32.

Ryan

I need more space than the world can give me.

I basically go off-grid for three days as I try to come to terms with what my father did. Luckily for me, it's a holiday weekend, so I don't think anyone's going to notice. Plot twist: everyone notices. When I turn my phone on Tuesday morning, I'm slammed with so many notifications that my phone jams.

Awesome.

I close my eyes, shower, get dressed, and decide to wade through my nightmare of emails at home before I head into the office. I'm halfway through when I get a call from Michael Gold, the investigator I hired so I could try to impress Alex.

Not that it's working.

I hate that I'm falling head-over-heels for her.

"What did you find?"

"A list of kids," he says.

"And?"

"Names, addresses, records. Everything was buried, but nothing is buried for long when I'm around."

"I'm already paying you," I remind him. "I don't need you to sell your services."

"I'll send you what I've got," he says. "The invoice will be coming, too."

"Great."

I end the call. I don't want to be besties with Michael. What I want is to get answers, and what I want is to move on, hopefully permanently.

Only, as soon as the call ends, my phone rings again.

Megan.

My ex-stepmother, and one of my father's favorite wives. She's calling me because she wants to talk, because she misses my dad.

Or is she calling because she wants information?

Megan and I don't talk much. Our interactions tend to be cursory and to-the-point. Only, today, she seems like she's fishing for something.

"How's everything going?"

"Fine, Megan. What do you want?"

"Is that any way to talk to your stepmother?"

"You're not my real mom," I say in a playful voice, but I mean it. I'm not being playful at all. Megan and I have never gotten along. As soon as my dad married her, I knew it would be a match made in hell. She's conniving and vicious. She's almost as terrible as her bratty younger sister, Elizabeth.

Only, Elizabeth has basically stayed out of the spotlight and out of my life since Megan and Dad's wedding day. I've only thought about her in passing during the briefest of moments.

"We need to talk about the dissolution of assets between several of our companies," she says, spitting out the real reason she's calling. No offense to Megan, but she's never been smart enough to talk like that.

"Meaning?"

"Meaning that we need to have a meeting to talk about how we're going to offload a few of the brands your father bought but that aren't bringing in any revenue."

The sooner I can get Megan off the payroll, the happier I'm going to be. Dad didn't exactly leave her very much, but the few things he did decide to leave her are tied to the company. Once we finish cutting all of the strings, she'll be gone. This means I don't have to deal with her or think about her ever again.

"Come to the office tomorrow at nine," I say. Then I end the call before she can try to change the time. I'm not going to be flexible with someone I hate.

BY THE TIME NOON ROLLS around, I'm more than ready to head to the office. I drive myself, park in the garage beneath the building, and ride up to the lobby. Most days, I don't bother stopping in the lobby, but today is different. I stop by the front desk to say good morning to Dolly. I also take the time to warn her that Megan is coming by tomorrow.

"Only let her up," I say.

"Are you expecting an entourage?"

"With Megan? You never know," I admit. "Just be aware."

"You got it, boss."

I pause, looking at Dolly. I notice the blouse she's wearing. It looks familiar, like the one Alex wore her first day of work.

"Everything okay?"

"Your blouse."

"Something wrong with it?" Dolly looks down at herself before glancing back up at me.

"It just seems familiar."

"Bet it does," she giggles, and then she turns back to her computer. I'm not ready to let this go, though.

"Did you trade shirts with Alex her first day of work?" I ask.

"Why would I do a thing like that?" Dolly asks, looking back at me. There's a touch of fire behind her eyes, a glint of steel.

Oh.

She's protective of my girl, is she?

"It just seems familiar," I say.

"It's a popular shirt."

"Why would you trade with someone you barely know?"

For a second, I think Dolly is going to ignore me and blow me off, but instead, she decides to take pity on me and spell things out.

"For a billionaire CEO, you're kind of a dolt. You know that?"

"Excuse me?"

"Calm yourself before you call security," she says, shaking her head in the direction of the front doors. That's where we've got two security team members standing guard today. Their job is to make sure nothing gets too crazy in the building. Not that it ever does.

"I'm calm."

"Listen, sometimes people need a leg up. That can come in the form of favors, or it can come in the form of friendship and compassion. Alex needed a job. We could all tell, and sometimes you can be particular."

"Meaning?"

Dolly sighs dramatically. I'm suddenly under the impression that she finds me stupid.

"Meaning that if she came in looking poor and having a shirt that didn't quite fit, you weren't going to give her a second glance."

Dolly leans back in her seat and raises an eyebrow, as if she's challenging me, and I kind of hate that I know she is.

"You don't know me as well as you think you do," I tell her, but she just smiles and jerks her head toward the elevator. Somehow, my feet move on their own. I'm not used to obeying orders from Dolly, but I find myself in the elevator, standing next to Patricia, and riding up to the top floor.

"You ready to have a good day, sir?" Patricia, ever the kindhearted angel, asks.

"I'm ready."

"Good. You have a good weekend?"

"I just relaxed," I tell her. This is strange for me. Normally, I'm not big on small talk. When someone speaks to me, they always make sure they have a reason to approach me, but this is different.

Today just feels strange.

"What about you?" I ask Patricia. Her eyes widen a little, and I realize that yeah, I never talk to her or Dolly. No wonder I seemingly have a reputation as being as total dickhole.

"What about me? Well, I visited with my grandkids. Tyler is about to turn five, so we had a little party for him. Early, you know, but that's how schedules go. Had a bounce house and everything."

I listen as Patricia tells me about her life, and I realize that she has something wonderful that I've been missing.

Family.

People who care.

She's got people who are passionate about her.

She's got people who love her.

When was the last time I had that? The closest I have is Alex, and that's...well, it's complicated. When I'm not working, it's not like my brothers and I are having board game nights. We're all closed off to each other. We're all reclusive.

I wish we could change, but I don't know how.

I end up on the top floor of the building, and when the doors open, I see Alex sitting at Damien's desk. No, I see her sitting at her desk. I don't move.

"This is your stop," Patricia says quietly.

"I know."

"Word of advice?"

"Sure."

"Don't screw this up, Ryan."

Not Mr. Shadowvale.

Just Ryan.

Because when I'm with Alex, I can just be me, and everyone knows it.

"I promise," I say, and then I step from the doors.