by Mari Carr
Lucas didn’t know how to respond to that. He’d never, not once in his life, ever felt as if he mattered to his dad. That had been a hard pill to swallow when he was younger. Then he’d turned thirty and realized he was his own man, that he didn’t need anyone’s approval or love. Jesus. He’d been a fucking fool. Just a few short weeks with Caitlyn had shown him everything he’d been missing, that he had thought he could live without.
He didn’t want to be alone anymore. And though it made him feel weak and stupid, he knew his dad’s approval, his love, was something he wanted.
Maybe he was more of a sadist than he thought. Because God knew that desire was definitely destined to cause pain.
They sat for several minutes, the silence and tension thick, as Lucas struggled to respond.
Finally, the answer seemed clear.
“Do you want to meet Caitlyn?”
Dad rubbed his jaw wearily. “Are you really resigning?”
“If I stayed, things would have to change around here. We’d walk the straight and narrow. We’d use our wealth to improve the city, not increase our bank accounts.”
“Gentrification is—”
“No, we’re not squeezing out the small businesses, not driving people out of their homes anymore.”
“This is blackmail.”
Lucas grimaced. “Guess I’m a chip off the old block.”
His dad fell silent for several uncomfortable minutes. Then he shook his head. “No. You’re not. Not at all. If you were, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”
“Sorry to be such a disappointment to you.”
“I’m not taking that deal. I’m not buying you out,” Dad said.
Lucas started to rise angrily, but his father waved his hand and cut off his argument. “Don’t look at me like that. I’m not buying you out because you’re buying me out.”
“What?”
“I want to retire before this job kills me.”
It was the first time Lucas had ever heard his father mention quitting or admit that his health was poor at best. He had always figured the old guy would have a stroke or heart attack at his desk and that would be it.
“You want to retire?”
Dad nodded.
“What’s Astrid think of that?” Lucas had never asked his father about his affair with his personal assistant. Mainly, because he didn’t want to know the answer.
His father scowled. “I don’t give a shit what she thinks. I don’t answer to a woman.”
And just like that, his father’s inner asshole reemerged. Lucas regretted bringing up the subject. “Fine.”
“But apparently you do answer to a woman,” his dad said. “Never thought I’d see the day.”
Lucas could attempt to explain his feelings for Caitlyn, could try to describe how a healthy relationship wasn’t based on control or power or how much money each partner brought to the table. It was give and take, compromise. Something Lucas would have to learn—God willing—with Caitlyn’s help and patience. She was going to have to have a lot of patience to deal with him.
“I’m in love with her. And for some insane reason, she loves me too. Or at least she did.”
“Did?”
It figured his father would pick out the part that looked like weakness.
“Whiting Properties is seeking to destroy her family’s business—through health inspections and audits—in an attempt to force them to sell. I’m Whiting Properties.”
“She didn’t know that from the beginning?”
“She did.”
His dad tilted his head, clearly surprised by that answer. “And she still fell in love with you?”
Lucas nodded.
“You are a fool.”
Dad obviously had more to say, but he wanted to draw it out. Make Lucas beg for it.
“Why?” he begrudgingly asked.
“If she fell in love with you knowing what a bastard you are, then she’s still in love with you. There’s no past tense. You sure you have to give up so much? Sounds to me like you’ve already won the girl.”
“I don’t want to win her. I want to deserve her.”
His father leaned back in his chair. “You think you’re not good enough for her? You’re one of the wealthiest men on the East Coast, your family connections—”
“I’m not good enough for her. And it has nothing to do with money.”
His father glanced at the file folder and snarled. “There’s nothing wrong with the way we do business. It’s efficient and gets results.”
Dad would never get it. Ever. Time to press on. “Which leads us back to the buyout proposal.”
“You can shred that proposal right now. I meant what I said. I’m not buying you out, Lucas. We’ll set up a meeting with the lawyers tomorrow. You’ll assume control of the business, while I’ll remain in an advisory capacity for the next two years.”
Lucas started to veto that demand, but his dad spoke over his refusal.
“I can’t just walk out of here. There are too many,” his father paused, “side deals that only I know about.”
Lucas sighed. This was why he wanted out. It would be simpler to start with a clean slate somewhere else rather than try to wash the stains off this dirty vessel. However, there was no denying he’d played a role in creating that filth.
Walking away from it would be taking the easy way out, but it wouldn’t correct the problem. Without him, Whiting Properties would still operate in the same way because it was the only way his father knew, and while he wanted to retire, it wasn’t because of a crisis of conscience. Merely an old man’s desire to slow down.
Dad truly didn’t see the error of their ways, so it was up to Lucas to show him.
“If I stay, if I assume the mantle of control, things will be done my way.” Lucas felt the need to reiterate that point. And he knew exactly what his first two orders of business would be. Not that he planned to share those with his father until the paperwork declaring him CEO of Whiting Properties was signed on the dotted line.
His dad nodded. “I understand.”
Lucas was pretty sure that easy acquiescence would evaporate with the very first decision he made that his dad disagreed with. In addition to staying and assuming the mess, he’d be signing up for two years of knockdown, drag-out battles with the man.
Lucas glanced at the door. Fuck this. Maybe he’d just walk away from it all, grab Caitlyn, drag her aboard his yacht and the two of them could sail around the world for the next twenty years or so.
“You say you want to make things right, Lucas. That you want to deserve this woman.” Only his father could speak the word deserve so derisively that it sounded like something vile. “If you’re serious about that, then this is the only way to do it.”
And as much as he wanted to deny that, to argue the point, his father was completely right. He had to turn the tide on this business. He was the only one who could.
“Call our lawyers tomorrow,” Lucas said. “Set up the meeting.”
Dad rose and started to walk out. Lucas was used to abrupt goodbyes. It appeared this one would be no different.
“This woman,” his dad said, stopping at the doorway.
“Yes?”
“She better be worth all this.”
Lucas smiled. Of everything that had been discussed in this office the past few minutes, that was the only thing Lucas was sure of, that he knew was right.
“She is.”
Chapter Thirteen
Caitlyn walked into Pat’s Pub with Colm, covering her mouth as she yawned. It had been a long day at the end of a long week at the end of a long month. She’d walked away from Lucas Whiting four weeks, three days and seventeen hours ago. Not that she was counting.
And in that time, she had done two things. Worked herself into exhaustion, then come home to cry herself to sleep. Tonight probably wouldn’t be any different, though she was determined to try. She couldn’t keep walking this path. It was time to shed the woe-is-me routine
and move on. Somehow.
Ailis had texted her just before she’d left the office, claiming she had a surprise for her when she got home. Caitlyn had resisted the urge to text back, begging her cousin to postpone whatever she had planned. If she was going to start fresh, she needed to at least start. Tonight was as good a time as any.
Her family had rallied around her, supporting her as she struggled to recover from yet another heartbreak. Each and every one of them had the right to say, “I told you so.” Not a single one of them had.
They’d comforted her, kept her company, tried to cheer her up. Her mom and Riley had fed her all her favorite foods. Uncle Tris always greeted her upon her return home with an ice-cold Guinness and a joke. Uncle Ewan was the king of hugs. Somehow he could always take one look at her and know if she needed one of his warm, wonderful bear hugs.
The hardest part about the whole breakup was trying to hide her depression from Pop Pop. No one had told him about the threat to the pub—one that appeared to have disappeared as completely as Lucas—so she’d tried to keep her answers to his questions vague. He knew she and Lucas had broken up and that it was something that couldn’t be fixed and that she was devastated.
And because it was Pop Pop, and because he was the most wonderful man in the world, he’d let her cry on his shoulder countless times, all while promising her there was someone out there waiting to love her forever.
Every time he said it, she saw Lucas’s face and cried harder.
“I’m going straight up,” she said to Colm.
“What about Ailis’s surprise?”
Caitlyn shook her head. “I don’t have the energy for it.”
Colm pointed toward the bar. “I think you’re going to have to summon some up.”
Caitlyn followed the direction of his finger, her brain struggling to process what her eyes were seeing.
Lucas was sitting between Pop Pop and her dad at the bar. He was drinking a Guinness and they were all laughing at something Tris had just said.
The entire scene was too friendly, too nice. Too confusing.
Apparently her presence had just been noticed. Padraig looked like a mirror reflection of his twin, Colm, both of them pointing in opposite directions, toward each other.
Lucas swiveled on the stool, his smile still there, though the pleasure that had been on his face seconds before had hardened to something else. Not nervousness. Determination.
Oh shit.
She’d seen that look before.
Typically two seconds before she took off her clothes and knelt in front of him.
She shook her head, though no one had said a word. “No. No. Absolutely not.”
Caitlyn started to back up, but was surprised to feel Colm’s hand against her back, holding her in place. Since when had everyone switched over to Team Lucas?
She flashed her cousin an angry look. “What’s going on?”
“I think you should talk to him.”
“I don’t want to.”
Colm smiled and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, the show of affection completely out of character. “You’re not a coward, Caitlyn, so stop acting like one.”
Fucker. He knew how to tweak her pride perfectly.
“Caitlyn.”
She turned, feeling ridiculously relieved that Lucas hadn’t called her Cait. “Lucas,” she replied coldly.
“Can we talk?”
It had been radio silence from the man since she’d walked out of his apartment. Not a single email, text, call.
Nothing. No “why did you leave?” No “I’m sorry.” No “Good riddance.” No “fuck you.”
Nothing. Just silence.
Of course, she’d sort of started the whole thing when she left while he was sleeping. She shoved that thought away, refusing to feel guilty. This wasn’t about her. It was about him being a big, fat jerk.
“You left it a little too late, Lucas. It’s been a month. I’ve moved on.”
Liar, liar, pants on fire.
Colm snickered, revealing her lie.
She shot him a dirty look. “Don’t help me, Colm.”
“Go talk to the guy.”
What the fuck was going on here?
She started to pick a fight with her cousin. It was easier to lash out at him. He was family, after all, which meant he’d have to forgive her.
Lucas stopped her when he reached out and took her hand.
She tried to tug it away, but he held tight. “Please, Cait.”
Caitlyn squeezed her eyes closed, determined she wouldn’t cry. “Don’t call me that.”
Lucas stepped closer, clearly seeing the tears she was fighting. He wrapped one arm around her waist and whispered in her ear, “You’re always going to be my Cait.”
She shook her head. “Why are you here?”
“Come sit with me?”
Colm had suggested she summon some energy, but she couldn’t. She’d been numb for weeks and that feeling wasn’t going away.
She let him lead her to a table near the back. The same table they’d shared the night they met, and she had foolishly agreed to go out on a date with him.
“I need to say I’m sorry first,” Lucas began as soon as they sat down.
“Okay.” Caitlyn switched into autopilot. If she could just keep her answers short and simple, maybe she could make it through this relatively unscathed.
Yeah. Right.
“I actually showed up here the night you left.”
She frowned. He had?
“I asked your uncles and the others not to tell you.”
Caitlyn glanced toward the bar. Every family member had been looking at them, but the second she turned her gaze, they quickly looked away, trying to act casual. She would have laughed if she weren’t so annoyed.
“I can figure out what uncles, but which others? I want to know who to kill later.”
Lucas chuckled, mistaking her question for a joke. It wasn’t.
“I’m sorry it took me so long to come see you. It’s just…I’ve been really busy. A week after you left, I took over Whiting Properties. My father has stepped down as CEO, and while he remains as a consultant, his role will slowly diminish and in two years, he’s retiring from the business completely.”
If he thought that tidbit was going to make her feel better, he’d missed the mark by a mile.
“Congratulations. I guess.”
He forged on. “Whiting Properties is no longer interested in acquiring Pat’s Pub.”
No wonder her family was being so chummy. Lucas had just set them free.
“Really?” She failed to hide the skepticism in her voice.
He grasped her hand, leaning toward her. “Really. Our plans for this neighborhood have changed. Part of the charm of our city is its older streets with small, family-run businesses.”
She rolled her eyes. “Is that right?”
“Yeah. I’m getting sick of driving by chain restaurants and high-end department stores. Part of the reason I noticed Pat’s Pub to begin with was because it was unique and different and inviting.”
“So naturally, you thought you’d swoop in, buy it, wipe all that away with a bulldozer and make it look exactly like the crap you hate.”
“Naturally,” he replied, taking her sarcasm and turning it into a joke. “In truth, it all came down to an issue of time and funds. I’ve decided to invest my money elsewhere.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah. I bought this apartment complex on Fairmont Street.”
Caitlyn’s stomach lurched. “Moose’s building?”
“I’ve brought in some architects who are redesigning the place, updating it and making it safer.”
“Safer for what?” she asked.
“Senior citizens, like Moose.”
Caitlyn felt like she was slogging in mud, trying to keep up with Lucas. Every word he said kept knocking her back a few steps. “Moose can’t afford a fancy—”
“The rent’s not going to be expensive. I’ve talke
d to the head of social services. We’re setting it up right. It’ll be affordable housing for low-income senior citizens who are still able to live on their own without assisted care.”
Caitlyn had managed to stem her brokenhearted tears, but she didn’t bother to hide these. He’d done what she couldn’t. He had saved Moose’s home.
“Lucas,” she whispered.
“I’m calling it the Collins House. I was hoping you would serve on the committee overseeing the renovations.”
She was overwhelmed. Touched beyond belief. “You didn’t have to do all of this. I mean—”
“I did. God, Caitlyn. I did. I’ve spent the first half of my life living for just me. I’ve hurt so many people, including you and your family. I didn’t even realize there was another way to be until I met you.”
“Lucas, you were a good man when I met you. It was just sort of buried underneath…”
“A cocky asshole?”
She giggled. “Just a little one.”
“Your memory sucks.”
Caitlyn sobered up when she considered what he must have gone through in the last month to make so many changes. “How did your dad take all of this?”
Lucas shrugged. “Let’s just say it’s going to be a long two years.”
“He’s angry?”
“My dad has been angry pretty much every day of his life. I can deal with that. He’s struggling with the new me.”
“Struggling sounds more promising than dismissing.”
Lucas nodded. “I agree. He wants to meet you.”
“Shit,” she murmured.
Lucas laughed loudly, the noise drawing Caitlyn’s attention to the restaurant side of the pub. She’d been so focused on Lucas she hadn’t noticed her mom, Riley and Ewan all hovering near the opening. Unlike the yahoos at the bar, none of them pretended they weren’t staring when she glanced their way.
Instead, Ewan and her mom smiled, while Riley blew her a kiss.
Lucas lifted her hand and kissed her palm. “You should be grateful it’s just my dad. Meanwhile, it appears someone has thrown up the Collins Bat Signal. They keep rolling in.”
Caitlyn glanced around the pub and groaned. Lucas wasn’t exaggerating. At some point, Finn and his dad, Aaron, had arrived with Bubbles. That was probably Riley’s doing. Her brother, Lochlan, had joined their dad at the bar. Ailis, Sunnie and Yvonne were standing near the stage, pretending to chat with Hunter during his break. She might have believed they weren’t discussing her if they didn’t all keep looking over and then quickly glancing away.