“Hey, Mom. I hope I didn’t wake you.”
“No. I’m finally on East Coast time now. I was going to take a run. What are you doing?”
“Checking out this woman who’s digging her claws into Erik. Just trying to make sure she doesn’t have any skeletons that’re going to come back to bite us with everything that’s going on.”
“Are you sure that’s the only reason? You do know that it is a bad idea to mix business with pleasure and—”
“This is strictly business, Mom.”
“Be sure that it is. You can do a hell of a lot better than Erik Jordan.”
Ingrid closed the lid on her laptop. “Why do you think I like him?”
Violet crossed over to her daughter and placed her hand on Ingrid’s shoulder. “Please tell me that you don’t. Ingrid, I have to tell you something, something I should’ve told you years ago.”
Before Violet could say anything else, Ingrid’s phone rang. “Mom, I have to take this. It’s CNN.” Picking up her smartphone, she walked out of the room. “This is Ingrid.”
“Hi, Ingrid. This is Bradley Simmons, I’m a producer for CNN Money. We’re doing a story about the indictment of Simon Jordan for stealing from the company and his feud with Erik. Can you make Mr. Jordan available for an interview, or do you-all plan to release a statement?”
“When is this story going to air?”
“We plan to run it on today’s show and we’d love to do a live interview with Erik.”
“I’ll talk to him, but this better not be some ambush. If Simon Jordan is going to be on the set, we’re not doing it.”
“I guess you haven’t heard. Simon was arrested again today. This morning around four, they found him at the airport attempting to board a flight to Angola.”
Ingrid’s mouth dropped open, but no sound came out.
“Hello?” Bradley said. “Are you still there?”
“Yes, I’m here. I’ll get with Erik and see if we can make the interview. What time do we need to be there?”
“It’s a little short notice, but if you-all can be here by one this afternoon, we can go live.”
“All right.” She looked up at the clock on the wall. She had five hours to find her boss, write a press release about Simon, and prep Erik for whatever was going to happen next. Her mother was going to have to talk to her later. Maybe she could set up a nice dinner for them to talk once this day ended.
She dialed Erik’s number and it went straight to voicemail. “Where is he?” she groaned as she hung up the phone. Ingrid dashed into her bedroom and dressed. She needed to get to the office and find Erik. She also needed to gather all of the information she could about Simon’s arrest.
Chapter 18
To say Sylvie’s cupboards were bare was the understatement of the decade. She didn’t even have the cornflakes she’d jokingly promised Erik.
“You just eat out all the time, huh?” he asked as the dryer beeped.
“Most of the time, or I go home with Olivia when her mom cooks. Mama B packs up enough food to last me at least two weeks.”
“She’s an awesome woman. I’m surprised we never ran into each other over one of her meals at Modele’s.”
“How often do you eat there?”
“Not as often as I’d like to. I try not to take advantage of my brother’s future in-laws. But after that New Year’s dinner, I think I’m going to make more of an effort to visit with Mama B.”
Sylvie broke out laughing. “Olivia invited me to dinner on New Year’s Day. That would’ve been awkward as hell.”
“I don’t think it would’ve been any more awkward than me finding you in my office with your booty in the air.”
She pinched his arm. “Why don’t we go get breakfast from Modele’s, since your clothes are dry now.”
“Good idea. And maybe I’ll find my phone after I eat.” Erik headed for the laundry room and Sylvie walked into the den to get her dose of morning news.
As Erik slipped into his pants, he heard Sylvie call his name. Dashing into the den, he looked up at the TV and saw his father’s face on the screen.
“Former Jordan Industries CEO, Simon Jordan, is behind bars again after FBI agents found him at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport attempting to board a flight to Angola, a country that does not have an extradition agreement with the US.
“Jordan was on bail after being arrested for stealing from the company that he started and defrauding stockholders. Jordan Industries is currently being run by Simon Jordan’s oldest son, Erik. Good Morning America attempted to reach Jordan Industries for a comment, but we haven’t heard back from the company.”
Erik shook his head. “Damn it. I have to get to the office. Rain check on breakfast?”
“Yes. I know you’re going to be busy for the rest of the day, but I’ll drop some food off at your office.” Sylvie gave Erik a tight hug. “I’m sorry you have to deal with all of this.”
He held her out a few inches. “Guess this is what it means when they say you have to pay the cost to be the boss. I can’t believe he’s this fucking selfish. My mother needs him and he’s trying to flee the country.” Erik brought Sylvie’s hand to his lips. “I’ll see you soon, all right.”
She nodded and watched him gather his keys and head out the door.
* * *
Erik hopped into his car and headed straight for the office, not caring that he was wearing wrinkled clothes. He imagined that he’d been getting calls from the board, Ingrid, and everybody else that knew about Simon’s headlines. Any regrets he had about punching his father had been replaced with the need to do it again.
Even if Yvonne hadn’t told that son of a bitch about her cancer, Simon needed to be the man he’d always told his sons they should be, and face his wrongs. He created this mess, and it wasn’t Erik’s job to fix it.
He arrived at the office in record time and darted inside. He didn’t acknowledge the strange looks he got from his employees as he headed for the elevator. When he entered his office, he wasn’t surprised to see Ingrid pacing back and forth in front of his desk.
“Where the hell have you been?” she demanded. “I’ve been calling you all morning. This is a crisis and—”
Erik held up his hand. “Take a breath. I lost my phone and I just saw the news about Simon’s arrest.”
“We have to get out in front of this. CNN wants to do a live interview with you, and I think you should do it.”
Erik nodded. “That’s fine.”
“We also need to get something out to the stockholders and calm them down.” Ingrid picked up her iPad from the edge of Erik’s desk. “Our stock is falling like a lead balloon.”
Erik groaned. “We can turn this around, I hope.” The office phone rang, and as much as he wanted to ignore it, he answered. “Erik Jordan.”
“Monsieur Jordan, this is De’Leon Bisset.”
Erik gritted his teeth and clutched the phone harder. The last thing he wanted was to talk to the CEO of De’Leon Cosmetics, the French company that had been trying to buy Jordan Industries. “I don’t have time to talk to you today.”
“I’m sure. I’ve seen the American news today, and your father is making headlines that aren’t good for business.”
“What do you want?”
“Jordan Industries. Here is your way out of this mess.”
“Go to hell.” Erik slammed the phone down.
Ingrid sighed. “Should’ve warned you, the vultures are circling.”
“The last thing that I’m going to do is sell this company. Not now.” Erik rose to his feet and crossed over to the window and looked out over the city. “All my life, I was told this was my legacy. This was supposed to be everything. He spent so much time here that I barely saw my father. I wanted to be close to him. That’s why I took the job here.” He banged his hand against the window. “Why in hell did he destroy it all?”
“We’re going to save this company.” Ingrid walked up behind him and placed her
hand on his shoulder. He turned around and faced her.
“Thank you for all of your hard work and believing in what we have here.”
Ingrid leaned forward as if she was about to kiss him.
“Knock, knock,” a voice from the door said. Erik sidestepped Ingrid and saw his mother standing in the doorway. “Am I interrupting anything?”
“Ma, what are you doing here?” He crossed over to her and enveloped her in a tight hug. Ingrid cleared her throat and headed for the door. “I’m going to get things together for the interview. I’ll see you later.”
Yvonne watched Ingrid walk out the door. “I thought your special lady was an interior designer.”
“She is.”
“Then what did I just walk in on?”
“Nothing. Ma, why are you here?”
Yvonne sighed. “I wanted to tell you to your face that I didn’t know what your father was planning. I hate him so much right now.”
Erik led his mother to his desk and nodded for her to sit in his chair. “I need you to focus on your health and not him. This is business. Whatever happens, we can come back from it, but if you don’t get treatment . . .”
“Erik.” Yvonne closed her eyes as tears rolled down her cheeks. “With our assets frozen and your father’s bail being revoked, I can’t afford to go to the doctor.”
“And you think I’m not going to help you? That Logan won’t help you pay for your treatment?” He kneeled in front of his mother. “Mom, don’t give up.”
“I don’t want to be a burden to you boys. I can’t do that to my sons after I’ve failed you both so many times already.”
“You’ve never failed us.” He placed his hand on her knee. “But I do have to ask you a hard question.”
Yvonne nodded. “Go ahead.”
“Did you know what he was doing with the company?”
She laughed. “No. God, no. After your father decided that my lipstick line and my face no longer belonged here, I stopped paying attention to the business. Had I been a smarter woman, I would’ve walked away from him too. But I stayed for you and your brother.”
“We would’ve gone with you.”
“I’m not trying to make you feel guilty, because what happened between me and your father wasn’t for you and Logan to worry about. You two were children and I wasn’t going to put my adult problems on your shoulders.”
“But we grew up and . . .”
She stroked his forehead. “You’re always going to be my baby. And you were so close to your father. I didn’t want to come in between that relationship.”
“And now?”
“You see who that man really is and you can make your own decisions about how to deal with him, going forward.”
Erik stood up and smiled. “You need to make an appointment with your doctor and let me or Logan know when we need to get you there.”
“Yes, son,” she said as she stood up. “If you’re going on TV, I hope you plan on changing your clothes.” Yvonne reached into her purse. “After you punched your father, you dropped your phone. Tabitha found it this morning.”
Erik leaned in to his mother and kissed her. “Thanks. Got a feeling I’m going to need this.”
“I’m going to roam around a little bit. I like what you’ve done with the place.”
Erik smiled again. “That’s all Sylvie’s work. I just let her work.”
“Do I get to meet her?”
“Ma.”
Yvonne held up her hands. “All right, I’ll wait. See you later.”
* * *
Sylvie wasn’t surprised to find Logan and Olivia in Modele’s. They probably met there every day for some of Mama B’s amazing dishes. Sylvie had offered to redesign the restaurant for free, but Mama B was a creature of habit and she didn’t want to change anything in her space. Sylvie could respect that, because there was something comforting about the old-school wooden tables and plaid tablecloths.
“Good morning,” she announced as she crossed over to the couple.
Logan grunted and Olivia shrugged. “Good is relative,” Olivia said.
Sylvie pulled up a chair and sat down. “I saw the news.”
“Once again my dad shows what a selfish bastard he is.” Logan brought his coffee mug to his lips. Olivia placed her hand on top of his.
“It’s going to be all right. And we’re going to figure out how to keep your brand from being damaged by all of this.”
He slammed his cup on the table. “Liv, I don’t give a damn about a brand, right now. My mother has cancer, my father was trying to leave the country, and you think I give a damn about my brand?”
She snatched her hand away. “I know you’re upset, so I’m going to let this slide.”
“Babe, I’m sorry. Sorry.”
Sylvie looked from Logan to Olivia. This was serious because she’d never seen these two fight at all. Olivia rose from her chair and headed to the counter. Logan closed his eyes and squeezed the bridge of his nose.
“And this is why I stayed away from them for so long,” he mumbled. “Did Erik see this bullshit?”
Sylvie nodded. “He’s at the office right now. I came here to get him some breakfast. Are you and Olivia all right?”
“Yeah, yeah. We’ll be fine. I’m just charged up right now and I need to apologize to her. Excuse me.” Logan stood up and walked over to his fiancée. When Sylvie saw them hug and share a kiss, she released a sigh of relief. They needed to stick together, because if Logan and Olivia couldn’t make it, there was no hope for anyone else.
“Sylvia!” Mama B called out. “Girl, if you don’t come over here and give me a hug!”
She sprinted over to her friend’s mother and hugged her. “How are you?”
“God woke me up in my right mind, so I’m great. It’s good to see you. How are things going?”
“Great. I promised my client one of your breakfast platters today.”
Olivia cleared her throat. “That’s what we’re calling him now? A client?” Logan laughed, then turned away from Mama B’s stare.
“So, you have a boyfriend now?” Mama B asked.
“I-I . . .”
Olivia nudged her mother. “It’s Erik.”
“Erik Jordan? I can see that.” Mama B wagged her finger at Sylvie. “He’s a good guy and almost as intense as you are. Olivia, you should’ve hooked them up years ago. But why are you calling him a client?”
“Because I’m remodeling Jordan Industries.” Sylvie smiled proudly. “And my offer still stands for you.”
“No, baby. Sometimes you just have to leave a classic, a classic.” She waved her meaty arm. “Everybody knows this place this way, and loves it. One day, my lovely daughter will come back and take over. Then I’m sure you two will change everything in here.”
“Never,” Olivia said.
“Never what? You coming back or you remodeling the place?”
“I wouldn’t change this place or run it,” Olivia quipped. Mama B playfully swatted her daughter’s shoulder.
“Let me go get these platters together.” Mama B disappeared into the kitchen and Sylvie shot her friend a cold stare.
“Can I go on record and say—to both of y’all—that Erik is not my boyfriend.”
Logan laughed and Olivia rolled her eyes. “You and my brother have inspired an idea for a painting. Living in denial.”
“I know, right,” Olivia chimed in.
“I don’t have to take this from y’all. I have to go to Asheville in a few days, but I don’t know if . . . Has Erik found his phone yet?”
Olivia and Logan exchanged a knowing look. “You can call your client at his office, right?” Olivia quipped.
Sylvie rolled her eyes. “Y’all make me sick.”
A few moments later, Mama B returned to the dining room with two of her famous breakfast platters—grits, cheesy eggs, sausage, and pancakes.
“I put blueberry preserves in there instead of syrup because Erik loves my preserves. Y’all need to c
ome by for dinner one day soon, okay?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Sylvie said as she paid for the food.
“Give Erik my love,” Mama B said as Sylvie headed out the door. The smile that lit Sylvie’s face didn’t go unnoticed by anyone in the café.
Once again, Sylvie was driving her work truck because she hadn’t had a chance to get the part she needed to fix the Jag, but she would get it soon because this truck drank gas like a hungry kitten lapped milk. Setting the food on the passenger seat, she pulled out her phone and called her mother.
It was time for her to accept that she’d met someone who she could possibly see a future with. Sylvie hadn’t had these feelings in years, and this time it felt as if she’d be giving her heart to the right man.
The connection she and Erik had was simple, sweet, and sexy. If anyone had a right to be arrogant, or at least be an arrogant jackass, it was Erik Jordan. But he was down-to-earth and loyal. She could tell that he was torn up by his family drama, especially his mother’s illness. There was something about a man who was loyal to his mother. Even if Erik had been a serial dater, he didn’t seem disrespectful to those women. And the way the blogs loved a Jordan scandal, someone would’ve spilled the tea.
She had to admit that she was looking forward to seeing where this thing with Erik went. Sylvie could finally let go of the past.
Erik was her future. Or maybe she was moving too fast in her mind when she should just go with the flow. Take it one day at a time, she thought as she turned onto the freeway interchange known as Spaghetti Junction.
When she arrived at Jordan Industries, Sylvie was happy to see that her crew had made it on time to get started on the executive suites. She’d have a little time to eat breakfast with Erik if he wasn’t too busy putting out the fire that had exploded around the company. Her heart broke for him and his relationship with his father. She couldn’t imagine not having the relationship she’d had with her dad. Or worrying if her mother had been keeping secrets from her about things her father had done. She parked the truck and hopped out with the food. Heading for the elevator, she heard someone call her name. Turning around, she offered Ingrid a plastic smile while she wondered what this woman wanted.
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