Chapter 37 An Emotionally Stunted Man
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
An Emotionally Stunted Man
HENRY
“Idon’t know how many times I need to say this, Atlas.” I massaged my knees under my desk. “The algorithm is my IP, not Tickle’s.”
“But when we signed the deal, there was an unspoken agreement that it included the algorithm.” Atlas leaned back, running his hands through his fauxhawk.
“An unspoken agreement means nothing. It’s not on paper in the contract, it’s not included in the deal.”
I’d been right. Our investor was more interested in my algo than in Tickle itself.
A sick feeling of impending doom sunk into my abdomen.
I couldn’t put my finger on the root cause for it.
I needed my vape. Hell, I needed to know that Ri was okay.
She still hadn’t returned home by the time I had to leave for work.
She hadn’t replied to my last message, and I wondered if I’d somehow made things worse. But wasn’t it normal for a married man to text his wife that he loved her?
Ah, but you knew it was a loaded statement, Henry. Because you know that you—
“Henry, think about this rationally for a hot minute?” Atlas whined, which I knew meant he was getting frustrated. I squeezed my knees again, breathing in sync. Squeeze—breathe in. Release—breathe out.
“I’m being rational. The contract does not include the algorithm, it’s all there in black and white.”
Atlas surged out of his chair, pacing my office. “The contract states that shares in Tickle include all related IP. That fucking algo is related IP, Henry!”
Release. Breathe out.
“It’s not. It’s licenced for Tickle’s use from my private company.”
“Are you fucking for real? You went behind my back on this?” Red was creeping up his neck.
Squeeze. Breathe in.
“I protected my intellectual property—a code I wrote long before Tickle was even an embryo of an idea. And judging by your behaviour right now, it was the right thing to do.”
Atlas leaned a palm against the wall and sucked in a few deep breaths. “Are you going to make me go back and explain that my partner separated the most valuable aspect of our business out, and … then what? ‘Sorry, you’ll just have to suck it up’? I’m going to look like a fucking fool!”
“The licensing agreement was provided to the investor during due diligence. If his lawyers didn’t advise him that it was excluded from the agreement, that makes them the fools, not you.”
Atlas’s fingers twitched against the wall. I wondered if he was thinking about strangling me. “But I sold him on this investment on the basis of it including our ground-breaking algorithm!”
“My algorithm. Not Tickle’s.” Release. Breathe out.
Atlas rounded on me. “Are you that fucking selfish?”
Squeeze. Breathe in. “I think you should go home, Atlas.”
He stared me down, face red and blotchy. I forced myself to maintain eye contact. It felt like my insides were trying to claw their way out of me to do it, but I couldn’t show him weakness.
“Fuck,” he muttered, turning away. “I’m sorry, Chewy. You’re right. I fucked up. His lawyers fucked up. I just don’t want to have to deal with the fallout when we tell him that there’s been a fuck up.”
“It doesn’t have to happen today. Go home, play Call of Duty, blow off some steam.”
“Yep.” He popped the P and stalked out.
Release. Breathe out.
Breathing exercises weren’t going to come close to helping me after that altercation. I couldn’t be in this space a second longer. I waited for the count of one hundred, to make sure that Atlas wouldn’t be waiting at the lifts when I got there, before heading for the door.
“Liv, I’m working remotely for the rest of the day,” I muttered as I passed her. “I’m unavailable for calls.”
“I’m sorry, Henry, but Cadence called while you were in with Atlas. She said she has something she urgently needs to speak with you about.”
I stopped, fingers flexing. “Next time Cadence calls, you can tell her that I am not interested in having any contact with her again—urgent or otherwise.”
“She sounded quite distressed,” Liv added, her voice tight.
“She’s in Atlas’s pocket these days. She can express her distress to him.”
I strode off before Liv could say another word.
Lucian and Ri were still out when I returned to the yacht, which only increased my anxiety. I pulled out my phone, staring at the blank screen. No new messages. No missed calls. I bit the bullet and tapped out a curt message to Lucian.
Henry: Update please
I headed for my bedroom. The contracts for Staghorn Island had arrived, and I needed to go over them. River had also sent through a schedule of works that would need to be organised to start as soon as the sale was settled.
I had plenty to get on with. I wasn’t going to hover over the phone waiting for Lucian to reply. If I did, I’d only convince myself that I should check in with Ri to ensure everything was okay.
I was two-thirds down the first page of the contract when my phone buzzed.
Lucian: We’re on our way back now
Lucian: Irina’s a moody bitch today
I set my phone down, returning to the contract. My eyes blurred. Perhaps I was due for a new prescription? I took my glasses off, cleaned them and rubbed my eyes, but I knew that wasn’t the reason I couldn’t focus.
What was going on with her? Had my message upset her? Annoyed her? Had something happened with her friend? It could be any number of things that may have happened over the last few weeks that I wouldn’t know about because she’d been avoiding me since the night of no rules.
Admittedly, I’d been avoiding her too. Specifically because I didn’t want to avoid her. I wanted the opposite of avoidance. I wanted to indulge in her in too many ways to count. But it had just been an itch she’d needed scratched. Something to get out of her system.
I heard the clattering of feet on the stairs outside the door, and my heart started up a frantic, anticipatory thrum.
A knock sounded on my door, too tentative for Lucian. Willing my hands to stop trembling, I called out, “Come in.”
She pushed the door open, slipping inside with Abernathy and Trinket hot on her heels. I tried my hardest not to stare. My hardest was completely pathetic. I drank her in.
She looked tired. Perhaps she’d had a big night drinking with Kat, and she was hungover? That would account for her being out of sorts. But her eyes were red-rimmed, and her face was blotchy. Like she’d been crying all night.
I was on my feet, wrapping her in my arms before I could think twice about it.
“Catnip,” I breathed against her hair.
“I changed my mind,” she mumbled into my chest, and my heart stopped. My fingers curled into her hair, and I tried to remind myself to breathe.
“About what?” I rumbled.
She pulled back from me, and there were fresh tears on her face. “I think we should chase up my visa application. I need to know how long until it’s approved.”
I swallowed back the bitter disappointment, telling myself I’d been stupid to entertain hope that she’d changed her mind and wanted to scrap the rules, for good this time.
Because Irina wasn’t an irrational, lovesick idiot.
“Alright … yes. We can make a call about it now, if you’d like?”
She wiped at the wetness on her cheek. “Can you make the call? I’m … tired. Big night with the bestie and all that. I need sleep.”
She was already turning for the door when my hand shot out to grab her wrist. She stilled but didn’t turn.
“Is everything alright?” I asked through a thick throat. Her chin dropped to her chest, her shoulders rising and falling with a huge breath.
“I’m just PMSing, Henry. And all I want to do is curl up in my pyjamas and try to catch up on sleep.”
“If there was something on your mind, you’d talk to me about it, wouldn’t you?” I pressed.
“There’s nothing to talk about.” She tugged her wrist from my grip, and I let her slip out of the room once more. The door clicked with a soft finality.
“Shit,” I muttered, running a hand through my hair. I turned back to my desk and the pressing contract. Sitting down, I picked up my phone and googled the Department of Home Affairs.
A much louder knock roused me from the whirring in my brain that not even my vape was calming. I grunted, and Lucian let himself into the room.
“Did you manage to find out what the hell is up her arse?”
A surge of anger filled me. “What makes you think that I have any ability to untangle her mysteries? I’m utterly useless when it comes to people!”
Lucian sat on the edge of my bed, rubbing his forehead. “Because you two are … you know …” He flushed, refusing to look in my direction.
“It was one night. And sex doesn’t mean I suddenly have some magical insight into her inner workings!”
“I’m not talking about sex,” Lucian argued. “I’m talking about the fact that she trusts you … and you trust her … and there’s something going on that’s got her rattled.”
I slumped back in my desk chair. “I know. I thought it was …” I stared up at the ceiling, trying to find the right words. “I thought that maybe she was uncomfortable because we’d been … intimate, even though we’d agreed that we shouldn’t. I probably made things awkward for us both.”
Lucian grunted. “But you don’t think it’s that anymore?”
I shrugged, frustration and worry and a sickening feeling of impotence swirling in my stomach. “It’s probably still a factor, but it’s not the only one. I just don’t know how to help her!”
I reached for my vape and took a long pull with shaking hands.
“Bax. You’re already helping her. And … I don’t know why you won’t just let things happen between the two of you, but—”
“I’ll tell you why—because what she needs is stability. Two years of it, while we secure her visa. Not an emotionally stunted man who’ll ruin everything and force her to choose between a future in Australia and escaping me.”
Lucian shook his head. “Cadence did one hell of a number on you. You are the least emotionally stunted man I know. And the way you are with Irina … it’s more than just stability you’re providing her.
You give her empathy, and patience, and support.
You give her all the things a partner should provide, and that’s not even considering the fact that you’re insanely attracted to one another! ”
I threw my hands up in the air. “And none of that makes a scrap of difference, does it? At the end of the day, I offered her a contract marriage with an expiry date.” I sighed heavily, flexing my fingers.
“Which I’ve just discovered is going to be made much more difficult for us.
They’re not going to approve her temporary visa because the application was made after her student visa expired. ”
Lucian blew out a breath. “Fuck.”
“Indeed. I argued that the delay with our marriage license should be considered, and all they conceded was that she could reapply, but she would need to go offshore to do it.”
“So, go offshore. Take her somewhere and reapply. You can work from anywhere in the world, Bax.”
“It’s not that simple. Atlas is being … fractious at the moment—I can’t just disappear. I need to sort out a few things with him before he heads back to the States and starts running his mouth to more people in the industry.”
“So, we keep her safe here for the next couple of weeks, and once you’ve got things under control, you can take her anywhere you like and get the application sorted.”
I sighed. “I don’t like it, but it’s really the only option. I will not send her off on her own, not even with a security detail. If she leaves the country, I leave with her.”
Lucian nodded. “I wouldn’t have expected anything less from you, Bax.”
“Also … we won’t be telling her about this … not until it’s time to go.” My stomach lurched at the thought of lying to her. The feeling intensified when I saw the incredulous look on Lucian’s face.
“I don’t want her worrying. After what she told me about her uncle, her fears about having to return home are real. We keep her safe, and that includes emotionally.”
Lucian didn’t look convinced, but he nodded. “You’re the boss, Bax.” He got up to leave.
“I thought you disapproved of her,” I muttered, almost as an afterthought.
Lucian turned back to me, a glimmer of a smile on his lips. “She’s a loose unit, your Ri. But … I’m beginning to believe that she’s hiding a heart of gold under the snark.”
He left the room, and I turned unwillingly back to my computer. I was in no state to decipher a property contract. And I was a billionaire, after all. I didn’t need to be looking this over. That’s what lawyers were for.
I needed something to take my mind off this entire day. Just a few hours of mindlessness.
Gravitating towards the living room, and the big screen television that I hardly ever used, I navigated to YouTube. It was probably past time that I did a bit of background research on my new business partner.