CHAPTER 57
Cal
It’s been a month since Victoria left, and not a day goes by that I don’t beat myself up for what happened between us.
I’ve learned I can’t spend too much time alone with my thoughts, so I’ve come up with a variety of ways to distract myself.
I go out on the range with Special K most weekdays, dragging my ass home too tired to do anything but eat and sleep.
Other days I work with Evander to manage the fallout from Arlo’s arrest and make changes to the structure of Yosemite Ranch business operations.
I’ve been spending more time with my dad, who took his best friend’s betrayal as hard as would be expected.
I’m helping Finn with the new filly he recently acquired too.
And I’m working on some new commands for Sarah Connor and Ripley. After moping around for weeks and searching for Victoria all over the ranch, they’ve finally given up.
But that still leaves the nights. And it’s those damn hours in the middle of the night that have nearly killed me. Her scent, the silky softness of her skin, her hot mouth on mine as I take her over and over again…it’s all I see in my mind’s eye when I’m awake and all I dream about when I’m asleep.
All I want is Victoria, back in my arms, in my life, and in my bed.
Losing a woman can be tough, but it’s never left me busted up like this or made me feel this lost. But then again, Victoria was not just another woman. I loved her.
I still do, despite it all.
One night, the memories got so unbearable that I jumped out of bed and began doing mathematical equations for fun, but even that didn’t work.
Where did my brain go? Right to comparing love to the chemical and material components of explosives.
I thought about how these two very different things progressed in the exact same stages: heat, impact, friction, and detonation.
At least it made me chuckle to myself, which is a rarity these days.
I made the mistake of sharing my discovery with Declan, and he laughed for a solid ten minutes. Then he told everyone else, and I haven’t been able to live it down.
From now on, for as long as this suffering continues, I’ll suffer in private.
It’s been a month. If she wanted to reach out, she would have. But she hasn’t.
It’s over. I need to find a way to accept that and move on.
This morning, we have a meeting scheduled in the secure conference room.
Special K and Declan are already seated at the table.
Finn strolls in, followed by Evander. Now that his cast is off, he finally listened to the lovely Nurse Phoebe and got himself a mobility aid.
I think she wanted him to get a wheeled walker.
Instead, he got himself a hand-carved hickory walking stick with a fancy burn pattern and inlaid turquoise, because he thinks it complements his eyes.
I join my brothers and close and secure the door.
Our scheduled video conference with the San Diego technical team lasts just over an hour, and we manage to finalize our latest specifications for a 2.
0 version of our Navy software. It looks like we’ll close on another huge deal in the next six months.
Everyone starts to stand.
“Wait,” Evander says. “While we’re all here, let’s talk about Arlo.”
A groan goes around the room. No one wants to talk about Arlo.
We’re sick to death of the old bastard, but every day seems to bring another twist or turn in the case.
We’re already assisting the state and federal law enforcement teams bringing charges against Arlo for his decades of embezzlement and fraud.
That includes his dirty dealings with the US Government on behalf of Nigel Backlund.
But as bad as it is for Arlo, it’s nothing compared to what Backlund is facing.
“I heard something very interesting yesterday,” Evander says. His eyes land on me. “You know all that evidence that’s being used to unravel the Renaissance Empowered conglomerate? I found out his daughter turned it over.”
The statement lands with a thud in my chest. “Victoria?”
Evander nods. “She turned in her own father.”
“Now that’s fucking cold,” Special K says.
Evander shakes his head. “That’s fucking brave is what it is. I heard she quit her job and is giving the feds everything they need to bury him.”
“But…” I’m trying to sort out my scrambling thoughts. “She’s not working there anymore?”
“There is no there anymore,” Evander says. “They shut him down. Nigel is out on bond and wearing ankle jewelry as we speak.”
I look down at my hands. I’m not sure I want to know the rest, or even if I have a right to the details. But I can’t stop myself from asking. I look at Evander. “Has Victoria been charged?”
“No, and I hear she won’t be. She’s the good guy in this mess. She’s agreed to testify. And now that she’s come forward, a whole bunch of his partners are going down as well. It’s a bloodbath.”
“Damn,” Finn says.
“She’s a one-woman wrecking crew,” Declan says.
“Think about it.” Evander gives me a sad smile. “If Victoria hadn’t come here with the intention of fucking us over, we never would have discovered that Arlo’s been doing us dirty since Mom died.”
“You know, I apologized to Dad yesterday,” Finn says, looking a bit sheepish. “I told him we all thought he was a shitty businessman when it turns out he was just being robbed blind.”
I nod at Finn. “I had that same conversation with Dad two weeks ago.”
“What did he say?” Finn asks.
“That he didn’t blame me, that he thought he was a shitty businessman too.”
“He said the same to me!”
We all enjoy a laugh, but then Evander gets serious again. “There’s something else I found out. Not only did Victoria not know what her father was up to behind her back, she actually told him to forget about buying Sulfur Springs, that it needed to stay in the MacLaine family.”
“What?” I go numb. “When?”
“Right after she negotiated the contract for us.”
“How could you possibly know this?” I ask.
“Uh, maybe I accidentally saw some of the evidence, including emails she sent to her dad. The point is, she did everything she could to try to change his mind.”
“Shit, man,” Special K says. “I feel kinda bad now. We were all pretty quick to think the worst of her.”
My throat tightens. I’m such an ass. Such a dick.
“Your girlfriend is our hero,” Finn says.
“She’s not my girlfriend.”
Finn laughs. “And whose fault’s that, bro?”
All mine. It’s all my fault.