“Well, I was going to tell you later, but someone had to open his big mouth and ruin the surprise. Anyway, I got a call last week from our lawyer, Mitch signed over his parental rights. Now we don’t have to worry about him interfering in our lives anymore.”
This isn’t good news. I mean it is for me and Madison because we won’t have to deal with Mitch repeatedly taking us to court to try and get custody of the boys. He never wins, but he never gives up. We haven’t heard anything from him or the lawyers in the last few months, so this is a complete surprise. I turn to look at Aiden and he’s sporting the biggest smile on his face. Clearly he doesn’t understand what all this means. How is he not upset over his father giving him up? My heart is breaking for him, yet when I look around the table and see Madison smiling right along with Aiden, I’m even more confused than I had been before. I lean over to whisper in Madison’s ear. “Why is everyone so happy? Aiden must feel awful. Have you explained what this means to him?”
She nods. “Aiden, do you want to give Ryder the box now?”
He reaches into his backpack, pulling out small flat box with a red ribbon tied around it and hands it to me. “Open it!”
I open the box and inside is a folded stack of papers and a pen. I take them out, pushing the box aside and give Madison a quizzical look. “What is this?”
“Just read them.” She says.
I flatten the papers on the table reading the first few sentences as shock crashes right into me. I can’t believe what I’m reading. I must be seeing things or misinterpreting what’s written in the document. I am dyslexic after all. I start over again and nothing has changed. My chest tightens as a lump begins to form in my throat, tears already brimming my lids and blurring my vision. I blink and the salty drops slowly slide down my cheeks. I don’t even wipe them away. I’m too stunned to move because of this amazing bombshell that’s been suddenly dropped on me. I had no idea this was going on or if this had even been an option for us. Bringing the collar of my t-shirt to my face, I wipe the wetness away and clear my throat. “These are adoption papers.”
Madison brushes a tear out of the corner of her eye. “I know what they are. Aiden?” She says, pointing to me and he comes to sit on my lap.
He settles himself on my knee, looking up at me with those twinkling, inquisitive blue eyes of his. “Ryder?”
“Yeah little man?”
“Will you be our dad?”
More tears fall. I have never been more of a blubbering mess in front of people in my life, but I don’t care. I don’t care one damn bit because all that matters is this boy, this amazing little kid wants me to be his father. In my heart these papers don’t mean a thing. Aiden and Caleb are my sons in every sense of the word, only now it will be official. They’ll carry my name for the rest of their lives and one day get married and grow our family, giving the Storm name more worth and significance than I could have ever given it on my own. For a second my thoughts go to my own father and I wonder if he’d be proud of me. I glance around the table and then at Aiden and know without a shadow of a doubt that he would be.
I swallow hard against the lump in my throat. “Where do I sign?”
Aiden flips to the last page and points. “Right here.” He waits for me to finish and takes the papers back. “Ryder?”
“Yeah?”
“Can I call you Daddy now?”
“Absolutely little man. Absolutely.”
The End
More Books by the Author
Decadent Dreams
Chapter One
Nico
I’m falling. Plummeting faster and faster. Careening through the air with nothing to stop me from crashing to the ground to a certain death. With my heart racing, I flail my arms all around me hoping, praying that I can grab onto something, anything to stop my rapid descent. There’s nothing but open sky; endless clouds block my view so I have no way of knowing how long I have left to live before my body splatters all over the pavement.
I squeeze my eyes tighter, willing myself to wake up from this nightmare; praying that this night will be the last time I'll have to endure this horror. Except that it never ends. Every night has been the same for the last three years. I have no reason to believe that tomorrow will be any different.
Even though I know I’m dreaming it doesn’t suppress the terrifying feeling I have every time I close my eyes to sleep. I fall through the clouds and I can finally see the skyscrapers that line the city streets. What a sight it’s going to be for the hundreds of people walking along the sidewalk when I hit the concrete and my brain explodes into a million pieces. I'm sure it will be something they will never forget for as long as they live.
All I can do now is lay here, wishing for this nightmare to end, and soon. Seconds before I hit the ground I jolt awake. I'm sweating and out of breath. The muscles in my chest constrict with every single intake of breath. It’s hard to breathe and yet I'm relieved it’s over. That is, until tonight when I have to relive the whole ordeal again.
I pull my sweat soaked t-shirt over my head and fling it across the room to land on the armchair near the window. I run my fingers through my damp hair before forcing my exhausted body out of bed. My feet shuffle against the hardwood floor of my room and then across the linoleum floor of the bathroom. I turn on the shower and check the temperature before stepping inside. The water is cold. That's exactly how I like it after waking up from a long night of agonizing dreams.
I put my head under the cool water, allowing it to run down my back. I need to feel rejuvenated before I leave for the office. I'm the president of a multibillion dollar real estate company and I always need to be on my A-game. My staff depends on me, as well as my clients. There is so much competition and I take pride in being the best agency in the market. My company caters to the rich and famous, from basketball stars to actors, to the self-made multimillionaire. Every now and then my clients need to step out of the limelight and want to buy a vacation home away from the cameras and prying eyes. This is where I step in. There is nothing I won't do to give my clients the privacy they need and so desperately deserve.
I turn the faucet and shut the water off. I step out of the shower satisfied that I'm awake enough to start my day. I grab the towel hanging on the door to dry myself off. I walk into my bedroom despite the droplets of water falling off me, making tiny puddles on the floor with each step I take. I grab a suit out of the closet, get dressed, and quickly brush my hair before leaving.
After the night I had, and a 45-minute drive to work in bumper to bumper traffic when I got to the city, I’m already exhausted and the day hasn’t even begun yet. If I were a completely different person I would have taken the day off. I'm a total workaholic. I'm one of the first people at the office in the morning and one of the last to go home at the end of the day. I'm not a workaholic by choice. I'm a workaholic by necessity. My father worked his ass off to make this company what it is today and I will do everything I can to keep it on top.
When I step off the elevator I’m greeted by my business partner and best friend of thirty years. Giovanni has been there for me through good times and in bad. He has always been my constant support and the main reason I haven't gone completely insane yet. I pull the keys out of my pocket and unlock my office door.
He follows me in, shutting the door behind him. “Bro, you look terrible.”
“Yeah, thanks for the news flash. Do you have any other words of wisdom this morning?” My deep voice fills the room, even I can tell I'm being a prick. I don't care. I'm too fucking tired to care about anything right now.
“Oh, and you're in a great mood today too I see.”
“Go fuck yourself." I open the side drawer of my desk and throw my keys in before slamming it shut.
“And what a colorful vocabulary you have this morning.”
“I'm really not in the mood today Gio, I'm tired. I didn’t get any sleep, and I am up to my ears in paperwork from the Seola Beach property.”
“Dud
e, chillax.”
“No, I will not chillax. Who the fuck even says that? What are we sixteen? You're fucking forty-two years old, grow the fuck up.”
“Seriously bro, you need to calm down. You're going to have a heart attack. I was only trying to lighten the mood. Relax and take a deep breath before that vein on the side of your head decides to pop out of your skull."
I lean back in my plush leather chair, letting out a long, ragged breath. I drag my hands over my face, and try to rub my bad attitude away. “I'm sorry man. I am at the end of a very short rope. I don't know what the fuck to do anymore.”
“Tough night huh?"
“Tough? No. I can handle tough. More like excruciatingly painful.”
“Nightmares again?”
I nod in agreement.
“Maybe it's time you go back to therapy. It helped for a while right?”
“Yeah it did, and I went to a few sessions last year; it wasn't keeping my nightmares away so what's the point?”
“The point is you need to talk about what’s going on before you wind up in the nut house.”
I slam my hands on the desk and the sound echoes throughout the room. “How many fucking times can I say the same shit over and over again. I'm done talking about my feelings like a little bitch. It hasn’t helped me before and it's not gonna help me now.”
Gio holds his hands up in front of him. “Okay, okay. At least let me help with the paperwork until your new assistant gets here.”
I shuffle through the papers sitting on my desk and pull out a file. I hand it over to him. “Okay fine, but I'm going to look over it when you're finished.”
He takes the file from my hand. “I don’t doubt you will.” He turns away from me heading towards the door.
I stop him before he walks out. “Wait a minute! Come back here.”
He curses under his breath before facing me again. “Shit, I was so close to freedom."
“What do you mean, when my new assistant gets here?”
“You know, your new assistant.” He smiles and bats his eyelashes trying to make light of the situation.
He knows damn well I don’t want or need any help with anything. I’d much rather do everything myself and get the job done right the first time. I get up from my chair, round the desk, and sit on the edge. “No Giovanni, please enlighten me.” I fold my arms over my chest waiting for his explanation.
“Well, Wendy and I got to talking about how tired and overworked you are so I held some interviews last week and hired you an assistant.”
“So, let me get this straight. You and my secretary took it upon yourselves to not only discuss my personal life, but you also hired someone without me okaying it first?”
“I really don't need your okay or your stamp of approval. I am a partner in this company and like it or not, my opinion matters just as much as yours. And, if your work is affected by your personal problems I have every right to step in, and I say you need an assistant to help you out with the small minor things. You can't do everything yourself.”
I push off the desk and point in his direction. “Number one, my personal life has never interfered with my work. And number two, you had no right to hire someone for me without asking first.” Before I have a chance to say anything else a soft knock on the door interrupts me. I snap my head in the direction the annoyance came from and yell. “What?!”
The sight that meets my eyes takes me completely by surprise. A very tiny young woman, who looks no older than twenty stands in the doorway.
She flinches at the loud tone of my voice before speaking softly. “I'm sorry, I’m a little early. Am I interrupting anything? I can come back in a few minutes.”
She is about to turn around leave when Gio takes her by the elbow and pulls her back into the office. "Nonsense. I'm sure Mr. Valenti appreciates you being here on time. Nico, this is your new assistant Miss Phoenix McKay.
I am fuming. If looks could kill, Gio would be dead right now. Not only is the woman he hired too young for the job, she’s also beautiful, gorgeous actually. She’ll have all the men in the office distracted by her good looks and nothing would get done around here. This fact is irritating me even more. Knowing other men will be looking at her like I am now is infuriating me for a reason I can’t pinpoint. I grab Gio by the arm and yank him out into the hallway and away from Phoenix. “Are you fucking kidding me?" I say in a hushed tone so she doesn’t hear me.
Gio looks at me with a confused expression on his face. "What's the matter?”
“What's the matter? That girl is a child. She looks like she is barely out of high school, let alone college. Does she even have any experience?”
“Dude, chillax.”
“If you fucking tell me to chillax one more time, I’m gonna knock you the fuck out.”
He laughs. “You wouldn't.”
“Try me.”
“Look, before you get your panties in a bunch, I wouldn't hire just anyone and she is not right out of high school. She is a college graduate, top of her class and she has a Master's degree in business management.”
“Well, that’s great if we were looking for interns. Shit Gio, we need someone with experience and who can take on the sharks of this business. Did you see her? She is all of five foot nothing and can’t weigh more than a hundred and ten pounds. Who in their right mind is going to take her seriously?”
“Are you saying a beautiful woman can't be taken seriously at her place of employment? Please tell me that you're not saying that."
“I’m not. What I’m saying is she’ll have us looking like laughing stocks to our competition. Did you hear her voice? She’s so mousy. We need someone fierce and unforgiving; a man.”
Gio holds his hand up to my face. “Stop, just stop. Do you hear yourself right now? She is more than qualified. I wouldn't have hired her otherwise. Her mother was an agent and she’s been around the real estate business practically her whole life. She graduated top of her class and knows the business well. She worked for Regency Properties and was manager at Samford & Co. I think that’s a pretty impressive resume for her age, don’t you think? She's driven and we need employees like her here. I have referenced her and done all the research so stop worrying already. Look, at least give her a try. Give her a chance to show you what she can do, then if you still don't like her, you can fire her.” He nods in her direction as the men on the floor gravitate toward her. “See, everyone else likes her.”
I turn my head and glance behind me. Anger quickly boils inside me because they're drooling all over my new assistant. Mine. A primal need to claim her and make her mine rises to the surface. I’ve never felt this way in my fucking life. Not even when I first dated my wife. All I know is that I want her bad and those men are so close to being fired just for looking in her direction. Fuck if I’m going to let Gio know what I’m really thinking. “That's exactly what I'm talking about.”
“So? She’s beautiful, so what?”
“I’m beginning to think that's the only reason why you hired her.”
“She is easy on the eyes isn't she? C'mon you have to admit she'd be better to look at than some over-experienced granny or some fresh out of college smart assed guy that you are going to butt heads with constantly.”
I do my best not to show my best friend the turmoil that's going on in my head right now. “I fucking give up. She has two weeks to show me what she has and if I don’t like what I see, she’s gone.” Not like what I see? Yeah, keep trying to convince yourself of that Nico.
“Fine.”
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Delivered Through the Storm Page 23