by Haley Pierce
I turn to Cara, who’s still staring at me like I just killed her puppy. “Hey. Why did you lie to me about that project? I know you were with a boy?”
Her eyes widen. “No, I—” She stops when she sees my face. “All right, yes. But nothing really happened.”
“Who is he?”
She shrugs. “No one!” Then she smiles kind of dreamily and it all bursts out, like she’s been holding it in all this time. “Okay, his name is Eddie. He just moved up here from Georgia and he’s really cute and has the cutest Southern twang.”
“Well, you don’t have to keep him from me. Bring him home for dinner.”
She looks at the ground and digs her toe into the linoleum tile. “Maybe. Our house is such a disaster, though.”
“I get it,” I tell her. “Still, I want to meet him, at least.”
She exhales. “All right. I’ll bring him to dinner sometime this week, if that’s okay.” She blushes. “So, what about your stud?”
I shrug. “Nothing. I mean, no, he’s not a doctor. I met him in the city. But we broke up. So it’s nothing.”
“Really?” She pouts. “He was so cute. And obviously rich.”
“Yeah, well.” Try as I might, I can’t keep the sadness out of my voice. I shrug. “It’s over.”
“That’s just not right,” she says, shaking her head sadly. “Because of all the people out there, you deserve to be happy. And I really think a man—the right man—would make you happy.”
“Aw.” I reach over and hug her, her thick ponytail tickling my face. “That’s sweet. But really, I’m okay.”
And the more I say it out loud, the more I might start to believe it.
Max
I emerge from Harry Winston on Fifth Avenue with a few extra dollars, and a lot less weight in my pockets. I suppose I should be happy about unloading the engagement ring from hell, but I’m not.
I climb inside the limo and instruct Earl to take me to the office. The meeting with the board is in a half-hour, and all of the board will be there.
It’s been a week since I left Lily, and a lifetime of changes have happened in the interim. My father passed away that Tuesday, and since then, everything has been about preparations for his funeral. He’s been in the ground for two days, and now, the company is anxious to move on.
And they’ll move on with me at the helm.
This is what I want. It doesn’t matter what Dan has found out about Lily. All I have to say is that we were close, I had been considering marrying her, but now the engagement is off, leaving me to fully concentrate on the business. Many of them are bachelors, so they will appreciate that. Sure, having my father’s blessing would have meant a lot, but I will convince them that I am the right man for the job, nonetheless. I’ve convinced people of things that were a lot harder to believe.
I close my eyes, thinking of Lily.
When I do, I think of her sweet body, hovering over me, those gorgeous tits in my hands. I think of the way she trembled against me as she came. But more than that, I think of her selfless heart. The way she sacrificed everything for the people she loves.
And that’s not me.
As much as I want it to be. That can’t be me. I’m about business. Not charity.
I look at my phone, open to the last message I sent her. She’s read it, but hasn’t replied, almost as if she realized it was a mistake, too.
Fuck. Part of me wanted her to fight. If she’d fought for me, maybe I’d . . .
No, definitely. I wouldn’t be able to turn her down. I’m powerless with her. But if she knew that, would it matter? She has so many people who love her and care about her in her life, and she doesn’t need me.
“I’m very sorry, Mr. Winchester,” another one of my father’s employees says to me as I walk to the office. I’ve been told it about a thousand times today, and though I know they mean well, I just want everyone to shut the fuck up.
When I get to my father’s office, Dan is standing in the doorway, holding a banker’s file to his chest, looking like he’s already moved in. “You’re late,” he says. “You called this meeting, and you’re late. Seriously?”
I frown at him. “Don’t give me shit,” I mumble under my breath. “I had somewhere to be.”
He rolls his eyes as I drop my briefcase inside. Funny, his things are already stacked on the desk, as if he really does think he already owns the place. We walk in silence to the room, and the tension pings back and forth off of us, making the air surrounding us suffocatingly hot. Before we get to the conference room, he mutters, “I don’t know why you’re hanging on like this. You know what dad wanted.”
“I know what he may have wanted, but I want to do what’s in the best interest of the company I’ve been running,” I mutter back to him.
The door opens. Anderson, who is about eighty and used to be one of my father’s best friends, lets us in, a somber look on his face. I can’t tell if it’s because my father is dead, or because he knows I have no chance at this company anymore. “I’m sorry for your loss,” he says to both of us.
“Thank you,” I say, as Dan and I take the only empty seats around the massive boardroom table. I raise my eyes and meet Dan’s. He purses his lips, a simpering smile on his face. Asshole.
Anderson says, “You understand our situation, Mrs. Winchester. We are in the difficult spot right now of having to select a new CEO after your father’s unfortunate passing. You both have considerable qualities that I know that either of you would be a great asset to the company. However, there can only be one.”
We both nod. “I understand,” I say.
He looks at me. “In the past, your father has expressed reservations at your wild spending, your substantial risk-taking, and your social life that leads to a lack of stability. He has therefore strenuously recommended that Daniel Winchester succeed him at the helm of the company.
Dan nods seriously, and clasps his hands under his chin, which was one of my father’s signature moves. I want to smack that look off his face. As much as he tries to stone his face, I see that sly smile beneath his facade. He’s enjoying this.
“So we have to ask you, what you actually think you might be able to contribute. I heard from your father that you’re engaged? Congratulations, by the way.”
I start to shake my head, but Dan speaks before I can. “Actually, I have sufficient evidence to lay before you today that will prove that my brother’s engagement was nothing but a farce.”
One of the men gasps, and a murmur rises up. Anderson’s furry white brow knits. “Is this true?”
“Oh, it’s true, all right,” Dan says once again, before I can get a word out. He reaches into the banker’s file and pulls out a bunch of slips, which he spreads over the table. It’s all the things I’d expected he’d find. “He paid an obscene amount of money for a woman whom he groomed to be the perfect wife. But that’s not the worst part. The worst part is, he met her at a sex club. She’s a prostitute.”
“Lily’s not a prostitute,” I snap at him. “Don’t call her that. And I . . . care for her. Very deeply.”
I swallow, surprised with myself. Admitting that wasn’t as hard as I thought.
Then I look at the members of the board, who are staring at me like I’m a piece of shit.
“All right, I know it sounds bad,” I begin, rising to my feet. Time to bring out the speech I’d stayed up all night, reciting to myself. They want to hear I’m focused on the business, and only the business. I’ve dealt successfully with them for a year, and I know how they tick. “And I know how it must look. Yes, I may take risks, and make unorthodox moves, and I haven’t exactly been a family man. But I guarantee you that no one wants this business to succeed more than I do.”
I push my chair back under the table. “First, I want to say that I know the ins and outs of this company, and when my father fell ill, I took control and have poured every ounce of blood, sweat, and tears I have into making Winchester Properties the most successful real estate
development company in the city. I understand I’m not conventional.
“And in a lot of ways, my brother Dan is the opposite of me. He’s very conservative with company funds. He likes to play things safe. And his vision for the company is one that might keep things stable, and the same, without trying to grow us in the way we’ve been growing. To me, that is a mistake.”
Dan shakes his head. “That’s not--
“Please allow me to continue,” I say, holding up a hand. I pause, looking at every one of them, stopping at Dan. I can’t believe I’m really going to say it until the words are out in the open.
“What I’m interested in is a partnership. An equal sharing of the CEO role, if you will.”
Dan drops his chin down to his chest and shakes his head slowly, and the men exchange worried glances. Anderson says, “That isn’t going to . . .”
“Listen to me. This CEO job is one my father knew was too much for any one person. He knew that so much that when he realized he was neglecting my mother, he pulled back, and loosened the reigns on it, hiring other people to stand in. You can’t run this company alone and maintain your family,” I say, looking at Dan in particular. “And I don’t think I can maintain a life working as hard as I have the past few years. I haven’t taken a vacation in ages. It’s too hard.”
Dan sits there, frozen, like he isn’t sure whether to believe me.
“I’m not saying that because I don’t want you on board, Dan, at the helm of things,” I tell him. “I’m telling you that because I believe you have assets to contribute, and that we need you. I have something to contribute, too, and we complement each other. I think if we work together we’ll make Winchester Properties better than ever.”
The men just stare. I’m encouraged, though, that they’re no longer muttering under their breath and exchanging worried glances.
“Isn’t that what we’re here for, anyway? What difference does it make who runs the company, as long as the profit margins are up? So this is the deal. Put both of us at the helm. I promise that as a team, we will not let anyone down. What do you think, Dan?”
I reach out my hand to shake his.
He sits there, shell-shocked for a moment, and then, he reaches out and shakes my hand. The simpering smile transforms into a genuine one. He nods. “Yeah. Let’s do it.”
Anderson starts to clap, and one by one, the rest of the men join in. Soon they’re all clapping for us, and you know what? Lily’s right. It wouldn’t be so bad, not having all the power.
I’m starting to realize there are things that might be more important.
Lily
Do we have everything?” I ask as the nurse rolls the wheelchair into the room.
Taking one last look around, it seems that we do. Everything is bare, the way it was a year ago, when Joey first took in this room up as his home away from home. Joey wrinkles his nose at the wheelchair. “No, thanks,” he says, jumping out of bed.
He’s been running around this room all morning. I grab his hand before he can run away from me. “No. Remember what Dr. Ayers said about taking it easy? You’re going in the wheelchair.”
Pouting, he jumps into it, and Cara ruffles his curls as she starts to push him outside. “I can’t believe you’re coming home,” she says. “We have presents for you there.”
Joey grins from ear to ear. He hasn’t been outdoors in nearly a year. Even just getting out into the fresh air will be a present. Just having these days with us, a clean bill of health, is a present. The eight of us, being together and able to bring Joey home is a present. There are so many presents in our lives, and I make sure to be thankful for every one.
On a day like this, I can have no complaints. Life is pretty damn good.
Cara and Joey lead the parade, as the nurses and doctors gather on both sides of the hallway and wish us well. Calvin walks with Maisie on his shoulders, followed closely by the boys, and then me. “Thank you all,” I say to them, tears falling down my cheeks. As much as I don’t want to ever come back here again, I’m going to miss them. I hug a few of the ones who were closest to Joey as they clap and cheer for him. “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate everything you’ve done.”
We go outside, to where my minivan is parked. I’d purchased it, and a small condo, with the money that had mysteriously been deposited into my bank account, a few weeks after I last saw Max. It was put in there with the memo, you deserve this.
And I guess I do. He’s at the helm of that company he wanted to run, and that was the deal. It’s been four months since I last saw Max. I’ve read things, not in the society pages, though. It’s mostly about the business. It turns out that he and his brother are partners, running the company together, and whatever they’re doing must be working, because they keep making headlines and the company stock keeps going up.
But I couldn’t help feeling that the funds were guilt money. Our last night together, I think he actually thought he could go through with it, and be in a real relationship with me. When he kissed, held, and made love to me, those emotions were real. But he made his choice. He chose the company. And I suppose that’s all there is to it.
On the sidewalk, it’s absolute chaos, trying to get everyone into their seats. Calvin, the new driver, takes the keys from me and says, “I got this.”
“Are you sure?” I ask, biting my lip. “Driving in the city isn’t like—“
“Totally. I’m a pro,” he says.
I shrug as Cara and her boyfriend, Eddie, who is actually a very sweet guy, helps load the kids into the van. He’s practically a fixture in our house, now, and was a big help when we were moving into our new place. Plus, despite all the hickeys, he’s very much a gentleman, though he can’t seem to manage to cut it off with calling me “ma’am.”
“We all in?” I ask when there are no more kids on the street.
Cara calls from the middle bench, “Except you!”
I give the nurses there one last hug, and then I turn around to jump in the passenger-side seat.
Before I can, though, I see him, walking down the street toward me. I’m surprised I recognize him, because he’s wearing something entirely different than I’m used to—jeans, and a plain white t-shirt that’s stretched perfectly over those amazing pectorals of his. He’s carrying a Mickey Mouse doll and smiling at me.
I can only gape at him as he stops in front of me. “Hey,” he says.
Then he leans into the window and smiles at Joey. He hands it over to him. “Hey, guy,” he says to him. “There are eight tickets to Disney World in there, for you and your family. Make sure she takes you this summer, okay?”
I stare at him, as he looks back at me. “What are you doing?” I ask him softly.
He shrugs. “He told me he wanted to . . . And I . . .”
I take him by the sleeve and lead him away from the van, out of earshot. “I want to thank you for everything you did for Joey. But like you said, it’s over.”
“I was wrong,” he says softly.
“What?”
He shrugs. “I was wrong.” He looks up and down the street. “I know, I never say that. But you were right. My father was right. There is more to life than just business. And I guess I realized that, too late.”
I swallow. “So, what? Do you think giving us all these presents is going to erase the guilt?”
“No, I behaved like an asshole and I know I don’t deserve to be forgiven,” he says, scratching his unshaven jaw. “But if you would let me, I have one more present to give you.”
He reaches into the pocket of his jeans and pulls out a small diamond solitaire.
And then he kneels in front of me.
Speechless, I look back at the van, where eight sets of eyes are staring at me, wide. When I look back at him, he’s staring up at me, earnest and . . . the old Max that I’d fallen for. The one that I know I’m in love with.
“I know,” he says. “We only knew each other a short time, but the time we spent together was a whirlwind that m
ade me a different man. You showed me the person I want to be, and I can’t be that person without you.”
I clasp a hand over my mouth, stifling a sob. I look away, at the eight other people who are struggling to get out of their seatbelts and join me on the sidewalk. They break free, rushing forward, surrounding us.
He looks at them all. “I’m glad you’re all here, because I’m asking this of all of you. You’re an incredible family and I have no right to ask to be part of it, but I want to be. I love you, Lily. Marry me?”
The tears are falling freely now, and I they are truly tears of joy. “I love you, too.” The words escape my mouth as a strangled whisper, I’m crying so hard.
I look down at Maisie, who squeezes between us, takes the ring from his hand, and slides it onto my finger, and says, “She says yes.”
We all burst out laughing, and I nod along with her. “Yes. Definitely yes.”
And my family starts to applaud. He lifts Maisie into his arms, kissing her on the forehead. And then he wraps his other arm around me, and kisses me. “You made me the happiest man in this whole city,” he says.
I grin at him. “I hope you realize that part of this deal means you’re living in Lodi, New Jersey.”
He widens his eyes, surprised. “What made you such a good negotiator?”
I laugh. “I guess you could say I learned from the best.”
THE END
Unlearned (3 Chapter Preview)
If you loved Uspoken, you’ll go crazy for this other book by Haley Pierce…..click the cover to view the book on Amazon.
I shouldn’t want Addison this much. Or at all.
She’s my student, for god’s sake.
But she’s so sweet, so innocent, and so, so, bendable to my every whim.
Her mother wants her to be a doctor, but Addison? She has no idea what she wants.