by C. C. Piper
“With Hannah?”
“Yes.”
Horror flooded my insides. Mainly because the concept of it held a certain ring of truth I couldn’t deny. Dad had been acting differently over the past few months. He and Mom were rarely home, and when they were, they weren’t often together.
But as horrendous as that was, did it mean he was guilty of professional dalliances, too?
No. Yet my instincts were shrieking at me that there was more here than met the eye. “Have you seen additional evidence pointing in that direction?”
Drew looked like he wanted to throw up. I couldn’t blame him; all this was making me feel pretty nauseous, too. “I came out of the conference room one evening and heard…a noise. I wouldn’t have thought anything of it, except it was late and everyone else had gone home. I stuck my head out to investigate when I heard a giggle. Hannah came out with mussed hair, and Dad was right behind her. He was…”
“He was?” I prompted him, but I could tell I wasn’t going to like this.
“He was zipping up his pants.”
God. My need to barf doubled. “Was he being sued?”
“Rach, he’s been sued four times in the past year alone from various different parties.”
“How did I not know that?” But I could answer my own question.
I hadn’t been involved in the company. I’d only shown up to meetings when Dad wouldn’t take no for an answer, and even then I hadn’t paid any attention. One time, I distinctly remember working out the ending to a song in my head rather than tuning into what was going on. It’d been my own docile form of rebellion. My way of seeming to toe the line while doing what I wanted on the sly.
I’d resented my parents, particularly my father, so much for not letting me follow my dreams. And now, as I looked back, I resented other things, too. His and my mother’s constant absences. Their lack of support. Drew and I were twenty-one now, so their participation or lack thereof in my concerts shouldn’t affect me as much, but they’d always been like this. They hadn’t supported my brother and I as children, either.
Brisbane Industries was more important than we were.
Mom and Dad had made that abundantly clear.
What if everything Christoff had told me about my father was accurate? Did I want to know?
No. But I needed to. If my brother and I were to one day inherit this multifaceted conglomerate of a company, I wanted to feel confident that our business was being conducted not only legally but ethically.
It was up to me to invest the time necessary to make certain that was the case.
18
Christoff
My life hadn’t imploded, and I honestly couldn’t comprehend why. It had been two weeks since Rachel and I had returned from the island. Two weeks since I’d stepped off my helicopter, expecting to be apprehended and forced into handcuffs.
Yet nothing like that had occurred.
At first, I’d gone through every hour, every minute, waiting for the other shoe to drop. Rachel had no reason not to inform the authorities of my guilt. She hated me, despised me. And though I wished with everything in me that I could change that, I couldn’t.
So why was I still free?
I went back to Dodecahedron, but my concentration was shit. I hadn’t thought I’d be able to come back to work ever again, much less come back as if nothing had happened in those five crucial weeks—as if my whole existence hadn’t been thrown into a vicious upheaval.
I didn’t know how to handle all this.
In the last three months, I’d gone from a successful billionaire businessman, on top of the world and ready to ask the woman I loved for her hand, to a man who’d had both a significant portion of my wealth and my happiness torn out from under me. Hannah had gone from my possible future wife to my nemesis, and a massive conglomerate had gone from one of my rivals to the main cause of my misery.
And then I’d lost my goddamn mind and hired the Wish Maker, which had made things go from bad to worse. The kidnapping idea had been the most harmful and boneheaded decision I’d ever made in my life. Without effort or permission, memories of my time with Rachel careened behind my eyes like a movie reel, and those feelings of sorrow and remorse nearly undid me. I’d not once considered the possibility of finding love in the midst of my rabid fury. And yet, I had. I’d loved Rachel far more than I’d ever loved any woman, including Hannah.
I still did.
And the absolute and inescapable agony of losing that made me contemplate dark thoughts. If I thought I’d been down after Hannah’s betrayal, that was a mere fraction of what I felt now. Because Hannah was never going to be the woman for me. But Rachel could’ve been, if I hadn’t fucked everything up.
I replayed the first interaction I’d had with my best friend upon my return. I’d glanced up to see Kit standing at the threshold of my office two days after hopping off that helipad. He was the closest thing I had to family, but I didn’t want to see him. I didn’t want to see anyone. Why had I come to work? What had I thought it would accomplish? I dragged myself to my feet, having trouble mustering up the energy for even that, and headed his way.
“Whoa, you look like hell, bro,” he noted.
Probably. I hadn’t sought out any mirrors in a while.
“So, I’m guessing things didn’t go so well with the Brisbane chick?”
I glowered at him. Why was he still here and speaking to me? I pushed past him and into the corridor, needing to get out of there. He threw out an arm, blocking me, and I contemplated knocking him out. Couldn’t he take a hint?
“You gonna talk to me or what?”
“Get the hell out of my way,” I hissed at him.
Somewhere within the deep recesses of my psyche, I knew this wasn’t Kit’s fault. Yes, he’d introduced me to the mysterious woman who’d set all this into motion, but I was the one responsible for everything that had gone down afterwards. I had no right to take out my frustrations on my best friend. Yet, everything within me had collided like an atom being split, and before I’d even registered what was happening, I’d exploded.
Coming up with my left hook, I’d almost cleaned his clock. He’d ducked enough in time for me to only graze his jaw, but he still backed up, rubbing it as if it hurt. Good thing we worked out together a lot, which included some sparring in our gym’s boxing ring, otherwise I might’ve been taking him to the hospital.
Luckily, my outburst expended some of the turmoil inside me, bringing me back to my more rational self. Unluckily, I then had enough presence of mind to realize what an enormous prick I’d just been.
Damn, Green, you’re batting a thousand across the board, aren’t you?
“I’m sorry,” I said, before I ran off the only person I had left in my life at all. Apologies were becoming my specialty, even if they didn’t always repair the damage I’d done. Fortunately, Kit had always been one to let things slide where I was concerned.
We’d gone back to my office, and I told him everything. How thoroughly I’d screwed the pooch. He hadn’t judged me or said, “I told you so.” He hadn’t punched me back, even though I totally would have deserved it. Instead, he’d suggested we go to the gym and we did. It might not have helped me feel better about Rachel, but it did take the edge off enough that I didn’t blow my top and kill the wayward pedestrians who bumped into me on the street.
We hadn’t discussed Rachel or the island since. We hadn’t discussed Brisbane or anything related to what he’d done. Instead, we’d finished out the devilishly dark platformer I’d started to develop before I’d met her, adding more violence and gore.
“Yeah, we might want to adjust the entrance of those demons or the difficulty level will be too hard. We could get some bad reviews otherwise,” he said.
I only half heard him. I’d been slicing my way through the level, dying repeatedly without giving a damn. The only way I’d been getting through my days at all was to wade through the carnage of my next-to-impossible game every morning, then w
ork out until I fell over every night before starting everything all over again the next day.
“Is that your phone?” Kit asked me.
I glanced at it on my desk, watching it vibrate and light up. I’d been ignoring most calls and texts whenever Kit was with me. He was the only one I was willing to talk to right now. The only other voice I’d like to hear was the light, feminine one of Rachel, but that obviously wasn’t ever going to happen again. When I saw that it was my attorney calling me, I was surprised. My lawsuit had been pointless, so I didn’t know what Eddie could be contacting me about.
Just out of sheer curiosity, I picked up.
“Christoff, you’re not going to believe this, but Jack Brisbane’s lawyer just contacted me. He wants to meet with us. ASAP.”
I went still. “Why?” Was he planning to do some additional legal maneuvering against me? He could’ve had me arrested weeks ago, unless Rachel had just now decided to confide in him. But if that was the case, why hadn’t he simply sent the police to come here and haul me off in chains?
“I think you’d better just get over here.”
I called my driver to take me, not thinking it a good idea for me to be behind the wheel in my current state of agitation. I’d left Kit to man the fort, but I felt like a live wire. Every nerve I had was frazzled to the point of being worn raw. I’d been living in limbo all this time, sure every police siren or flashing light in the area was coming for me. I’d been so jumpy, every bump I heard both at home and the office nearly sent my skeleton leaping out of my skin.
If he wasn’t planning on ambushing me somehow, what could he possibly wish to discuss?
My brain reeled with the possibilities. I’d inadvertently given him as much blackmail material as he could ever need by kidnapping his daughter. What if that was his play? Did he want more of my technology? Was he planning a hostile takeover of Dodecahedron itself? Or did he even have some way of forcing my company into bankruptcy?
After fucking up so thoroughly, I’d realized that the future viability of my company was on shaky ground at best. To mitigate the liability to my hundreds of employees, I’d had my lawyer draw up a contingency plan that would give my staff substantial severance packages in the case of a hostile takeover or if I had to step away as the owner. I felt better for having prepared a safety net for my staff, even if that net would only help marginally.
My lack of foresight had severely damaged everything and everyone in my life. As much as I’d resented what had happened to me, I was the one who’d made things categorically worse. And now Brisbane’s lawyer wanted to meet with me. This couldn’t be good.
When I arrived, my attorney was already waiting for me, frowning. “Jesus, Christoff, you’re a mess.”
I peeked at myself in the reflective surface of the tall glass skyscraper we were about to enter. While I wore my trademark suit over a superhero t-shirt ensemble, I looked about how I felt. Shitty. I hadn’t gotten a haircut and was majorly overdue, and while I’d showered, I hadn’t bothered to shave since I’d been on the island with Rachel. From the neck up, I looked more like a homeless vagabond than anything else.
Not that I cared. Over the past couple of weeks, I’d averaged about two to three hours of sleep a night. Destroying every aspect of your own life will do that to you. Pretending that I hadn’t heard my lawyer’s admonishment, I headed inside.
There were no police in the lobby or in the opulence of his conference room once we were ushered in. Instead, there was one man, the same lawyer for Jack Brisbane that I’d dealt with last time. “Have a seat, if you will. I’ve been authorized to speak as a representative for Brisbane Industries.”
Eddie spoke up as we sat at the oblong conference table. “What is all this about?”
Brisbane’s attorney slid a small package across the table. “Through some mistake, information belonging to Dodecahedron was found in our system. We are returning this information.”
I opened the package to see a small flash drive slip out into my palm.
“Are you willing to show us what this contains?” my lawyer asked, and the other attorney pushed his laptop across the table. We attached the flash drive, and the patented software Hannah Lawrence had stolen from me filled the screen. There were files and files of it, all the work I’d done, all the years of development I’d invested, appeared there on the bright blue desktop.
“This is mine.”
“Yes,” Brisbane’s attorney admitted.
“You had this all along,” Eddie interjected furiously, and I put an immobilizing hand on his arm.
“Why is this being returned to me now?”
“I’ve been told to give you this phone number.” Pushing to his feet, he handed me a business card. “Please direct all inquiries here through text.”
My lawyer wasn’t ready to let bygones by bygones. “How do we know you don’t have copy of this somewhere? Is this supposed to make up for the loss in funds and mental distress my client has had to endure over these past few months?”
“Eddie, let it go,” I told him.
“But…”
“It’s okay. They’ve returned it, and that’s more than I could’ve hoped for.”
Once back in the car, I sent a text to the number I’d been given. It came from the same area code I lived in.
I don’t know who this is or why you did this for me, but thank you.
I received a reply within seconds.
Christoff?
Yes.
You’re welcome.
A week after I’d received my technology back, Kit roared into my office like a hurricane, pointing at something on his phone. “Have you seen this?”
On his screen was a news video. He pressed play.
In business news, today, billion-dollar conglomerate Brisbane Industries is in turmoil after the resignation of CEO Jack Brisbane. The former CEO, son of founder Carlton Brisbane, stepped down amid rumors of ‘unfair business practices’ and ‘personal issues.’ His wife, Everly Johnson Brisbane, released the following statement:
‘While I will not confirm or deny the many rumors I’ve heard floating around, I will state that I will be replacing my husband as CEO of Brisbane Industries. I will not be answering questions at this time. Thank you.’
Due to the apparent instability of the company, stock prices for Brisbane Industries took a nosedive, losing over half its worth this morning. We will be keeping you abreast of any further updates as this story unfolds.
“Hell of a thing, isn’t it?” Kit asked me, and I sat back down. I’d told him all about the mysterious return of the Dodecahedron technology and the fact that no explanation was given. “You think your girl has anything to do with this?”
“She’s not my girl.”
Rachel wasn’t my girl. She never was and never would be. But I couldn’t help but wonder if this was her doing. What was going on at Brisbane Industries? Did she make sure my information had been given back because she now believed me? Had she decided not to press charges for the same reason? And if so, did that mean I was forgiven?
Unlikely.
Still, I suspected that it was Rachel on the other end of those text messages. The next day, I tested my theory by sending her two words.
I’m sorry.
I knew that if this was her mother or some other representative of Brisbane Industries, that could be construed in many different ways. My phone displayed the bubble and ellipsis of someone typing on the other end, and I waited anxiously to receive the response.
Me, too.
19
Rachel
The next month was one of the hardest of my family’s life. Drew and I had done what we’d set out to do and secured proof of our father’s misdeeds. It was disillusioning to discover that the man I’d called Daddy, the man I’d looked up to my entire life, had been conducting himself in such a dishonorable manner. So much of the growth of Brisbane Industries over the past decade had been due to his unethical and, in some cases, illegal practices
.
It left my twin and I with permanent stomachaches.
We’d gone together to our mother to let her know what we’d found out about our father. It’d been a difficult discussion, especially when she admitted that she’d suspected he’d been cheating on her for some time, and it ended in hugs and plenty of tears. When she’d confronted him about the affair with Hannah, she’d asked us to stand witness to the conversation. For about an hour, he denied it, and I came to understand that my father wasn’t the man I thought he was.
It was only after I spoke those words to him that his resolution finally crumbled.
Then he admitted to everything, apologizing to our mother for Hannah, but then claiming that all the things he’d done with the company had been for us. To secure our financial futures. He’d rationalized his unconscionable practices to himself in this way, I could tell. It gave me no pleasure to hear him say that he’d step down. It also gave me no pleasure to hear my mother say she wanted a separation.
Something about the awkwardness of the proceedings reminded me strongly of Christoff. In a way, he’d been where my father was now. He knew he’d done something wrong. Unlike my father, though, he’d seemed to realize that his wrong choice would lead to pain and distress. He’d known his lies would catch up to him. The difference was that Christoff had fessed up to those lies ahead of time, even knowing the consequences for him could be dire.
Even though I was still angry and was beginning to think I always would be, I had to admit that what Christoff had ultimately done took courage—courage my father didn’t have.
The press had latched onto the story of Jack Brisbane’s stepping down with sadistic gusto, harassing us twenty-four seven. Drew and I were even harangued on campus. Loyola had to increase the security at their borders. Since my family had already hired a security officer to stay with me, they increased this to two officers. Going to classes or doing anything outside of the estate became a huge hassle.