Chapter Fourteen
Aurelia
It’s the most horrible day I’ve had for a long time.
Eventually Marcus and Caesar arrive, and Dad calls us all into his office.
I apologize immediately to Marcus, and Luke was right—he doesn’t yell at me, and he tells me not to worry about it.
But I can see he’s frustrated and worried, and I hate to think it’s my fault this has happened on his honeymoon.
Dad then tells me he’s had another call from Tom Rutherford, who’s offered to buy the company at ten percent less than his previous price.
That leads to a very uncomfortable meeting with the board.
Caroline resigns, apologizes to me, and leaves, noticeably upset.
The other two independent board members then tell Marcus he needs to end the farce, apply for a divorce, and leave Wren immediately, or they’ll call for a vote to accept Rutherford’s offer.
And it’s clear that Dad is tempted to vote with them.
To my surprise, Marcus stands up, announces that Wren is his wife and the love of his life, and states he’s not leaving her. And he says he’ll hand in his resignation if it means they don’t sell to Rutherford.
Voices start to rise, and I do my best not to get upset as arguments break out.
But eventually, Dad calls for quiet. To everyone’s shock, especially Marcus’s, Dad gives a big speech.
He says he believes Marcus’s feelings for Wren are real, and because of that he won’t vote with the board to accept Marcus’s resignation, and he doesn’t want to sell. He then calls for a vote.
His speech wins the board members around, and the vote ends up unanimous. Marcus stays, and we agree to weather the storm together.
By the time we leave the boardroom, I’m physically and emotionally exhausted. True to his word, Luke is waiting for me. I collect my purse, and we go down to the car park and get in the Range Rover.
“So how did it go?” he asks as he reverses out of the space and heads out.
I tell him what’s happened, and he breathes a sigh of relief. “I’m so glad,” he says when I finish.
“Marcus’s declaration was very touching,” I admit, looking out of the window. The sun is low in the sky, and the windows of all the city buildings are a bright, dazzling gold. “I envy Wren. He adores her.”
Luke says nothing. What was I expecting? That he was going to reply, And I adore you? My spirits sink a little further. What an awful day.
“How are you feeling?” he asks.
“I’ve got a headache. I’m tired. I just want to eat something with carbs, take a bath, and then crash out.”
“Sounds like a perfect evening,” he teases.
I continue to look out of the window. I wish I could ask him into my apartment. Order a curry or a pizza. Watch a movie with him while we eat. Then go to bed with him and let him pleasure me until my blues evaporate into the starry night.
But I can’t, and I probably won’t ever be able to. The thought depresses me even more.
The thing is, I tell myself, it’s not Luke I want per se. It’s just a man. Just comfort, and companionship, and he happens to be convenient.
Then I glance over at him. He’s rolled up his white shirt sleeves, and his bare forearms are deeply tanned and covered with a scatter of light brown hair. His hands are big and strong.
I’m lying to myself. I ache for him. I want to feel those hands on me, and his mouth on mine.
But men bring more problems than they take away.
I feel like Elizabeth I of England. She was afraid to marry because she knew he’d take control of both her body and her country, and I feel the same.
Maybe my country isn’t at stake, but my body and my life are.
I don’t want to be controlled. I want to be free, and have love at the same time. Is that too much to ask?
He signals and pulls into the car park. Without saying anything, we get out of the car and head up to my apartment in the elevator.
When we arrive, I wait at my door while he checks the place, and I step aside as he crosses the room and comes back to the door.
He pauses in the doorway. He doesn’t have to squeeze past me tonight. “Goodnight, ma’am.” A gentle reminder of his position, and why he can’t stay.
“Goodnight.” I keep my gaze down, wait for him to pass, and close the door behind him.
*
Following this, the next four weeks become a blur of press interviews, TV cameras, and board meetings. The Rutherfords are in and out discussing acquisitions and possible partnerships. There are more meetings, more coffee, more stress.
In a strange way it’s a relief that it’s probably the busiest I’ve ever been, and I have no time to dwell on my situation or on the guy who’s at my side practically twenty-four-seven.
All hell breaks loose when Tom Rutherford approaches Dad again with another offer, this time of a strategic partnership. Personally, I’m all for it, but Marcus is wary and Caesar is completely against it.
Dad wants a meeting with the Rutherfords, though, and on Friday 5th February, we meet at our offices.
Tom has just turned eighty, but he has a sharp eye and clearly hasn’t lost any of his ruthlessness and ambition over the years.
To my surprise, he brings with him his two granddaughters, Brielle and Maddie.
They’re an unusual couple, both with albino coloring.
I’ve seen Brielle before because she’s very active on social media, but I haven’t met Maddie.
She’s quiet, funny, and quirky, and I like her immediately.
I’m therefore puzzled when it becomes clear over the course of the meeting that Caesar doesn’t feel the same.
Or maybe I’m just picking up that he’s antagonistic toward the whole family, because I know he hates Tom with a passion after he had a humiliating run-in with him many years ago.
Whatever the reason, he’s clearly frustrated when Dad announces he’s open to the idea of a partnership, and he’s openly annoyed when Dad tells him he wants him to go to the Rutherford farm at Blackridge to scout out the new Verdant AI technology Brielle is pushing.
Maddie agrees to go with him, and they set a date for the following weekend.
The days fly by. I’m working flat out, my feet barely touching the ground.
I’m glad of the distraction. I still train with Luke in the morning, but the two of us have settled into a relatively comfortable routine now.
I’ve accepted that he’s not going anywhere, and so I stop pushing his buttons, and in return he stops teasing me.
We remain friendly but professional, and even though occasionally when he’s showing me a defensive move, we end up face to face or locked together on the ground, one of us quickly breaks contact, and we clear our throats and return to our ready stance without comment.
Marcus announces that Wren is pregnant, which fills me with joy, and also quiet envy that I make sure remains hidden.
I announce that I’m excited to be an aunt and give him a big hug, but for the rest of the day I’m filled with a restless yearning that won’t go away.
I throw myself even more into my job, finding that the only way I can overcome these confusing feelings is to crowd them out with work.
And as for Caesar… I don’t quite know what’s going on with him.
He comes back from Blackridge Station even grumpier than when he went, which is hard to believe.
Dad calls a board meeting to discuss Caesar’s findings, and it’s only when I announce that one of Maddie Rutherford’s aunts told me Maddie is pregnant, and Caesar sprays his coffee across the table, that I start to realize what’s going on.
“They had a thing at Blackridge?” I ask Marcus, after Caesar storms out.
He nods. “Apparently.”
“Jesus, he moves fast,” my father says, startled.
“The baby can’t be his,” I point out. “Not if they only slept together at the weekend. Jackie Rutherford said they assumed the baby was Maddie’s ex’s. So I guess Caesar’s just mad she didn’t tell him.”
“You know as much as I do now,” Marcus reveals. “I guess we’ll have to wait and see what happens.”
I spend the rest of the day regretting telling Caesar, remembering how angry he was, and feeling awful for upsetting him again. And then, toward the end of the day, my phone rings and Dad asks me to join him and my brothers for a meeting in his office.
Afterward, I walk down and meet Luke in the car park as usual at six p.m. We get in, and I buckle myself in, then tip my head back on the headrest and blow out a long breath.
“Everything okay?” he asks as he starts the engine.
“It’s been a helluva day.”
“Anything you want to talk about?”
It’s going to all be public soon, but I realize with some surprise that I would have told him anyway. I trust him, maybe more than anyone else, bar my immediate family.
So I tell him everything. That Caesar met Maddie on the evening of the masquerade ball, and apparently got her pregnant that night. That they hooked up again at Blackridge. And that he was worried Tom Rutherford had sent her to seduce him, but now he’s convinced that wasn’t the case.
“He genuinely likes her,” I tell Luke. “You should have seen his face when he talked about her. He lit up like a Christmas tree.”
He smiles. “So what happens now?”
“Dad’s called a meeting with the Rutherfords tomorrow.
He’s going to announce that we accept the partnerships with certain provisos.
You see, Maddie’s invented a new soil restoration model, and Caesar thinks it’s going to be amazing when it’s combined with our pasture management system.
He’s genuinely excited about it. I think the girl-plus-baby thing is just a bonus. ”
Luke smiles, turning into the car park and slotting the Range Rover into the usual space. “That’s great news. So all’s well that ends well?”
“Yeah, in the end.”
We get out and make our way into the elevator. I sigh and lean back against the mirrored wall, looking at him as the carriage slowly ascends. He studies the floor, lost in thought. He has dark circles under his eyes, and he looks tired.