By contrast, there’s something blunt and forceful in the way Caleb answers a question—he sounds as if he’d rather not be there at all—and it has me squeezing my thighs together beneath the notepad in my lap. Caleb-as-grumpy-asshole could be its own fetish category, and I’d pay money just to watch him in action.
Toward the end, they’re asked about work-life balance. Robert weighs in immediately because that’s his whole schtick. Family is everything. Values matter. Always make the responsible choice. He manages to say it so convincingly that I sometimes wonder if he’s just forgotten what he did.
“It’s vital,” he begins, and I roll my eyes. “My family is what’s kept me grounded all these years and gives me the reason I do what I do. Fortunately, I’m quite lucky to have both my children doing it with me now.”
I’ve heard him reference ‘both’ his kids so many times that it no longer makes a dent, but Caleb’s jaw is clenched. My phone, resting on my thigh, vibrates.
CALEB
I can set the record straight for everyone in this room. Just say the word.
I love that Caleb is willing to do that for me, consequences be damned, but I glance up and shake my head. I’d rather have people not realize my father has three kids than know he’s so ashamed of one he wants to forget her existence.
When the panel concludes, the moderator steps up to the podium. “Before everyone leaves, please note that there’s been a change to the schedule. ‘Employee Fitness and Community Building,’ in Ballroom A, has been cancelled. DeeDee Murray of Underwood Enterprises will discuss ‘Empowering Women to Take Leadership Roles’ in its place.”
I stare at him, confused. Employee Fitness was my presentation. I look at Caleb...who appears just as dumbfounded as me.
“What the hell?” Mark asks. “They didn’t tell you, did they? Because they sure didn’t tell me.”
“No,” I whisper, relieved and disappointed at once. I didn’t actually want to do the presentation, but it would have looked good on my resume, and I spent a lot of time getting ready for it.
We walk to the stage, where Caleb is talking to one of the conference planners. “That’s not an answer,” he snaps. “I want to know why the fuck it was cancelled and why she wasn’t given any advance notice. This is absolutely unacceptable.”
She looks toward me and then murmurs something to him, her eyes flickering toward me as she says it.
Caleb stiffens...and marches back toward the curtain my father disappeared behind seconds earlier.
“I have no idea what’s happening,” says Mark.
I nod in agreement, though I’m starting to put it together.
Because my session was mysteriously cancelled and replaced with a presentation by an Underwood employee, and Caleb just took off after Robert as if he’s going to kick his ass.
My father told them to cancel me. It wasn’t enough to erase my presence as a child. He’s doing it here, in a professional setting. Maybe he was worried I’d mention him if given a public forum—does he not realize just how much more public this could get? My mother signed an NDA. I haven’t signed shit. And sabotaging me professionally is not the way to keep me silent.
I run up the stage steps and push back the curtain just as Caleb’s fist slams into Robert’s face. The only thing keeping my father upright are the guys in suits behind him. I’m standing by Caleb’s side when he finally looks back at us, and there’s recognition in his eyes—which I guess makes sense given how much I resemble my mom.
This is a moment I’ve pictured a thousand times: the way he’d suddenly realize everything he gave up and the wave of remorse that would hit him afterward. But those were dreams I had as a kid, as a teen. I know they’re not going to come true now, and more importantly...I no longer care. This asshole let me shuffle from apartments to trailer homes my entire fucking childhood, let me scrape around for scholarships and financial aid to get my degree, and today he cancelled my presentation.
Caleb was right. I didn’t need to prove myself—I entered the world a better human than this man could ever be, and there’s not an apology in the world that could induce me to forgive him now.
“I hope you have a good lawyer,” my father says to Caleb while he wipes blood from his face with his sleeve, “because I’m going to sue you until you’ve got nothing left.”
That’s when I laugh, the sound a surprise even to me. He’s far stupider than I thought if he doesn’t realize how very, very easily I could destroy his precious “family is everything” reputation with a few choice words. “The responsible thing,” I snap, “would be to walk away as if this never happened. You wouldn’t want us all putting out our version of events, would you?”
“I won’t be bullied,” he sneers.
“Oh, it’s you who’s been bullied?” I ask. “Are you sure? We’ll see what the press thinks.”
His mouth opens, ready to spout off another threat...and I stare him down. I will tell the whole fucking world who I am and thus, who you are. And we both know you don’t want that.
Two tense, silent seconds pass before my father looks away. “He’s not worth it,” he says to the group with him. “Let’s go.”
“If there’s any fallout from this,” I add to his back, “any fallout whatsoever, we’ll be providing our own very detailed account.”
He stiffens, then continues walking. It’s only when I turn to Caleb and see the frown on his face that I realize I’m shaking. I feel like I might pass out.
He places a firm hand on my hip. “I’m not attending the luncheon,” he tells Mark, guiding me away.
“Caleb, you’re getting an award,” Mark calls from behind us.
“They should have thought about that before they cancelled Lucie’s session,” Caleb replies, leading me to the elevator doors.
“Where are we going?”
“Away from the crowd,” he says. “You look like you’re going to be sick.”
We squeeze into the crowded elevator, and I stare at our reflections in the gold-plated doors—Caleb, tall and handsome and certain; me in front of him, small and safe with my back to his chest, his hand resting gently on my hip to make sure no one bumps me.
Jeremy used to promise he’d do anything for me, but they were mere words—he never defended me once—while Caleb not only defended me today but put everything at risk to do it. If word gets out that he hit Robert Underwood, it could definitely mess up the merger.
He says he doesn’t want a commitment, that he doesn’t want the responsibility...but he behaves like a man who already has them. And the longer I stare at the two of us in the elevator doors, the less it matters to me that he refuses to be the prince in my fairy tale, that we want different things. Because this is already more than I’ve had with anyone else, more than I will ever have with anyone else.
The bell for the fourteenth floor pings and he leads me off, using his keycard to open a spacious suite. “I’m so sorry, Lucie,” he says, running a hand through his hair. “I’m sorry about what happened at work. I am going to make Mark your supervisor because I’m clearly in way over my—”
I grab his lapels, go onto my toes, and press my lips to his.
He’s stiff, shocked, frozen.
It’s the world’s least romantic, most mortifying kiss. I let him go, an apology ready. “I’m—”
The next words die on my lips as his hands wrap around my waist.
“Fuck,” he says quietly. “I always knew this dress would do me in.” And then he kisses me, hard. With intent. As if he’s waited a very, very long time to do exactly this. As if he’s waited most of his life, the way I have.
There is so much of him and not enough all at the same time. His tongue is in my mouth, his scruff rough on my skin, his erection digging into my stomach. More, more, more. My arms circle his neck, clinging for support, making sure he stays close. His tongue moves over my neck as his thumb slides over my rib cage, climbing higher. I gasp as the tip of his index finger brushes the underside of my breast.
“If you’re going to stop me,” he growls, “do it now.”
As if I could. There’s no version of me strong enough to tell Caleb to stop at this point. “I’m not.”
Beneath his palm, my nipple draws tight and he grunts low in his throat. “You’re sure?”