“Does this have something to do with the conversation your mom and I walked in on between you and Calvin?” I asked before I swallowed, trying to wash down the disappointment building in my throat.
“Yeah, I’m hoping Dan can help me with some paperwork my dad signed before he—died. Hell, I don’t know, maybe I’m just grasping at straws here,” Max tried to explain as best he could while being preoccupied in thought.
“Well, I certainly know what that’s like,” I said.
He gave me a quick kiss and headed downstairs. He stopped halfway down. “It’s kinda all I have right now,” he continued. “God, I can’t wait to get back to you.”
“Me neither,” I answered quickly.
He continued down the stairs and I watched him turn the corner and meet up with Dan. I was still vibrating from his touch.
I shook off my disappointment, took a deep breath, and found my phone. I dialed Joanie. I needed to tell her about Nick and how he lied.
I hope she picks up. Come on…pick up! But it went straight to voicemail.
“Joanie, call me. I need to talk to you. It’s about Nick.” I flipped my phone closed and slipped it into my pocket. I guess I’ll hear from her tomorrow. It was probably for the best that Max left me in a mushy steaming pile of arousal. Damn, it’s hard to recover from him.
~ Max ~
I tried to adjust my hard-on to be less obvious as I walked down the stairs. Wilson and her “I need you” talk had me all worked up. I tried to think about anything but touching her warm creamy skin and how her sweet aroma filled me and drove me fucking insane. And man, once I felt how excited she was to be with me… Shit, stop thinking about it. She’s upstairs waiting. What in the hell am I doing? Dan can wait. He has to wait.
I was about to turn back and head upstairs to Wilson when Dan saw me. “Hey Max, I got a message from Cal. He sounded pretty serious. What’s up?”
I took a huge breath and hoped he didn’t notice the fucking tent in my pants. I turned the corner into the living room, leaving Wilson upstairs alone, waiting, and ready.
“Hey, Dan. Yeah. He and I wanted to know if you knew anything about our dad’s deal with Buck.”
For the first time, when I looked at Dan wearing a suit, I noticed how stiff and uncomfortable he looked. He’d always shown up wearing suits before, simply because he’s usually coming from work at GP, but tonight, it seemed like he was a prisoner of those three midnight-black pieces. His two-tone gray striped tie seemed to strangle him, forcing the little extra weight he carried in his neck to bulge from his collar. He shifted his black leather laptop bag from one hand to the other in a nervous sway.
Dan grabbed the knot of his tie, tilting his head back and forth as he loosened it away from his collar. His fingers fumbled awkwardly to unfasten the top button on his shirt, like he was working against the clock to relieve the pressure building up in his neck. He took a sharp breath, ready to say something, when Camille shot in from the dining room with her arms thrust in the air. She was relieved to see Dan home from dropping his parents off at their hotel.
“Did your parents get all settled?” Camille asked.
Man, I don’t have time for this. I want to handle this business and then get back to my own. Upstairs.
Dan swooped in and gave her four rapid kisses: one on her nose, one on either cheek, and one peck on the lips. It was something they always did.
“Hey, honey. How’s Mom doing?” Dan asked.
“She’s holding it together the best she can, keeping herself busy in the kitchen making Dad’s favorite—sea bass,” she answered as she helped him untangle his tie from around his neck.
“The whole thing hasn’t really sunk in yet. I guess keeping busy helps,” he said, still clinging to Camille.
I didn’t want to be impatient, or a dick, but my girlfriend was upstairs waiting for me and I needed to see if Dan knew anything about Buck and Dad’s contract. I wanted to get back to Wilson.
“So, Cam, do you think Mom still needs your help in the kitchen?” I asked, trying to get her to leave so Dan and I could talk.
Camille flashed me a strained look. “I’m sure she can handle it, Maximum,” she snarled as her eyes pierced mine. She hated it when I called her Cam.
“There you are! Alright, Dan, what in the hell do you know about Buck taking fifteen percent of our father’s company?” Calvin roared as he busted into the living room. His eyes met Camille’s and I could see he knew he’d fucked up, yet again.
“What are you talking about, Cal?” Camille asked. The smile Dan planted on her face just seconds before vanished. As she looked around at each of us, daggers could have shot from her eyes and none of us were going to flinch. We just stood silently gawking at one another.
“Dan, what is Cal talking about? Buck took fifteen percent of Daddy’s company?” Camille asked.
“Sweetheart, I need to talk to Max and Cal. Can you—”
“What’s going on?” she demanded.
Dan clutched Camille by the biceps, making her look him in the eyes. “Sweetheart, let me talk to your brothers alone,” he whispered.
“Anything you are going to tell them—” she snapped.
“Camille, right now is not the time! Now please go into the kitchen, help Mom, and keep her from coming in here,” I interrupted. Camille’s eyes filled with tears and her porcelain cheeks burnt crispy red. I hated it when she started crying.
“He was my father too, Max,” she yelped.
“I know that. Don’t you think I know that? And right now our mother, who just lost her husband, is in the kitchen alone. I’m asking you to think about her. Go in there, be with her, and let Cal and I talk to Dan,” I steamed. I could feel my gut beginning to boil. I was reaching a point of just needing this situation to be over.
“Hey, hey, come on now you two.” Calvin pushed between us before he slipped his arm around Camille and convinced her to go to the kitchen.
“Camille, we really need your help. Be the distraction Mom needs right now. Can you do that for me?” Cal asked.
Great, now Cal has swooped in to be the hero. It was his fault Camille found out about Buck in the first place. I watched as Cal coddled her and made her feel better about leaving us alone to talk. Dan walked over, leaned into her, and kissed her.
“I promise to fill you in later,” he whispered.
The three of us watched as she walked through the dining room and into the kitchen. It seemed like time stood still before Calvin turned to Dan.
“Alright, obviously you know something about Buck swindling fifteen percent of the company from our father. What can you tell us about it?” Calvin held out a small stack of papers in front of him.
Dan looked back through the dining room and into the kitchen before taking the papers from Calvin and leading us back to the foyer. He propped his foot on the small wooden bench by the front door and rested the stack of papers on his knee as he glanced through them. I noticed he didn’t take off his shoes. What the hell? I tried to remember if he’d ever taken off his shoes before.
“Okay, look, the thing is I knew about this. Frank didn’t want me to say anything to anyone. GP wasn’t quite as prepared as we thought, so when the new environmental regulations were enforced, we got hit pretty hard. Pile on bad investments and lower consumer consumption…your dad had no choice.”
“What do you mean? GP is a multimillion dollar company with advisors and lawyers. How could this happen?”
“Your dad did everything he could to avoid having to give any percent of the company to anyone outside the family. He figured Tanner and Trait could float the loan using fifteen percent of the company as collateral. Look, Max, your dad wasn’t proud of this. He didn’t like mixing business with personal favors, but Buck was able to help him.”
“What’s going to happen now that our dad is gone?” Calvin asked.
“Well, according to the agreement, Buckman Tanner has the contractual rights to absorb the fifteen percent plus
an additional one percent of the company upon the death of your father. Buck has all legal right to pursue a limited sixteen percent ownership of GP.”
I felt a radiant pressure build across my chest and push up through my shoulders and neck. I hated hearing the words pouring from Dan’s mouth. How could he do this to us?
“So Buck will own more of our father’s company than any of us? How long have you known about this?” I growled through an exhale.
“About six months. Technically, your mother will own the controlling thirty-nine percent now that she absorbed the remaining fourteen percent left of your father’s shares. But yes, Buck will own sixteen percent. One percent more than any of us.”
“You’ve known about this and never said anything to us? What the fuck, Dan?” Calvin exploded.
“I couldn’t say anything, not even to Camille. Do you know how fucking hard it was to be a part of this family and hold in a secret like that? Not even able to tell your sister what your dad had done? Do you know how many times I wanted to tell you?” Dan held the papers out to Calvin. “I could only be here for a couple of days with the family. It was really hard for me. I hang out too long and I could feel myself wanting to tell you.” Dan looked down at the hardwood floor. I could tell he was ashamed, and yet it looked like a huge boulder had been lifted from his shoulders.
“I’m calling Gary. He has to be able to fix this,” Calvin barked.
“No. Hang on, Cal. Don’t call Dad’s lawyer yet,” I demanded.
“Come on, Max. I think we should look at all our options,” Cal answered.
“Well, considering Gary will be going over your father’s will tomorrow, it might not be a bad idea,” Dan said in a low grumble.
“Wait, I didn’t know we were going over the will tomorrow. Why hasn’t anyone told us?” Cal spouted.
“Gary pulled me aside at the service today, said that everything is in order and that he will be going over the will with us tomorrow morning.” Dan’s response was matter of fact.
I could see Cal was getting bent out of shape. Our father always kept him just close enough to help with the business, but far enough away not to mess anything up. So when Dan came into the picture and married Camille, he ended up being our father’s prodigy boy; the one he groomed to take over Goldstein Petroleum. No matter how much Cal tried to show our father he was worthy, something would always come along and fuck it up, proving Calvin’s inability to handle working with our father.
“Great, then I’m calling Gary,” Cal added before he left into the family room.
Dan looked over at me. I could tell he had something else he needed to say. I don’t know if I want to know what other shoe is going to drop. His eyes narrowed even tighter and I watched his Adam’s apple bounce up and down his throat as he swallowed. I think it was the beads of sweat that formed across his upper lip that forewarned me he had more to say.
“There is something you should know. I didn’t want to say anything in front of Cal. I know how he feels about me and my position in GP.”
“Yeah, well, Cal knows you’re doing what’s right by our family,” I said as I mentally braced myself for what he was about to tell me. God, please don’t tell me the company is bankrupt.
“About two weeks ago, your father had me sit in on a meeting with his lawyer, Gary Browne, about his future wishes for GP. I don’t know if he knew he was sick or what, but he made sure that if something happened to him and he couldn’t continue in the capacity of CEO, that I would become COO of Goldstein Petroleum.”
“Well congratulations, Dan. Chief Officer of Operations. No need to be nervous about that. You deserve it. You’ve worked your ass off for him.”
“Thanks, Max, but that’s not all. Your father named you as CEO.”
I felt my knees buckle and my ass slam down on the wooden bench. “I don’t want it. Why would he do that? I’m not the guy! Goddamn him! He couldn’t leave me alone, could he? I won’t do it.”
“Max, he stipulated that if you don’t take the CEO position at Goldstein Petroleum it is to be broken up and sold off piece by piece.” Dan’s voice went into a low murmur of words that swirled around my head.
“It’s obvious he never really respected my choice of becoming a teacher. Now he’s going to force me into the same life that killed him.”
I couldn’t focus on anything and the deep yellow walls crawled in on me. My toes and fingers became extremely cold while every other part of my body began to sweat. My stomach lurched and my heart pounded so hard in my chest I thought it was going to burst through my sternum. Is the room really spinning? What the fuck? What was Dad thinking? He fucking knew I couldn’t say no; I won’t hurt my family. Son of a bitch…I can’t even argue with him. And Wilson? What am I going to do?
“Max, you okay?” Dan asked as he reached out and held my shoulder. His fingers, hot and stifling against my skin, pressed heavy into my collarbone.
“No, umm, I’m going upstairs. I need some time to think about this.”
I stood up and it felt like the world bore down on me. I didn’t want this. I wanted to be with Wilson in California. I wanted to have the life my father never got. I didn’t want to be stuffed in a suit, stuck in a high-rise, telling people what to do. I need Wilson. I had to get to her. I stood at the bottom of the stairs looking up at the twenty-something steps I had to climb to get to the one thing that made me happy. I started on the first step and stretched to skip the second. I got to the top faster than ever before, almost unconsciously aware of trying to leave behind the words Dan had so carelessly forced on me. My biggest fear just hijacked my life and Wilson had no idea our lives were about to change forever.
~ Wilson ~
My phone vibrated in my pocket. Thank God, Joanie must be calling me back. But why was my heart thundering in my chest? Okay, so I was nervous to tell her about Nick. The third ring was even louder as I pulled the phone out of my pocket. Come on, Wilson, you can handle this.
There was a noisy thud in the hall before the doorknob turned fast and the door flew open. Max stood in the doorway, his black hair looking severe against his ghostly skin. His eyes were narrow, the corners of his mouth swaying south as he forced breath through his nostrils. His usually strong, sturdy shoulders hunched with each exhale. I stood watching him, not knowing if I should run to him or stay where I was. My phone continued to ring as I dropped it on the bed.
“Max? What happened? What’s going on?” I asked rapidly as I took a couple of steps toward him. He looked at me, his eyes filled with the burden of somewhere else. He held his arms out to me and I hurried to him. It was at that moment I knew he needed me. I pushed my body into his. I had no idea what had happened, but it didn’t matter; he needed to hold me, and that was enough.
His rigid body leaned heavy against mine and his breathing became lengthened and determined.
“Wilson, I need to— I need to talk to you,” he struggled to whisper.
My heart pounded violently in my chest and my stomach twisted into knots as his words passed through my hair and cascaded into my ear.
“Okay,” I said as I pulled away from him to look in his eyes. Damn, he looked so tortured. His expression struck the chords that connected us; he looked like he wanted to be anywhere else but there. “Tell me, Max,” I murmured.
“Sit down, please,” Max said as he grabbed me by my biceps and eased me back. I lowered myself to sit on the edge of the bed. My eyes tracked down the front of him—from his broken expression down his white button-up dress shirt. I watched his shirt shift with each breath. He kneeled down and ran his fingers through his hair. I watched his expression change and his jaw tighten as he swallowed. His eyes vacillated between mine, back and forth as he spoke. He slipped his hand against the side of my face and I leaned into his touch.
“Wilson, I love you—more than anything,” Max whispered before he stood up and walked toward the door. My face went cold and my heart dropped into my stomach.
“Damn it,” he con
tinued, “Why is he doing this to me? It’s not what I want. He knew I never wanted this.” He thrust his hands into his hair and bent forward. I could see tension through his shoulders and back.
“Who? Max, what are you talking about? Listen, I’m starting to get a little freaked out.” I got up and slid my hands around his waist as I pushed my lips against his spine, between his shoulder blades.
“My dad, Wilson.” Max spun around and caught my shoulders. “He’s made it so I can’t ever get away. I’ll be stuck—just like he was.”
“What are you talking about?” I asked as I held his face between my hands and made him look me in the eyes.
“Dan told me I’m going to be named the CEO of Goldstein Petroleum tomorrow—when we go over my father’s will.” Max’s words exited from his mouth like vomit; like if he said the words fast enough the poison they exuded wouldn’t penetrate his system and cause him to become the president of his dead father’s company.
“Whoa, slow down, Max. What does that mean?”
Max started shaking his head no. My hands dropped to my lap.
“Nothing. It means nothing, because I’m gonna find a way to get out of it. I’m not CEO material. Let Dan have it. Hell, let Cal take it. I don’t want that life,” Max spewed as he stood up and started pacing back and forth.
“Hey, Max, come on, babe. Just because your father wants you to be CEO doesn’t mean you have to do it.” My words were sharp with the intention piercing through his impenetrable fear of being any part of his father’s company.
Max stopped pacing, his eyes filled with the same pain I saw the day his father died. “No, he took care of that option too. If I don’t become CEO, GP will be sold off in pieces. Dad’s last twist of the knife to make sure I’d become the man he has always wanted me to be,” Max complained. “He knew I’d never do that to my mom,” he said under his breath.
“Well, then, you’ll do what you need to do,” I said as I slipped into his arms and pressed the side of my face against his chest as I listened to his heart break. It wasn’t perfect, it wasn’t what he wanted, but sometimes choices aren’t always the most comfortable thing in the world.
The Wilson Mooney Box Set Page 59