“He doesn’t want you to be angry,” I whispered.
He held me a little tighter. “I know. I want to let it go, but it’s so fucking hard.”
I kissed his chest and gazed up at him. “Think about the love he had for you, all the love he created with your family. Don’t let your anger ruin that amazing gift.”
He shook his head, his jaw tight. “It’s so much easier to be pissed off.”
“You need to let it go, Ian, if you want to make room for the good things he’d want for you.”
“Like what?” His voice was barely a whisper.
I trailed my lips over his torso and along the ink that marked his pain. “Like love.”
Chapter Twelve
WILL
Thanks to Olivia, the event looked more like an opening at an art gallery than a ribbon-cutting. Music filled the air but didn’t interfere with people having conversations. Servers buzzed around, refilling drinks and offering gourmet refreshments.
I’d been going nonstop all week, and tonight felt like the culmination of many things. After months of hard work and a pile of my money invested, Olivia and her brothers were one step closer to making their dreams a reality. After spending the past several days poring over every page of fine print I could get my hands on at Reilly Donovan Capital, I could appreciate the Bridge siblings’ hard-won milestone even more.
I’d officially filled my father’s shoes. Even though I stood by my choice, every day my own dreams seemed a little further away than they’d been before I’d taken on the position. The lawyers were drawing up the papers, and in a few days I’d become the official CEO of the company, my fate sealed for the foreseeable future.
I didn’t have much choice though. As predicted, the news of my father’s indictment had dropped like a bombshell on the company. And, as promised, I had been there to field every call. The investors were angry, and the lock-up period on their investments pissed them off more, but it was the only lifeline I had. Nothing was certain, but I made promises I hoped I could keep—significant structural changes, attractive investment opportunities, and a future of stability and growth. I schmoozed and sugarcoated every morsel of good news I could until I felt like I had a handle on all the major players.
I had six months to deliver. But Frank Bridge was right. It wasn’t a lot of time to work with.
His advice had been sound. Reilly was undoubtedly a scumbag. Deep down, even my father knew it. Perhaps that had made him a shrewd and valuable business partner in their line of work, but a man whose morals were so askew had no place near the fund. I had to get him out, but I wasn’t sure exactly how yet.
As I ruminated on that, Olivia’s parents walked through the doors, their rigid figures clear through the flawless glass wall that separated the entrance from the rest of the building. As if immediately sensing their presence, Olivia went to them. I couldn’t hear their words, but even across the room, I could sense the unease. Olivia’s tense smile, her mother’s stiff posture, her father’s gaze shifting around the room like he’d prefer to be somewhere else.
I made quick strides toward them and held out my hand. “Frank, good to see you again.”
“Will.” He accepted it, shaking my hand firmly, but his expression revealed nothing.
“Oh, Will. I’m Diane, Olivia’s mother.”
Diane was Olivia’s height, with short silver hair and a severe glare under her forced smile. I answered with a warm one, determined to melt the ice queen who had produced the most amazing woman I’d ever met.
“It’s a pleasure, Diane. So glad you could make it.”
“Of course, I wouldn’t miss it,” she said, her lips forming a thin line, making me doubt her sincerity.
I had a feeling she wasn’t brimming with pride when it came to her sons’ career choices. Even I questioned why they’d take my money over their parents’ when it was so readily available, but I’d come to respect them more for it. I wouldn’t want to be operating under Frank Bridge any more than I wanted to operate under my father. Even if I’d been tasked with cleaning up the mess from his epic failure, at least I was working with some autonomy now, an option that had never been open to me before.
“Let me show you around, Mom.” Olivia hooked her arm with her mother’s, effectively splitting us up.
Diane lifted a flute of champagne off a passing tray and watched with a bored look as her daughter showed her around the facility. Frank lingered by my side, watching as I did.
“Her mother expects perfection,” he said flatly.
I lifted an eyebrow. “You don’t?”
He slid his gaze to me and then back to the humming crowd. “I expect it from you, not her. I want her taken care of, but I also want to see her smiling. My sons are intent on doing things the hard way, but at the end of the day, they seem satisfied. I hate to admit it, but she’s happier here with them than she was working for me.”