“Not bad.” The yearly CISS company party had been scheduled for months in advance, and though this was a bittersweet event, Dylan was still glad he’d come. And yes, the turnout had been better than expected, considering the rumors that were currently winding their way through the company, some true, some speculation.
“Hopefully the weather will hold up,” his sister said, taking a step back and leaning against the railing, facing the others while Dylan continued to watch the choppy water of the lake beneath them.
“We might get lucky,” he stated, although he was beginning to have his doubts. Far off in the distance, he could see the rain bands.
“Let’s hope.”
He felt the tension every time she spoke to him, and he knew she was probably wondering if he was going to fall apart. Or perhaps she thought he already had and he was once again trying to pretend otherwise.
He wished he could tell her that wouldn’t happen again, but hell, Dylan wasn’t even sure himself. Sobriety happened one day at a time, and he was on day 1,156, yet sometimes it felt like day one.
With that said, he was here at the party to show that he was back in the game. It was another of his many efforts to convince his family and friends that he was working to keep himself out of the deep, dark hole he’d spent most of the last decade in.
He was trying at least.
“Glad Alex picked the restaurant over the boat,” Ashleigh tacked on, obviously realizing he had nothing to say.
Dylan’s business partner and brother-in-law, Alex McDermott, had wanted to have the party on a boat out on the lake for old time’s sake, but Dylan had convinced him to change it at the last minute. For one, it was January. Although the temperatures had been relatively mild, the wind had a bite to it, and it was not the time to be out on the water. The weatherman had been predicting storms all week, and the last thing he’d wanted was for them to be stuck out on a boat, so they’d settled on the waterfront restaurant where they’d had the party last year.
“How is Alex?” Dylan asked, glancing over at Ashleigh briefly. He’d yet to see Ashleigh’s husband since he’d arrived half an hour ago.
“He’s okay.” She let out a deep sigh. “I think it’s finally sunk in that this is a reality.”
And by reality, his sister was referring to the fact that the company her husband had worked so hard to build was in fact having financial hardship. One that, no matter how hard they’d tried over the last year, they weren’t able to recoup from. This would likely be the last company party for CISS, which was why Alex had been so adamant about having it.
“How’d the meeting go yesterday?” Ashleigh asked. “He didn’t tell me much.”
Dylan rested his booted foot on the bottom rung of the rail and shifted his stance to a more comfortable position. “Sniper 1 Security is willing to buy us out,” he told her. “It’s not a done deal, but Alex is finalizing the negotiations.”
Not that they had much room to negotiate. Dylan knew he played a big part in their company’s failure over the years thanks to his depression and the downward spiral from the booze. He’d accepted that responsibility, but it didn’t change anything. Alex didn’t seem angry, though Dylan knew his closest friend had every right to be. They’d gone into business together, had planned to do great things, and Dylan hadn’t lived up to his end of the deal, so yeah, Alex should’ve been pissed.
“I figured as much,” Ashleigh told him. “I hate pushing him on the subject because I know how hard it is for him right now.”
It was hard for all of them. They were trying to be as transparent as they could with their clients and their employees, while still working the logistics out with the owners of Sniper 1 Security, the largest security company in the nation. CISS had a lot to offer, especially when it came to corporate security, and that had caught the attention of Sniper 1, a company that focused more on personal security. The discussions had been slowgoing—nine months, in fact—but they were all finally accepting their fate. It was inevitable.
“Where’s Riley?” Dylan asked, looking around to see if Ashleigh had brought his niece to the party.
“She’s with Sierra and Hannah,” she told him. “They’re sittin’ this one out at home.”
“Needed a break, huh?” Ashleigh’s daughter was a handful. She was probably the cutest kid he’d ever laid eyes on, but she was at that age—having turned three in December—where she wanted to get into everything and didn’t appreciate anyone trying to rein her in.
“A little,” she said with a small smile. “I love her so much, but…”
“No need to explain.” He chuckled. “I get it. I’ve got two of my own, remember?”
Granted, his two were all grown up and on their own.
Sort of.
Neither of his kids were technically on their own yet, nor making their own way, for that matter. Stacey, twenty-three—not to mention rebellious like he’d been at her age—would be graduating from UTD in May and currently didn’t know what she intended to do past that. And Nate had decided at twenty-one that his associate’s degree from the University of North Texas was enough for him. Regardless of their education, both of them still lived at home with Pops, Dylan’s eighty-four-year-old grandfather, but, if you talked to either one of them, they were making it on their own.
Yep. Uh-huh. If on their own meant living in a ten-thousand-square-foot mansion, all expenses paid, including their tuition and brand new cars that Pops had insisted they have for Christmas last year.
Spoiled was what they were.
But Dylan accepted it for what it was. He was blessed with two intelligent children, and he wouldn’t change a single thing about them even if he could.
“So, have y’all shared the news with the teams yet?” Ashleigh asked.
“Not yet. We’ll be working on that in the coming weeks.”
“Does Nate know?”
Dylan nodded. “We sat him down last week and explained what was going on. Alex has informed Sniper 1 that it’s imperative they bring Nate and Jake on in the current roles they’re in.”
“And you?”
“I’ll be leaving the company,” he informed her. It had been a tough decision to make, but one that he needed to follow through with. It wasn’t that he enjoyed his job at this point, but he still had reservations about making big changes in his life. Dylan wasn’t fond of change, and starting over in his career at the ripe old age of forty-two gave him pause. But it had to be done.
“You haven’t changed your mind?” she asked, her smile once again forced. “I’m sure Sniper 1 could take you on if you wanted them to.”
Dylan shook his head. “I think having them take Nate and Jake on is enough.”
“How is Jake anyway?” she asked, briefly glancing his way, then back to the people around them. “I haven’t seen him in a while.”
“He’s—” Before he could get his response out, Ashleigh cut him off.
“Holy shit. Is that…?”
Dylan felt eyes on him and he turned in time to see… Holy shit was right.
He swallowed hard, standing up straight and placing one hand on the rail as he peered behind him into the ocean-blue eyes of the woman who’d haunted his dreams for the past three years.