“I love you,” he whispered.
In those three words, she knew everything she had done, and would do, was worth it. She would help him, no matter what. “I love you, too.”
* * *
Adam stared at the dark walls of his childhood home. No matter how hard he tried, sleep eluded him. He groaned, disgusted that the stillness didn’t lull him to sleep. Tossing the covers to the hardwood floor, he admitted defeat and plodded down the creaky stairs.
He rubbed his sleep-deprived eyes as he flipped the kitchen switch. Stars danced across his vision from the blinding light glaring from the island chandelier. He grabbed the side of the red marble countertops for balance, waiting for the spots to disappear. Shuffling across the blurry mosaic tile floor, he located the remote for the flat screen television.
The local news harped on about the Mörder case, and a low sigh resonated in his chest as he changed the channel. As far as he was concerned, it was just another mobster skirting the law. The screens flashed before his eyes, the light flickering between channel changes. Why are all the TV shows crap at six a.m.? Infomercials and Reality TV, Ugh. He couldn’t be the only person up at the crack of dawn.
He watched the antics of one of the many dysfunctional reality families play across the screen, but even their ridiculousness couldn’t get the injured look he’d placed on Allison’s face out of his head. He was such an ass. He was generally cognizant of people's feelings. However, when Allison was around he became socially inept.
He pressed the button to start the coffee maker. For some reason, the world was much more manageable with a pint of caffeine coursing through his veins. He reached into the glossy, black cabinets and pulled out a frying pan.
“Why did I have to make that family comment?” he reprimanded himself audibly. The soft hiss and gurgle indicated his tonic was almost ready. After a quick pour he brought the hot, dark liquid to his lips. His eyes closed and his head fell back in ecstasy as the caffeine slowly found its way into his bloodstream.
He glowered at the empty pan on the stove. Since the skillet didn’t magically materialize a gourmet breakfast, he opened the refrigerator. The cold air washed over him, sending a chill down his spine.
Now he remembered why he’d been staying at the hotel the past few days. There was something to be said for room service. He pulled out a couple eggs and the butter, twisted on the burner, and broke them into the pan once it heated up and the butter melted.
He stared at the sizzling egg whites, regret coloring his mood. His heart squeezed at the thought of her never speaking to him again. It would probably be best for him leave Chicago as soon as possible. Once the reins were handed over, he was hitting the road. There was no point hanging around when all he did was make things worse.
Sweat beaded down his neck, chest tightening. He dragged in a large gulp of air. “What the hell is wrong with me?” he asked the unresponsive skillet.
Was that fear? Why? What did he have to be afraid of? Leaving…? He'd been gone for years. Why all of a sudden did it bother him? Allison's crystal blue eyes flashed before him. He always had a hard time leaving her. The last time he’d left, he pathetically skulked away like a thief in the night.
He remembered that night so vividly. He’d been back home in Chicago, visiting his family. But the family wasn’t what he’d enjoyed the most. It was a game of pool. It had been the best damn game of pool he’d ever played. He hadn’t seen Allison in over a year, and she looked amazing. Her dark-blonde hair hung down in soft curls around her shoulders, and every time she’d bent down to take a shot—damn—there she was, her body smoking, cleavage heaving, eyes smoldering. He’d been unable to stop himself.
He’d wrapped her in his arms and finally tasted her lips. Heaven. He’d known he was a goner, but he didn’t care. All his cares had disappeared the moment his lips met hers—his new promotion hadn’t mattered. His partner’s injury hadn’t mattered. The guilt hadn’t mattered. Nothing had mattered but her.
She’d consumed him. The wild, heart-stopping sex only made him want her more, but in the light of day…
He’d known he made a mistake. He couldn’t stay. If she’d woken up with him still around, he would have never left Chicago—never left her. But he’d had to leave. His partner had been battling a gunshot wound, and every day Adam was away he wasn’t finding the sonofabitch responsible for the shooting. He’d owed his partner his life for stepping in front of the bullet.
He’d regretted hurting her, but he didn’t regret leaving. Three days later he caught the perp and locked up his sorry ass.
It had been one helluva Christmas present, locking up that jag-off.
The smell of cinders wafted to his nose, pulling him from the past. He looked down and flipped the eggs over. He snarled as he poked at the black, crunchy crust on the egg.
“I personally don’t like my eggs blackened, but that’s just me.” Dale laughed.
Adam’s heart leapt into his throat, and he glared at his brother. “Don’t sneak up on a cop, unless you’d like to get hurt.” Revulsion pierced Adam’s stomach. No breakfast, and his brother was up. What a crappy way to start the day. Adam dumped the eggs in the garbage and tossed the pan into the sink.
Dale opened the refrigerator and took out the creamer. As if in perfect rhythm, Adam grabbed a mug and poured his brother a cup of coffee.
“Thanks.” Dale took the cup from Adam.
“No problem.” Adam tilted his cup back. “Where’s Bambi?”
Dale huffed in exasperation. “I dropped Nadia at the gym. The woman loves her Pilates. That is one form of exercise I could not get into.” Dale giggled like a nervous schoolgirl and added, “I didn’t feel like working out this morning. I’m worried about Mom. I want to make sure she’s okay after what happened yesterday.”
“You know she was heartbroken,” Adam said flatly as Dale frowned. Adam reveled in his brother’s discomfort. Dale had a lot of nerve pretending to care about his mother’s feelings when he so willingly crushed them over and over again. “What do you expect? She lost her husband, and her youngest son is ranting like a lunatic with some woman on his arm.”
“Can you just leave Nadia out of it? I’ll apologize to Mom this morning. I haven’t seen her yet. Have you?”
“I haven’t seen her. Is she normally up this early?”
“Yeah, she likes to take care of her foster animals before breakfast. Without those animals, I think she’d go crazy.”
Adam nodded his head and arched an eyebrow at Dale. “Why are you up this early? Doesn’t your skin burn in the sunlight?”
“Nice.” Dale rolled his eyes. “Actually, I wasn’t able to sleep. My mind was racing. When Nadia asked for a ride, I figured, why not. I’m not sleeping.”
“I know the feeling.”
Adam stared as Dale looked furtively at his coffee cup sitting on the counter. He could almost see the wheels in Dale’s mind spinning as his brother slowly lifted the cup to his mouth and sighed.
The beginning of a knot pulled on Adam’s neck. The suspense was killing him. His brother was obviously struggling to share something, but he wasn’t sure what it could possibly be. It couldn’t be anything good. No one hemmed and hawed when they had good news to share.
More than likely he just wanted money. The only time Dale ever talked to Adam was when he needed a loan or a handout. Damn. The last thing he wanted to do is fight with his brother. Adam had to admit, however, if his brother asked for money, control over his punching arm would be limited.
“So, Dale, what's on your mind? You obviously have something you want to talk about. Spill it!”
“I want to run Dad’s company.” The words practically fell from Dale’s lips. “What?” What the hell was he talking about? For five years the old man had asked Dale to come home and run the company. Now that their dad was gone, Dale suddenly had an urge to be a respected businessman? What would happen in three months when he decided he wanted to be a rodeo clown or some other ph
ase overtook his life? What would happen to the company then? “Are you kidding?” “No. I think it’s important for us to keep it in the family.”
“When did you decide this?” “Last night.”
“What do you know about running a company?” Adam argued, realizing the effect this would have on Allison and all of the other employees. “Anyway, Dad was handing control over to Allison in six months. He trusted her to take the company into the future. I think we should adhere to his wishes.”
“His wishes included handing the company over to his sons. Why else would he have willed it to us? It was a last-ditch effort to get us involved. Having Allison run the company was the last resort because we failed.” Dale face grew red with conviction. “Well, no more. I am fulfilling his dreams.”
“Again, Dale, what do you know about running a multi-million-dollar company? There are people relying on this company’s success, people with families and mortgages. They need a true leader.”
“It would be nice if, just once, you had a bit of faith in me. I know I’m not the perfect son that you are, but that doesn’t mean I need to be written off. I have a lot of skills that have gone to waste because I just haven’t been given the chance. It’s bad enough Dad never trusted me. Why don’t you trust me?” Dale’s voice rose.
“I trust you. I just want what’s best for Byrnes and Company.” Guilt crept down Adam’s spine. He might have been a little hard on his brother, but there was only so much disappointment a man could take. And Dale seemed to have used up his allotment. “Anyway, I thought you wanted to sell.”
“I still think that might be the best course of action, but I thought I’d man the helm until we decide what we should do. You don’t have to go back to Phoenix, right away. You can help me for a while and then I’ll take over.”
“I have to go back...” Adam started to say.
“I thought you wanted what’s best? You know this is what Dad would have wanted.”
Arguments hung from Adam’s tongue, but everything Dale said was true. Their father would have loved to hand the reins to one of his sons. It just should have happened when he was alive. Now, it seemed like a futile gesture. On top of that, Herb spent the past ten years training and molding Allison so she could take over. It wasn’t fair to her.
“What about Allison? She’s worked hard to get where she is.”
“We won’t take anything away from her. She can help me when you finally head back to Phoenix. She’ll still be the Vice President.”
“I don’t think this is right. If we wanted a part in Dad’s business, we should have taken the chance while he was alive.”
“I have fifty-percent interest in this company. I am doing this with or without your help.”
“Okay.” Adam’s heart ached. If Allison hated him now, just wait till she found out that Dale was swooping in and taking over the company. Only a miracle would stop her from walking out the door, never to return.
His stomach wrenched in knots as he slumped into the chair at the kitchen table and placed his throbbing head in his hands. Grief constricted his skull, making it impossible to form consistent thoughts. He hadn’t seen the woman in years, yet the thought of never seeing her again left a hole where his heart normally beat.
Chapter Five
Allison woke on Friday morning, limbs heavy with dread. She thought that getting some sleep would alleviate the pain of the past few days, but apparently nightmare-infused dreams interspersed with bouts of insomnia didn’t quite have the same effect as a full night of rest.
The office just wouldn't be the same without Herb and his sage advice. She slowly followed her morning rituals, wearing her favorite black silk skirt-suit. It was one of the first suits she bought after becoming Byrnes and Company management, and it fit her like a glove. With one last glance, she headed to the Chicago skyscraper where she worked day in and day out, and parked in the underground garage.
She managed to enter the glass doors that led into the building before eight. She walked through the expansive glass atrium, filled with various plants, from a Madagascar Dragon Tree to spider plants and Peace Lilies. It was a tropical intermediary between the bustling Chicago streets and the high-powered offices upstairs.
She rode the elevator to the twenty-seventh floor, one of the four floors occupied by Byrnes and Company. The office was decorated with traditional woods and warm, welcoming colors.
Her vanilla chai sloshed in her hand as she walked past Julie’s empty desk. Julie tended to be late on Mondays. Normally, the fact that Julie had to drop her son off at preschool before work wouldn’t bother her. But today, Allison had so much she wanted to tell her co-worker and friend. She was practically jumping out of her skin.
Even though Allison was a big proponent of keeping her work and private life separate, Julie had become a good friend over the years. She shared all of her highs and lows with the supportive woman. She even shared her fateful indiscretion with the boss’s son.
As Allison made her way toward Herb’s office, the realization hit her upside her head. He wouldn’t be there. He wouldn’t be there to talk about today’s agenda or client issues. He wouldn’t be there when the Dietrich Company asked for twenty redesigns before they ended up choosing the first design, as they had done for the last four jewelry purchases. He wouldn’t be there just to talk.
She glanced into her late mentor’s office, her voice box seizing as she gasped noiselessly. Her wide eyes took in the soft light streaming from the large office windows and a younger Herb hovering over a stack of paperwork. She reached for the doorjamb, catching herself as her legs buckled beneath her.
She gaped at the apparition sitting at the desk, seemingly lost in thought as he mused over the documents before him. Hot, wet tears rolled down her cheeks as she thought about all the times she’d walked into this office and found Herb sitting in just that position. She remembered the way his head would bob slightly as he worked, and his light-blond hair, which had turned gray over the years, would bounce right along with the motion as he focused on the bottom line.
Her eyes fluttered in disbelief. Oh, shit. It had finally happened. After all the crap she had dealt with in her life, this loss sent her over the edge. She figured someday it would happen. But she never thought when she lost her mind she would see ghosts.
She continued to stare. Frozen. Afraid if she closed her eyes, Herb would disappear again. Her illusion looked up, a bright smile overtaking his lips. With a wave, he said her name. Her heart stopped as she jumped, her feet momentarily airborne.
“Good morning, Allison. We need to talk. Why don’t you put your things down and meet me back here,” Dale said, turning his attention back to the file folder on Herb’s desk.
She stared at him, stunned. That her mind had automatically thought Dale was a ghost hadn’t been lost on her. Logically, she should have known it was Dale. He was the spitting image of his father when he was younger. Unfortunately, logic didn't appear to be her strong suit these days.
Allison headed down the hall to her office, closing the door behind her and placing her purse and bags on her desk. She stretched her neck back and forth, trying to stave off the headache creeping up the back of her head.
She clicked on her PC and then checked her phone messages. She tried to keep her mind on the mundane tasks of the day, but the alleged ghost-sighting and all the emotions of the morning crept past the everyday routine.
It didn’t help that she had no clue why Dale was sitting in Herb’s office, requesting a meeting. She figured Adam would be here to hand over the reins, not Dale.
The brothers couldn’t have been more different. Adam was a responsible, anal- retentive, law-enforcing adult, while Dale was a pampered adolescent in a man’s body. Both men had one thing in common—an inability to visit the parents who loved them.
Adam had established a life for himself in Phoenix. His parents were so proud of all he accomplished, but they would have loved for those accomplishments to lead him back
to Chicago. Instead, he stayed in Arizona. And although Chicago didn't seem to be that far from Phoenix, Adam hadn't been back to see his parents in almost two years.
Dale wasn't much better. He hadn’t been home for a visit in about fifteen months. He liked to spend his time finding himself. He spent six years finding himself in college, and five years finding himself while traveling the globe. Herb and Loraine had shared the numerous postcards they received from him while he travelled from Russia to Singapore and everywhere in between.
Although she understood the allure of visiting different countries and locales, she could never understand how the Byrne brothers could leave their parents or such a great company behind. Her thoughts shifted back to her childhood. Her father had been an engineer with the army, which led to her family being stationed all over the world. Although the constant moving had forced her family to be very close, there weren’t a lot of opportunities to put down roots.
She’d hated having to make new friends over and over again. Each new school had been a veritable unknown. She loved the roots she’d planted, and couldn’t see why anyone would want to live anywhere but Chicago.
This was her home. Her life. A sip of chai managed to warm her insides, calming her clattering nerves. Quiet strength flowed through her. This was her realm. She might not have control over any other aspect of her life, but work was always her rock—her port in life’s storm.
Calm swept her body, knowing that once they announced her promotion, they would go back to their lives, leaving her to build Byrnes and Company into a success. Exactly where she wanted to be.
She shifted her attention to the cup in her hand. “I got this,” she told the liquid, and took another sip. After a deep breath, she picked up her leather file folder. She walked toward Herb’s office, doubt shortening her normally long strides.
What is my problem? Why am I so nervous? Adam had said they’d be here today to hand over the reins. Maybe the jerk decided to sneak away in the dead of evening, so Dale was filling in for him. A smile curved her lips as she contemplated a day without Adam.
Second Time's the Charm Page 4