by Shelly Bell
Oh yeah. The same sort who didn’t publicly acknowledge her daughter.
Finn nodded once. “I know you and I haven’t been as close these past couple of years, but maybe we could hang out when Ciara and I get back from our honeymoon next month. Go for a drink. Catch up on things.”
Honestly, there was almost nothing he wanted more. He missed the older brother he’d always looked up to. But there were a fuck ton of questions Finn refused to answer. Until he did, Ryder couldn’t completely trust him.
“Any of the things include the truth about why you broke our agreement and came back to work for Keane?”
“Ryder,” Finn said in a tone that warned him he’d crossed some invisible line that had been drawn.
“Right. I didn’t think so.” He took a step back from his brother. “All those times we talked about challenging Keane’s expectations for our future was what exactly? Did you mean any of it?”
“I meant every word.”
Then what the hell changed? And why was he so damned secretive about it?
“And yet here you are,” Ryder said, spreading his arms. “McKay Industries’ head legal counsel, responsible for protecting him from the law. What was it that brought you back into the family fold? Money? Power? The salary in the attorney general’s office not afford you the lifestyle you’d grown accustomed to?”
Finn pointed a finger in Ryder’s face. “You of all people should know me better than that. I don’t give a rat’s ass about those things. It’s just a job. It’s not like I’m signing away my life to it.”
No, just his soul.
Ryder shook his head in disappointment. “Well, as McKay’s attorney, I’m here to inform you that your client stole Novateur’s intellectual property and committed corporate espionage.”
Finn jerked backward. “The fuck you say?”
“Oh, come on. You can’t tell me it escaped your attention Keane started a restaurant automation business to compete with my company?”
His brother’s gaze dropped to his shoes. “Of course it didn’t.”
Ryder had suspected his brother had been aware, but it still hit him straight in the gut to hear it confirmed. “And you were okay with that?”
“Hell no,” Finn growled. “As soon as I heard about it, I confronted him. He swore he did it for you—for when you come to work for McKay.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t know…he still has it in his head that you two will reconcile eventually. But he didn’t say anything about stealing.”
“Plausible deniability. That way you don’t have to lie to me or the court when I sue McKay.” Even though they were alone, he still lowered his voice. “Last year, I was at a conference up on Mackinac Island. Someone accessed my laptop and downloaded my design files.”
“And you have proof that it was Keane?” he asked quietly.
Ryder searched his brother’s expression. He almost looked…eager.
But why?
“No,” Ryder admitted. “I don’t have proof. Not yet.”
Finn’s mouth opened and closed a couple times, as if he was about speak but changed his mind. He glanced at the door and moved in closer to Ryder. “Listen, I’ll check into it when I get back from my honeymoon, and we’ll have that drink.” He paused. “You’re right. You deserve an explanation as to why I came back to work for Keane. Just give me—”
“Finn?” Ciara strolled into the room, still picture-perfect, unlike her rumpled husband. She wrapped her manicured hand around Finn’s biceps and gave Finn what Ryder could only describe as a practiced pout. “I was wondering where you had disappeared to. I turn around to talk to some guests and the next thing I know, I can’t find you or our fathers anywhere. I don’t suppose you’ve seen them? I need you and them for the toasts, and we’re already running ten minutes behind schedule.”
Finn’s eyes darted between Ciara and Ryder. “Sorry. Do you want me to go look for them?”
She sighed. “No. We’ll just have to do a little rearranging, that’s all.” She pasted on a smile and turned to Ryder. “It’s very nice to meet you, Ryder. Thank you for coming.” On those words, she spun on her heels and walked toward the door. “Coming?” she asked Finn from over her shoulder.
Ryder slapped Finn’s back. “Go. Call me when you get back into town.” He was curious as to what Finn had been about to say before Ciara interrupted. But it could wait a month. It wasn’t as if anything would change between now and then.
Having already talked (and more) with Jane, Ryder had no reason to stay for the wedding reception. As he walked down the hallway to the coatroom, laughter and clapping floated in from the ballroom.
He shook his head. Based on family history—namely, Finn’s and Keane’s previous marriages—Ryder gave Finn and Ciara no more than a year before they called it quits.
He just hoped this marriage ended up less violently than Finn’s last one.
As he turned the corner, hushed conversation caught his attention. He moved over to the wall and quietly inched closer to the open door of the coatroom.
Families. Business. Pact.
Most of the words were too muffled for Ryder to decipher. But then after a beat of silence by the speakers, he recognized Keane’s voice as he spoke clearly and loudly. “It’s a deal, Sinclair. Shall we shake on it?”
What the hell had those two agreed to?
He didn’t know.
But whatever it was…it couldn’t be good.
* * *
Tonight marked Jane’s second walk of shame.
Only this time, there was a witness to it.
Luckily, the witness happened to be her best friend.
Jane opened the door of her apartment, careful not to wake Maddox. Wearing SpongeBob pajamas and a nicotine patch on her arm, her roommate Dreama bopped out of the kitchen, a glass of water in her hand. Her brown- and pink-streaked hair was up in a high ponytail. “Hey, Chickie. How was the wedding? Did your mom do her usual impression of Maleficent?”
Dreama was not a fan of Ciara’s and never had a problem saying so. It was her opinion that Jane was better off without her, especially because she hadn’t come to see Maddox once since visiting him and Jane in the hospital the day he was born.
Jane sighed as she slipped off her heels by the door. “How was Maddox tonight? Did he take his reflux medicine? Did he have his bath? How many ounces of formula did he drink?”
Dreama ticked off the fingers of her right hand. “Happy. Yes. Yes. No formula, but he did finish off a bottle of vodka.”
“Ha. Funny.” She stuck out her tongue. “Do we have any ice cream?”
“Uh-oh. That sounds ominous.” Dreama twirled on the balls of her feet and strode back into the kitchen as if on a mission. “Of course we do. What kind of roommate would I be if I didn’t keep us stocked in frozen sugary goodness?” She opened the freezer and pulled out five quarts of ice cream.
Neither of them believed in buying the pint-sized crap. That might be good for an after-dinner snack, but for talks like these, they had to bring out the big guns.
Between dealing with the usual rejection by her mother, the strange interaction with Evan, and seeing Ryder again, she’d reached her limit of stress. Tonight required chocolate. Lots and lots of chocolate.
“I’m taking the fudge brownie,” Jane said, grabbing it off the counter and getting two giant spoons from the utensil drawer. She handed a spoon to Dreama. “What kind do you want?”
Dreama ran her finger along each of the remaining icy containers. “Hmm. Judging by your mood, I think I’m going to require the salted caramel ripple. Oh, and grab the chips.” She pointed to the pantry. “The ones with the ridges. The others tend to crumble under the weight of the ice cream.”
Jane stuck out her tongue. “Ugh. That’s disgusting.” But she snatched the chips anyway and brought them with her to the table.
“Says the girl who ate tuna and ketchup sandwiches all through her pregnancy.”
Jane chuckled. Even now, she had
to admit to craving that bizarre concoction every once in a while. It was like Maddox had permanently altered her taste buds. “Hey, don’t knock it ’til you try it.” She plopped down on a kitchen chair and took the lid off the ice cream. No bowls for them. “How was Maddox tonight?”
Dreama returned the currently unwanted flavors of ice cream back into the freezer. “Slept like a baby.” She clutched her caramel swirl container against her chest as she joined Jane at the table. “Oh, right. He is a baby.” She laughed, taking a chip and dipping it in the ice cream. “Like clockwork, he got up for his eleven o’clock feeding and went back to sleep. If you go to bed now, you could get a solid three hours until he’s up again.”
Sleep? What was that? She was so used to being exhausted, she wasn’t sure if she remembered what it was like to have energy. Or spare time.
Not that she’d change a thing.
In some ways, she’d never been happier. She had her dream career, a best friend as her roommate and part-time babysitter, and a healthy baby boy. What more could she ask for?
“I had sex tonight,” she blurted out, her cheeks heating.
Oh yeah. That.
Dreama stilled with an ice-cream-covered chip halfway to her mouth. She nodded enthusiastically. “I thought you had a certain glow I’d never seen before. Go on.”
“With Maddox’s father.”
Dreama’s hazel eyes widened and her jaw dropped. “Shut the front door. No wonder you need the ice cream. He was a guest at the wedding?”
A guest? She shifted uncomfortably in her chair. “He’s Finn’s brother.”
Dreama took a handful of chips and dumped them into the container of ice cream. “Finn. Your stepfather, Finn?”
“Of course I’m talking about Finn, my step…” Okay, that just creeped her out. “Ciara’s husband. How many other Finns do you know?”
Dreama pushed Jane’s container of fudge brownie closer to her. “Just trying to lighten the mood, Chickie.”
She shouldn’t be taking her frustrations out on Dreama. That’s what the ice cream was for.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t snap at you.” She took a big spoonful of brownie chunk and shoved it in her mouth. Not surprisingly, a glob of it ended up on her dress. Oh well. She was never going to wear it again anyway. “You’re not the one who accused me of corporate espionage and stealing to get ahead in business.”
“Wow. He did that?” Dreama made circles with her spoon in the air. “Does he not know you at all? Wait, stupid question. Other than the one night together where you barely exchanged any information outside of your first names, he doesn’t know the first thing about you,” she pointed out. “But still, corporate espionage? Why did he think that?”
Jane frowned, trying to recall his exact words. “Something about stolen designs taken off his computer that night. Honestly, I’m not sure.” And it didn’t matter because she had not done it, and neither had McKay Industries. The Keane she’d come to know would never engage in theft of corporate secrets. Not even his son’s. “All I know is he doesn’t speak to Keane at all and he rarely talks to Finn. He assumes anyone who works closely with his father must be unethical, which is ridiculous because in the time I’ve worked for Keane, I’ve never observed him do anything remotely unethical.”
Not only that, but also Keane had never even asked her to do something that would compromise her principles. Yes, she had to admit, it was odd that Keane had started a restaurant automation business that competed with Ryder’s, but he must have had his reasons. The fact that they were building designs similar to Novateur’s was likely a coincidence and Ryder was just assuming the worst because of his prejudice against his father.
Dreama poked her tongue against her cheek, considering Jane. “I believe you haven’t, but one thing I’ve learned as a parole officer is that people aren’t always the way they appear. One client of mine has the sweetest face you could imagine. Big innocent blue eyes and chubby cheeks. He’s shorter than me and weighs probably twenty pounds less. Not a muscle on the guy. Girl meets him in a bar? She wouldn’t even think to be afraid of him.” She paused, pursing her lips. “Just got out after twenty years for raping his mother.”
“Dear God.”
“I’m not trying to say that Keane’s a rapist or anything,” Dreama continued. “But he’s not going to show you all sides of himself. You see the best part of him. Your baby daddy, on the other hand, may have witnessed something different while growing up. Doesn’t mean you have to believe him, but you also shouldn’t completely discount his life experiences either.”
She nibbled on her bottom lip, Dreama’s words sinking in. Was she right?
Jane supposed it wasn’t much different than her experiences with her own mother. Anyone who knew Ciara would never guess how cold and aloof she could be.
“What did he say about Maddox?” Dreama asked. “You did tell him, right?”
“Yes. After we…” Her cheeks warmed.
Dreama’s brows rose. “Hmm. After, huh?”
“It just happened,” Jane mumbled.
“I get it.” Dreama waved her hand in front of her face. “My vagina falls on random cocks all the time. You don’t need to be embarrassed. I’m all for you getting some. No one should suffer through a drought as long as yours. You deserved a night of good, kinky sex.”
Knowing Dreama was into the BDSM lifestyle, Jane had confided in her about the spanking and bondage that had taken place the night she’d lost her virginity. She hadn’t been sure if what she had experienced that night with Ryder was typical in sex.
According to Dreama, it wasn’t. She confirmed that both were practices of BDSM.
At this point, Jane wasn’t sure whether she was truly a sexual submissive.
All she knew was she wouldn’t mind doing them again.
“How do you know it was good?” Jane asked, unable to prevent the small smile from forming.
“Other than the glow? Your hair’s a mess, your lips are swollen, and you smell as if you took a bath in champagne.” Dreama sighed loudly. “I love creative men.”
“Yeah, he is that,” Jane said, thinking about the champagne bottle. “I guess it’s good it happened before we talked because right now, I’m not sure where we stand. On one hand, it seemed as if he wanted to be a part of Maddox’s life. But on the other, he doesn’t want me to tell anyone that he’s the father just yet. Apparently, he needs time. Whatever that means.”
Her friend’s smile disappeared and her expression turned deadly. “Excuse me? I hope you told him what he’d be missing before you twisted his balls and shoved them where the sun don’t shine.”
“No.” She choked down the lump in her throat. “I told him I could raise Maddox without him, and I gave him my card. I’m not going to force him to be a part of Maddox’s life.”
“Aw, Chickie.” Dreama reached over the table and squeezed her hand. “I know you were hoping if you ever found him that he’d come through for you. But you told me he was a player. Didn’t you say he took a call from another woman right before you vamoosed your way out of there?”
“Yeah.” Jane used her spoon to dig out a chunk of brownie, then popped it in her mouth. “I might have jumped to conclusions. Ryder explained it. Turns out it was his friend’s girlfriend.”
Dreama coughed on her ice cream/chip combination and beat her chest with her fist. “Ryder?” she finally spit out.
“Yeah, Ryder. Maddox’s father,” Jane clarified.
Once her coughing fit had ceased, her roomie had a big smile on her face. “Where did you meet him again?”
“At a business conference at the Grand Hotel.” Jane frowned when Dreama shook her head and laughed. “What’s so funny?”
The moment Dreama parted her lips, a loud cry came from the bedroom.
Dreama stopped laughing, but her smile remained. “Guess Maddox missed you. Go get some snuggles with your son. I have a feeling you’ll be seeing Ryder again sooner than later.”
NINE<
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Coffee cup in hand, Jane strode through the lobby of McKay Industries on her way to the elevator. Dwarfed only by GM’s nearby seventy-three-floor Renaissance Center, McKay claimed every floor of the building for its own employees. The glass skyscraper was home to all twenty subsidiaries of parent McKay Industries, six restaurants, corporate apartments, stores, and even a movie theater. It was more than a building. It was a community where executives could live in luxury apartments overlooking the Detroit River and go downstairs to do their grocery shopping or see their physician. Hell, McKay even had its own zip code and its own post office. People from all over the world fought to work there.
Jane didn’t take her good fortune for granted. She loved Maddox and being a mother, but she also loved her career. She’d known early on that she had a head for business. At seven, while other girls in her neighborhood had served premade lemonade for a quarter a cup at their stands, she’d made hers from scratch and charged two dollars, pouring the lemonade over ice and serving it in secondhand mason jars she’d bought for a steal. Rather than spend the money on frivolous toys and candy, she’d put it all away in a bank account. In high school, she’d worked part-time for a corporate attorney, which gave her the opportunity to learn some of the legalities of business.
She hadn’t ever wanted for money. Her mother had provided her aunt and uncle, who were semiretired by the time they’d become her legal guardians, with a yearly stipend that was well above what they needed to be comfortable. But earning her own money, knowing that she could survive without the help of anyone else, had always been important to her. Now that she was older, she sometimes wondered if that drive stemmed from her mother’s abandonment. Her aunt and uncle loved her, but that hadn’t kept her from worrying they’d eventually abandon her too.
That drive had gotten her a full scholarship to college and a perfect 4.0 grade point average. And when she’d started as an intern at McKay, she’d worked eighty-hour weeks to prove to both herself and everyone else that she belonged there. It wasn’t until she’d gotten pregnant with Maddox that she’d panicked. He’d been a complete surprise.