet. Take a look at this.” My father passes me a flash drive.
I take it, lay it on my desk, and open my laptop. Then I insert the flash drive into the slot. A video starts to play. It’s from the same restaurant where we saw Davis go to meet the mafia.
“Dad, I’ve seen this. Countless times.”
“Keep watching.”
There’s the restaurant’s interior and the mob guy at the booth. Davis is there, and then he leaves.
“Yep, same thing I’ve seen over and over.”
“Adrian, please keep watching.”
Sighing, I turn my attention back to the screen. A moment later, Davis walks in again, but this time, he’s without his jacket and hat.
He stands at the side of the table. A big, beefy guy gets up; the mob guy holds up a finger.
Davis slides back into the booth. There’s no sound, but he’s gesturing as if pleading with the guy.
“What is this, Dad?”
“What do you know about Davis?”
“He’s brilliant. He’s kind.”
“Does he strike you as the type of man to mingle with the mob?”
“No, but he was desperate.” I push back from my chair.
“Adrian, I love that you are tenacious, take charge, and spring to action, but in this one case, you were too hasty. Re-watch the entire video this time and tell me what you see.”
I reach over, set the scroll-bar to the beginning of the frame, and press play.
The same scene that’s seared in my memory starts to play. Davis, in his coat and jacket, walked into the restaurant.
“Do you notice anything about Davis? Pay attention.”
Davis sits down and crosses his legs. Davis takes a sip of water.
I pause the image on the screen.
“Fuck. You can’t be serious.”
“Yes.”
“Explain.”
My dad gets up and walks behind my desk, staring out at the view. “I’m not the only one who wanted to retire.”
“That’s not Davis. That’s….”
“Yes.” My Dad’s voice is choked and strained.
“Why?”
“Because she wanted it to end. She didn’t want Davis to keep working here. She knew he was back to gambling, and she couldn’t take it. Last time, Davis sold her wedding ring. I got it back for her.”
“Why didn’t you say anything before now?”
“Honestly? I was hoping the investigators would catch on, but your mother pointed out to me that letting everyone think this was Davis would be a way to protect Liz. You helped us by shutting down MM Industries. We knew they didn’t have enough to charge Davis.”
I stare at my father, the CEO who has a reputation for being cutthroat, and suddenly, I feel that don’t I know him at all.
A memory of the four of them, dressed up and leaving for a night on the town, days after Mckenna graduated, flashes through my mind.
I remember the look my father gave Liz and how he joked that he was the luckiest man in the world to have two gorgeous women on his side.
I remember how my mom glanced over her shoulder, met my eyes, and brushed his arm.
“Have a good time,” I told the four of them.
“Yeah, have fun,” Mckenna called from the sofa.
The four of them laughed and closed the door.
I joined Mckenna on the couch and watched an old black and white film.
“What are you going to do next?” I asked Mckenna.
“I don’t want to think about it, Adrian. I need to just chill out.” She glared at me, but I just wanted to talk to her.
I fluffed a pillow and tossed it to her.
By the time our parents returned, Mckenna was asleep.
“You stayed here all night?” Mckenna’s mom asked me.
“Yeah, we just hung out.”
“She works so hard. You know she applied to Tufts.”
“Don’t worry, Liz. Our girl is going to get in,” Davis said, wrapping his arm around her waist.
“What did I tell you about worrying, Mrs. Moran?” My dad asked, with a raised eyebrow.
Liz blushed. “Thanks for keeping her company, Adrian. You’re a good friend.”
“No problem.” I said goodnight to the Morans and my parents and left.
For the next four years, I was busy with the company, and Mckenna went to vet school. Then, I saw her at the occasional company dinner, but I was focused on my own goals, like taking over for my father.
“What about Mckenna’s mom?”
“What about her?”
“What’s going to happen to her?”
“I can let it go, son. Can you?”
I stare at my father, not believing any of this.
“A long time ago, I should have chosen people over business. But I needed your mother’s connections. I’m fond of your mother.”
“But you’re in love with Liz.”
My dad doesn’t flinch. “Yes.”
It hits me like a hammer as the pieces click in my brain. All those dinners where the four of them were locked into their own world. The times when Liz would just casually drop by my dad’s office, always with an excuse at the ready.
“And Davis and Mom?”
“Davis loves Liz. I love Mom. We’re working it out.”
“I don’t even want to know what that means.”
“It means that you should take the best offer you can for Colossus Corp and go get the girl you love. It means that we deserve to be happy. All of us.”
“Ava is going to freak.”
My dad startles into a laugh. “Let her. This entire family sacrificed so much to make her dreams come true. She’s married now, and can live them out how she wants.”
“Why didn’t Liz want to return to Boston or wherever?”
“She didn’t want to hurt Davis. He was willing to take the fall for her. She needed to stay there, to wait for him to get back into the US.”
This is so wild I can’t help but laugh.
“I can’t see that mom loves any of this.”
“She’s a patient woman, son. She’s also trying to figure it out, and we’re trying to handle it like adults.”
A sudden wave of fury crashes over me. “But you made your children unhappy. If I had known that it wasn’t Davis…that this whole thing was a charade, or if you were honest with your feelings years ago.”
“I know. I’m sorry for the pain my actions caused you. But as you pointed out, you’re a grown man who can take a lot on his shoulders. It’s up to you to tell that woman you love her.”
“Where are her parents now?” I don’t know if I want to see them.
“They met with investigators last week. Last time I checked with Davis, they were on a plane to Oregon.”
That’s exactly where I want to be.
“What will Davis do?”
“A company in Sweden has made him a decent offer. I hear Sweden’s nice this time of year. Your mother and I are looking to join them. I don’t know yet.”
“I wish I had taken Mckenna in my arms and ran from all of this.”
“It’s not too late, son. Go get your girl.”
I press the heel of my hand into my eyes, wondering if she can forgive me for the insults I hurled, for the way I treated her.
The blood rushes to my cock, and I can’t help the grin that spreads across my face.
My hellion liked how I treated her, every moment of that sinful weekend, and I’m going to have a lifetime to show her how much I love her, a lifetime of making up for the time we lost.
“I’m sorry, Adrian. The Morans want to have dinner with you and Mckenna as soon as possible.”
“No, I don’t want to.” But then I think of how much Mckenna has missed her father and the hell that he’s put her through. “Fine, but it’s not going to be any time soon.”
“I understand, son.”
“Dad?”
“Yes, son?”
“How do you get a horse to Oregon?”
My father laughs and claps me on the shoulder.
“I’m sure your mother has the name of the best shipper in the business. Should we call her?”
“Let’s drop by instead.”
“Good idea.”
My head swims with all the lies that my parents, our parents, have spun for us over the last two years.
But it crystallizes the one thing I’ve ever known: Mckenna Moran is mine, and once I go get her, she’ll never be away from me again.