Piercing gray-blue eyes to be exact. He had her eyes. And right now they studied her as she studied him. How had she not noticed before? They really were the most unusual color.
“Billy. Did my mom call you Billy?”
He nodded, and his sigh came from deep inside and made his body shake. “I gave your mom that necklace. I found it in an antique store. So unique, just like your mom. And that it was a rose fit. When I first saw it on you, I thought how unusual that I’d never seen another until now. And then as I watched you, I saw the resemblance to your mom, even some of the same mannerisms…”
“You’re…you’re my father?” She already knew the answer. All the daydreams she had about their first meeting didn’t even come close to reality. She didn’t know whether to hug him or smack him. After many years of wondering, she could be sitting next to her father.
“I think I am. Devi, I’m as stunned as you. I noticed your necklace the moment you and Omar arrived.”
“Well, that explains the look on your face.” A dry laugh slipped out. “I convinced myself it was my imagination.”
“I was shocked, but then I told myself that there could always be more than one necklace, even though I’d never seen another.”
She fingered the silver locket at her throat, unsure what to say.
“I had no idea I had a daughter.”
For the second time in a matter of minutes, her heart pounded. Or maybe it never really stopped. “What do you mean? My mom told you she was pregnant. Didn’t she?” she squeaked.
He grabbed her hands between his large ones and rubbed some of the numbness away. “Oh, she told me all right, and I was the most stupid man on earth. I didn’t want anything to do with having a baby, a wife, or a family. I wanted to make my mark in the world, focus on money, big houses, and travel. I wanted it all.”
He sounded like Leland and Omar. She frowned in confusion. “But—”
“We fought. It was huge. To this day I regret everything I said. I regret that I was too blind to see the wonderful gift she offered me. Herself. You.” His voice shook. “By the time I came to my senses, I couldn’t find her.”
“I don’t understand.” How could he have not found her? “How long before you came to your senses?”
“I’m ashamed to say it, Devi. Years. Like you planned, I actually did hire an investigator, who returned with the news that she’d died in childbirth.”
Blood rushed through her ears, and she had to close her eyes and concentrate to breathe.
The surprise of the moment, the odds of finding her father like this…
Her hand shook, and she ran her clammy fingers over her arms to quash the goose bumps. Emotion rocked her—her heart raced with excitement, fear, relief, and then slowed to a steady pound as shock settled in. She had no idea what question to ask first. She had so many.
Had she really just found her father? From the sounds of things, there couldn’t be another explanation. Could there?
All the feelings rushing through her collided and burst. How come she couldn’t think straight? Of course, she’d expected to learn the news from whoever she hired. Then, when this moment arrived, she’d have had time to adjust to who her father was and prepare her questions in some semblance of order. Instead, she’d been thrown into the water without enough time to let everything sink in.
“Give me a minute.” Devi stood and turned away. On cardboard legs she walked to the edge of the pool and stared out at the blue-green ocean. She dragged in a lungful of air and let the soothing waves that caressed the shoreline calm her. Finally she could get the answers to all her questions, and she didn’t know if she could do it. Fear choked her.
She jumped when he touched her shoulder. “Are you okay?”
“I-I’m unprepared, I guess.” A shaky laugh slipped out. “I’ve wanted to meet you forever. I had a picture in my head of what would happen.”
“And this wasn’t it?”
She laughed. A tinny sound even to her own ears. “No. Not at all. I also assumed I’d have some time to prepare and compose myself.”
“I’m sorry, Devi.”
“I have so many questions.”
“I do, too.”
“First off, I’m glad I found you. I hope you’re somewhat happy, too.” She tilted her head to the side, questioning him with her steady gaze. Fear of his answer washed through her, but she squared her shoulders. She needed to know, no matter if what she learned fit with her dreams or didn’t.
When he smiled her shoulders sagged and she released a breath.
“I’m more than okay with it.” He tentatively squeezed her arm. When she touched his hand, he took her in his arms for a warm hug. “God, Devi. When I think about all I’ve missed. All you’ve missed.”
“All we’ve missed.” She stared into his eyes, so like her own. A tear slipped down his cheek, and she wiped it away.
“Shouldn’t I be the one wiping your tears?”
“At this point it doesn’t matter. We might have missed a lot, but we’re lucky to have found each other now. We have plenty of time to play catch-up.” This time she hugged him. She had a father. They should probably make it official, legal, or whatever and have a blood test done, but she didn’t need it. Deep down to her bones she knew William “Billy” Bartow was her dad.
She pulled back and smiled into the palm of his hand as he cupped her cheek. “I don’t know where to start.”
“Ask what you want. I’ll do my best to answer, even though I’m in shock.” His bright eyes drank her in. He searched her face as if he couldn’t get enough.
She might as well ask the question that scared her most first, so she could get it over with. “After you found out about my mom and learned what happened, why didn’t you come for me?”
“I didn’t know about you. When I was told your mom died in childbirth, I assumed our baby had died with her. I stopped any further search.” He pinched his nose. “What if you’d never come here with Omar? I’d have never known,” he whispered. “Have you been married before, Devi? Were you adopted?”
“No, never married. Why?” She stepped back, sliding her hands down his arms until their fingers locked.
“Your mom’s last name wasn’t Boss. How’d you…?”
She laughed. All the muscles in her body felt weak, and she rested her hip against the fence surrounding the pool area. “My grandmother raised me. She was on her third marriage to Albert Boss. They adopted me so that while they raised me we’d all share the same name. They thought it’d be easier for me.”
“Did you have a good life?” His eyes welled with tears.
Gawd, he was so dear. So full of remorse and regret. She didn’t want him to feel that. “So far I’ve had a great life. But the best is yet to be.”
…
Omar’s blood boiled at each word his mother uttered over the phone. He took a breath to rein in his anger. Now that he’d finally called his mother and they had agreed to work on some semblance of “normal,” he didn’t want to start barking out questions. But he did need answers. He had to be sure. So much rode on what she’d told him. He didn’t want to believe it, but even though they’d had their differences over the years, she’d never lied to him. Never.
“Are you sure we’re talking about the same man?” He bit the words out. How could what she said be true? If it were, then everything he’d worked toward for the last three years—hell, even being here—would mean nothing.
His mother sighed, and the sound burned his ears. “How many other William Bartows are there in North Carolina?”
“Shit,” Omar said under his breath. Even at thirty, he didn’t feel comfortable swearing in front of his mother. It just wasn’t right, but he couldn’t have stopped if he’d bitten his tongue.
“Omar. I’m sorry. I thought you knew. That’s why when you mentioned where you were I was so surprised. With how close you were to your father, him grooming you to take over, I assumed he’d told you everything.” Her voice grew s
ofter as she finished. So soft he pressed the cell to his ear to hear.
Omar rubbed his neck. “Let me get this straight. Bartow almost ruined my father’s business—”
“And he did ruin our marriage.” Her voice shook.
He didn’t want to seem cold, but his parents’ marriage was the least of his worries. “He dragged my father’s name through the mud until the business hung from a thread? Even going so far as to sever his own business relationship with Esterly Financial and encouraging his friends to do the same?”
“The interviews he gave for one magazine in particular, and then the one on television, did the most damage. In a matter of weeks we nearly lost it all. Your father had to do so much damage control, things at home became stressed. He worked more and more. He saved the business, but we lost our family.” Her voice broke, and she sobbed lightly into the phone.
Omar’s heart blackened at the mere thought of William Bartow.
Everything he’d learned in the last twenty minutes made him sick. He’d focused on getting the Bartow contract to push Esterly Financial into another tax bracket when he could’ve worked on other prospects. Maybe not as lucrative, but just as valuable in building his portfolio. And the fact that he’d thought his father would be proud, when all along these two men were bitter enemies, ate through his gut.
No wonder Bartow had been surprised that Omar wanted an invite. Was he leading Omar on the entire time? Did he get a big laugh from making him think he had a chance? Had he even considered giving him his business, or did he plan to try to ruin Esterly Financial now since his plan decades ago had failed?
To know that this man—who he’d grown to like over the last few days—took some blame in ruining his family made what his mother told him worse. If his father hadn’t had to work insane hours to rebuild the business, would things have been different? Would his mother have stayed home instead of seeking happiness elsewhere? Would he have felt loved by his mother and his father? Would he and his brothers have been close?
“I-I’m sorry, Omar. I’m sorry I didn’t stand up to your father and take you with me, Roth, and Jared. I hated that he could hurt me so easily with his words, and I didn’t want him to hurt the other boys, but in the process I lost you. I have regrets. So many.”
A lot of things suddenly became clear. His father’s words came back to haunt him. “You don’t need family to be happy. They just distract you from what’s most important. Focus on work, that’s all you’ll have in the end.”
His mother cleared her throat. “And now William Bartow is ruining the first real conversation we’ve had in years.”
Her sob hooked his heart. He’d no idea until today how much reconnecting with him meant to her. That was at least a small light in this dark tunnel.
“Nothing has been ruined, Mother. Nothing has changed in regards to you and me meeting for dinner and talking. I want to get to know you again.”
“But—”
“But nothing. I’m glad I called, and I’m glad you told me all of this. I don’t want to waste another minute attempting to get Bartow’s business—or stay in his house.”
“I’m so sorry you had to find out this way. Please don’t do anything crazy. I can hear the anger in your voice.”
He clenched and unclenched his fist several times at his side. “I’m beyond pissed, but I’m not stupid.”
“Omar, I love you.”
He hadn’t said those words in years. Wasn’t sure he could say them now. “I’m glad we talked, Mother, and—”
The door burst open and Devi bounced into the room. Her face beamed and her eyes sparkled. “Omar, I have the most incredible news. I found—”
She stopped in her tracks as she met his gaze. He could only imagine how scary he must look.
“Mother, I have to go. I’ll call you next week.” And he ended the call.
He tossed his phone on the bedside table.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t notice you were on your phone.”
“Don’t worry about that. Pack your bags, Devi. We’re out of here.”
“What are you talking about? We can’t leave.” Her face fell, and her waning smile disappeared. “What’s happened?”
“We’ll talk in the car.”
She grabbed his arm as he started throwing his clothes into his bag. “We can’t leave now, O. I’ve found him.”
“Who?” he tossed over his shoulder.
“My father. William Bartow is my father.”
Chapter Seventeen
“Are you sure?” Omar’s body stiffened and his eyes grew hard, cold, and distant.
Devi didn’t know what had happened. The only other time she’d seen him so angry was when he’d walked into the kitchen and punched Brian in the jaw for manhandling her.
“Well, it’s not a scientific fact”—a strained laugh escaped her lips—“but everything seems to point in that direction. We talked about getting a blood test and…what’s going on?”
“You say William Bartow is your father?”
She nodded. Her stomach sank as his brows drew tight. The emotional roller coaster Devi had been on today—hell, all week—took another dip.
“He told you this?” he growled.
“We figured it out. We got to talking and, well…I want to tell you the whole incredible story, but you need to tell me what’s going on first. Why are you so angry?” She slid her locket along the chain of her necklace, her movements growing faster the longer he stared at her without comment.
“Don’t believe he’s your father. He’s a liar.”
“A liar?”
Omar rubbed his neck with such force he left red marks. Devi swallowed hard, and her shoulders tensed in preparation for whatever Omar dragged in a breath to say.
“Bartow almost single-handedly ruined my father’s business years ago. The effect trickled down to ruin my parents’ marriage. I don’t even want to breathe the same air as that man. Pack your bags.”
Anger surged through her in defense of the father she’d just found. “I’m not going anywhere until you fill me in a little more than that.”
“What more do you need to know other than that man hurt my family? Almost destroyed Esterly Financial.”
“That man is my father.”
“You don’t know that as fact.”
Deep down she knew it as fact, and a blood test would prove it to all the naysayers. The only doubter she worried about at the moment was Omar. “I don’t want to argue that point now. I would like to hear the entire story about what happened between your father and William so that I can form my own opinion.” She ran her trembling hands through her hair.
“Years ago Bartow was a client with Esterly Financial. My father’s client.”
“He was?” Her words came out as a mere whisper. Shock washed through her. How come William had never mentioned this before? The subject should’ve come up in all the talks and emails exchanged before they’d arrived for the week-long meet and greet. There had to be something missing in what Omar had learned.
Omar nodded. His eyes burned red hot. “After a couple of years, Bartow, for whatever reason, decided to sever his contract with Esterly Financial. He didn’t just walk away and find another firm to represent him, though. He badmouthed Esterly to anyone who’d listen. He made false accusations about my father and his choice of investments, implying he had something to gain by shady deals. A few well-placed comments in a couple of interviews slayed my father’s name and reputation.”
Devi caught her breath. “Are you sure?” But she already knew the answer. She could see the conviction written in every tight feature on his face. Omar believed what he’d learned, even if he did miss some facts. If only she could get him to sit down with William.
“I’m as sure as the sun. I just hung up with my mother, who told me the entire story as soon as she found out where I was.” He opened the dresser drawer and tossed his shirts inside his bag, not bothering to make sure they stayed neatly folded. “My father had
to do major damage control, which included working nonstop. The funny thing is, I remember when he started his insane hours. I remember my mother being so upset that he wasn’t home and was missing time with his family. I can even remember hearing her cry herself to sleep at night. Not only did your supposed dad almost ruin my father’s company, but he did manage to ruin my family.”
“Oh, Omar…” She touched his arm, but he brushed her hand away. The move killed her and she fought to fill her lungs with air as a desperate pain churned in her stomach, coiling tight.
“I’ll never know what might have been if your father hadn’t done what he had. How my life, my mother’s and brothers’ lives—”
“I can’t believe this. There has to be more… Maybe we need to all sit down and discuss this. Get facts straight.”
He snapped his bag shut. “I have all the facts I need. My mother and I might have had a difficult relationship, but she’s never lied to me.”
“But maybe she didn’t know everything. Let’s talk to my fath—William. Let’s hear both sides.” Even she could hear the desperation in her voice. But her plea fell on deaf ears.
Omar stared at her, his jaw ticking. “Make your decision now, Devi. Pack your bags and leave with me, continue what we’ve started and see where it leads, or—”
“You’re giving me an ultimatum? How can you ask me to choose between you and what we’ve only just discovered, and the man who I’m ninety-nine percent sure is my father? After all these years, I’ve finally found him. I can’t make that decision. Not now.” She swallowed her panic, fear, and heartbreak. No matter what choice she made, she’d come out the loser. She closed her eyes and fought back the threatening tears.
You love him. You love Omar.
And now she might lose him.
“I can’t stay in the house of a man who tried to ruin my father. Either come with me, or it’s over. Everything.” He rubbed the pounding vein alongside his neck.
She couldn’t speak. Not only would her job be history—the least of her worries—but so would any chance with the man she loved. She’d never planned to give her heart. She hadn’t wanted to be set up for heartache. Her entire life she’d fought to not be like her mother in that respect, and she’d succeeded until this week.
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