She smiled and gazed down at the obscene diamond that shimmered on her finger. “Me too.”
Not long after my Paris getaway with Olivia, Jia had gotten involved with a prospective client. Allen Easton was about ten years her senior, flush with cash, and a far cry from the usual cocky finance guys who seemed to swarm around her at social events.
After our affair had ended and Jia’s reputation had been on the line, something had changed in her. She still loved the game and the challenges of the industry. She still exuded the same sexy confidence that had drawn me to her. She wasn’t above using her charm to close a client, but as far as I could tell, she’d held a firm line between her personal life and professional life. Until Allen.
From day one, he was different, and she’d told me as much. Instead of trying to figure out the fastest avenue to get her into bed, he’d taken his time to win her trust. From what I could tell, he respected her well beyond her beauty and treated her as an equal. He gave her everything she’d worked so hard for, everything she deserved.
I was happy for Jia. I was even happier for Olivia. The pregnancy hormones weren’t doing me any favors, but Jia having a committed partner had noticeably calmed Olivia’s nerves, especially when it came to trips like this one. Leaving her for the airport at the start of this journey was possibly one of the most stressful experiences of my life. She didn’t want to let me go, and I would have given anything to stay.
But duty called, and this time it was closing a whale of an investor, a connection that Frank Bridge had facilitated. It was an opportunity that we couldn’t pass up.
The past six months at the fund, newly named Donovan Capital, had been anything but smooth sailing. While Jia and I continued to pull our weight, doing it against the periodic setbacks was taxing. Always two steps forward, then one step back.
I’d done what I’d agreed to do. I instilled confidence, drummed up fresh opportunities, and made healthy profits. Despite our best efforts, when the charges came down on my father and the others, many clients who were no longer obligated to stay with us left.
My father was charged and sentenced with twelve months in jail, what some thought was a paltry measure of justice. As the primary orchestrators and perpetrators of the fraud, Dermott and Reilly got hit the hardest, both being sentenced with five years.
While those charged paid restitution and had time to serve, we all knew the real justice was served when it came to their reputations. Their careers were over. Their lives would never be the same.
As the news died down, life returned to some semblance of normal. Jia and I continued to work hard and distinguish ourselves from the fund’s troubled past. The days were long, but the future was bright.
With Olivia to come home to and our baby on the way, I couldn’t ask for anything more. Life was as close to perfect as I could have ever imagined.
IAN
Olivia cursed Will all the way to the hospital.
“I can’t believe he took this trip. I told him not to. Goddamn him.” She gripped the handle on the door and hissed out a long breath.
I took her hand and held it tight while I steered with the other. “I know, baby. He’ll make it. Just breathe.”
“Drive faster,” she whispered as the contraction tapered out.
I hit the gas and silently cursed Will too.
Olivia was two weeks from her due date. The doctor had said with this being her first child, she was unlikely to go into labor before he got back. But Hong Kong was a long way away. Even though he was due back today, it would probably take a miracle to get him to the hospital in time.
“You called him?” Olivia had pain and worry written all over her beautiful face.
“I called him about twenty times and left as many voice mails. I’m sure I’ll hear back really soon. Don’t worry, okay?”
She nodded quickly, like she had too much on her mind to devote all her worry to Will’s absence. Then she squeezed my hand tightly. So tightly I thought she might break something, but she was the one in labor. We’d been timing contractions for hours, since the early morning. Then her water broke, and I prayed to everything holy that Will was somewhere in this country, getting off a plane, checking his fucking messages.
We got the suite at the hospital that Will had reserved for the inevitable time. Moments later, Liv’s heavily pregnant body was submerged into a deep tub designed for this very moment. She breathed through every contraction, clinging to my hand like she’d die if I let her go.
“You’re doing great,” I murmured.
But she only glared at me before another contraction took her focus completely away. I’d seen babies delivered before, but watching Liv go through this was way outside of my comfort zone. I couldn’t comprehend her pain or her determination to endure it without meds.
I was checking my watch again when my phone rang. “Hang on a minute. I’ll be right back.”