29. Chapter Twenty-nine

Chapter Twenty-nine

Clara

My mood was sour as could be, but I was attempting to go with the messed-up flow of my day. Luca and I were in the middle of a video conference while I flew to Utah to deal with a mess at one of our factories.

The joy of having a Rossi jet meant I could fly in and out during work hours without Nellie being any the wiser. That didn't mean I was happy about having to take this trip.

"Give Greg my salutations when you see him," Luca teased.

I held up my middle finger. "Is this what you mean by salutations?"

"Now, now, Clara. Is that how a representative of the Rossi family behaves?"

I rolled my eyes. "As if you haven't been pictured stumbling out of clubs with a different model every night."

"Pffft. That was years ago—before Saoirse. You can't hold me accountable for anything I did in my twenties."

Back in the day, my brother had been a star of the gossip rags, so it was funny for him to now care about the Rossi image, even in the context of a joke. We both knew I wasn't going to be flipping anyone off but him. The image of our family's company was safe for another day.

"How convenient." I clicked on my inbox, horrified by how many emails I had to get through. "Is there anything else we need to discuss? I am going to need the rest of this flight to make a dent in my inbox."

He exhaled and shifted around as if uncomfortable. "Actually, yes. One of the emails is the preliminary financial report for Motor Zone."

"Oh?" If he was about to give me bad news, I understood his discomfort. "Are they not doing well?"

"I'm still going over it, but there was something that stood out to me. Up until last year, the company had been divided between Jeremy, Jake, their father, and a few family members. Grandpa Hayes left Jeremy fifty-one percent and scattered the rest around the family."

"Okay. What happened last year?"

"Jeremy sold ten percent of his shares to an investor—Roman Wells. It obviously brought in a huge flux of cash."

I sucked in air between my teeth. I recognized that name. Roman Wells had a reputation for sweeping in, investing in failing companies, then riding away with his profits once he turned it around—or sold his shares off to the highest bidder.

"Okay. How is the company doing overall?"

"The year before, they closed a hundred stores, but seem to have stabilized since Roman was brought in. It'll be interesting to see the reports from this fiscal year."

I chewed on my bottom lip, mindlessly clicking the end of my pen. "Are you considering backing out of the deal?"

He paused. "I'm not there yet. What do you think?"

I measured my answer carefully. Up until now, I'd been able to mentally separate my relationship from this potential business partnership, but now I found myself thinking about how my answer would impact Jake. "I'm not sure I should be the deciding factor. There's no way I can give an impartial answer here."

He raised his brows. "Are you recusing yourself?"

"This isn't a jury selection." I huffed a laugh. "But yes, I suppose I am. Keep me informed, but I'd rather not be one of the decision-makers unless absolutely necessary."

He nodded. "Second-guessing mixing business with pleasure?"

"No, I'm not."

That made him smile. "Wow. I'm all sorts of happy about that answer. Saoirse and I should have you two over for dinner soon." He pointed at me through the screen. "Not this weekend, though. I'm cutting out after lunch to head to the ranch for her nephew's birthday."

"Is he taller than you yet?"

He made a disgruntled sound. "He's getting close. I don't know what they feed their kids up in Wyoming. There's no reason an eight-year-old should be five and a half feet tall. No reason at all."

I laughed. "Don't get in fights with children."

"I won't if you promise to be nice to Greg."

That wiped away my smile in one swoop. I couldn't make any such promises. "Bye, Luca."

My meeting in Salt Lake City went as well as expected. Greg Thorne lived up to his name as the ultimate thorn in my side, and his assistant, Samantha, lived up to her reputation of being a cunt.

Greg danced around giving me the numbers I needed then hedged on allowing me to speak to workers on their break. As if my name wasn't on his check and all the parts fabricated at the plant he managed. As if he wasn't replaceable at the snap of my fingers. As if he could readily find another job at this level in fucking Utah.

When I reminded him of all this, his overgrown head filled with so much blood, I feared an explosion. There were pulsing veins in his forehead, eyeballs, neck…a nightmare.

Shira always found a way to look at the bright side of her days, so I followed her lead and did the same. In this case, the bright side was I now had the ammunition I needed to fire Greg. As soon as our lawyers completed the paperwork and we had a plan for his successor, it would be done.

Thomas would be pleased to know cunty Samantha would be going with her boss.

I leaned back in my seat on the plane and closed my eyes. There were a million things I needed to do, but it wasn't often I had the chance to just relax in the middle of the day. Once we took off, we'd be home in under two hours, and I would hit the ground running. After my torturous meetings, I decided I deserved a little rest before getting back to work.

I let myself drift…

Someone tapped on my shoulder, and my eyes flew open. I was disoriented at first, forgetting where I was. I expected to see Nellie, but the face of the flight attendant filled my field of vision.

"We're about to take off, Ms. Rossi. You'll need to buckle up, please."

"What?" My brows drew together, and I looked out the window. We were still on the ground, which was strange since I felt like I'd slept for quite a while. "What time is it?"

"Just past four." She smiled, her ruby lips curving over snow-white teeth. "We were worried we'd be grounded until tomorrow, but the storm over Denver passed in time for us—"

"It's past four?" I sat up in my seat. "I've been asleep for over two hours? How could you let me—how is that possible?"

She stutter-stepped backward, eyes wide with alarm. "You seemed so peaceful, and since we weren't going anywhere, I thought it best to let you get some rest. I'm sorry if that wasn't the right choice. I—"

I waved her off, too filled with worry to be polite. "I have some calls to make."

She nodded. "Of course."

"We'll be taking off imminently?"

"Yes. As soon as we're given clearance."

If we left right now, we'd be getting back to Denver at six—the same time Nellie's day care closed. I'd thought I had given myself plenty of padding in my schedule to get back in time, but it seemed I had been wrong.

I went to Luca's name in my contacts, intent on asking him or Saoirse to grab Nellie from day care, then I remembered they were already on the road to the ranch for the weekend. My parents would have picked her up in a heartbeat, but they were on a two-week Mediterranean cruise. And as stupid luck would have it, Marina was off for the week, staying with her son's family in Idaho.

Panic banded around my chest, squeezing tight.

I told myself this was okay. I might be a little late to pick her up, but her day care wouldn't abandon her. They'd make me pay a hefty fee, but that was fine.

I made a call to the day care, giving them the heads-up on my situation, then exhaled a heavy breath, attempting to calm down. But every minute that ticked by and the plane didn't move, my heart rate picked up.

The flight attendant kept checking on me, promising we would be leaving any minute. We were only waiting for clearance, but an hour passed before our wheels moved.

I couldn't be an hour late picking Nellie up.

My thumb hovered over the contact on my phone. I did not want to make this call, but I couldn't think of another solution. She'd be safe with Jake, I knew that, but would he agree to do this, or would I be crossing a line even asking? And if he turned me down, would I be able to forgive him?

Despite my fears, I pressed the call button. This was for Nellie. My fears could take a hike.

"Hey, mama," Jake answered smoothly. "It's a nice surprise to get a call from you."

"Jake, I—"

"What's wrong? Did something happen?"

"Yes. I've been in Utah for the day and my return flight has been delayed. I'm not going to be back in Denver before seven. I hate asking you to do this. I know you have Sage. It's just…there's no one else I can ask."

"You need me to get Nellie?"

"Yes." A gust of breath burst from my lungs. "I'm sorry for asking you. My brother and parents are out of town—"

"You don't have to apologize, Clara. I promised to take care of you, and this is part of that promise." He shifted modes, getting down to brass tacks. "Text me the details for her day care. I can send my assistant out for a car seat, but they've changed so much since Sage was little. I need to know the brand and style I should buy."

Tears welled in my eyes from relief and disbelief he was so willing to go the extra mile for me.

"I'll text you in a few after I contact her day care. They're incredibly strict, so I might have to send in a blood sample for them to okay it." I was only half-joking, but I wasn't laughing. I bit down on my bottom lip so I didn't cry. "Thank you, Jake. I didn't know what else to do."

"You did the right thing by calling me. I've got it handled. The only thing you need to do is text me those details and get yourself home safely."

I nodded, but he couldn't see me, so I squeezed out the words. "Okay. The plane's finally moving. It looks like I should be back by seven."

"Don't worry about a thing. Between Sage and me, we'll keep Nell-Belle entertained and happy until her mama shows up. I'll let you know when I have her, all right?"

"Yes. Thank you."

"I've got you, Clara."

"I know."

When we hung up, I finally let the tears escape my eyes. As the plane took off, I cried from my overwhelming mix of emotions. From Jake's easy caretaking and my difficulty believing it could be so easy, from feeling like a failure of a mother, for not being home for my daughter. And hating myself for carrying guilt over things outside of my control—the weather, choosing an unworthy partner to have children with.

I hadn't cried in a long time. After Miller went to jail, I'd cried gallons of tears. So much, my sobs became dry, hacking things, only producing clouds of salty dust. I hadn't let myself dwell on what I'd lost since Nellie was born and I'd pulled myself together, focusing on the riches I had instead. It had been the only way.

But Jake…he sliced straight through the binding I'd kept around my bucket of tears, letting them spill freely. The flight attendant took one look at me and offered me a glass of wine and chocolate. I turned down the wine, though it would have done a world of wonder for my shaking hands, but gladly accepted the chocolate.

Sometimes, chocolate cured everything. This wasn't one of those times, but at least it provided the distraction I needed to get me through the rest of the flight.