“I feel better. And I’m guessing it’s time to pass the baton.”
What’d he mean?
He jerked his thumb toward the window. “I’ll be the one getting groceries and you’ll be the one stuck inside.”
“Yeah,” I choked out. Sinking into the couch and losing myself in a game sounded ideal about now. “Um, we should set a budget. I’m currently unemployed.”
His brows lifted. “I guess that shouldn’t come as a shock, but it seems a bit like salt on the wound.”
“I doubt I’ll get my next paycheck.”
“Now that would be illegal, and you know how Mr. King likes to obey the law.”
I didn’t know if it was illegal. Adam probably didn’t either, but I was grateful that my brother had come around in time to help me through this. But then, it’s what he did.
“Speaking of illegal, remember that guy you were seeing whose bright idea it was to break into people’s houses and steal jewelry?”
It’d been a long time since I let myself think about him. “Yep.”
“Well, he texted me and said he’d leak to the news that you were the one who helped him and not me if we didn’t pay him a hundred thousand dollars.” I was about to shout a string of swear words when Adam looked at his phone. “So I took a screen shot. Then I sent it to him with a bunch of links on blackmailing and the legal ramifications. And then I sent him a picture of my middle finger.”
It was enough to get a chuckle out of me. “I’ve missed you.”
“You know what? I missed me too. The blackmail attempt was invigorating. I might use the spike of adrenaline to go outside.” He shrugged. “Then I’ll probably need a nap.”
He came over and helped me off the floor. I was afraid I’d topple him over, but his grip was strong.
I threw my arms around him. “I love you. You won’t have to carry me forever, but I need to nurse my wounds.”
“We’ll help each other through this. It’s what we do.”
Chapter 22
Beckett
It’d been three weeks and my chest ached each time I thought about Eva, which only happened every few seconds. Which was an improvement.
“You didn’t.” Xander eyed me over his tall draft beer. His head was shaking as he snagged another seasoned pretzel. “I mean I heard but I thought, no, man, I have to hear the whole story. There’s no way he lost his shit and broke it off.”
“Why wouldn’t I?”
“Don’t go on about that fake-marriage BS. You were crazy about her.”
“She’s a liar.” My venom was all-consuming, like it’d been the last few weeks.
His eyes narrowed like he didn’t believe me. “What about Grams?”
“I told her that I didn’t want to hear about trusts or marriage and I didn’t want Dad and Kendall to pay for my lack of nuptials.”
Xander whistled. “I think the last person to stand up to Grams was Mama.”
“I think it was Dad, actually. She tried to toss Kendall my way, hoping I’d fall for her and get married. I can’t imagine how the news broke that Dad had fallen for her instead. That he even went for it convinced me he was serious about her.”
Xander’s brows popped. “That almost makes me regret my stop in Indonesia. I’d give my left nut to see Dad light into Grams. She might’ve given you a reprieve, but she’s starting on me now.” He pulled out his phone and showed me the messages.
Anyone special in your life?
Do you know what next year brings? Wedding bells.
Not unexpected. “Did you hear the rest of the news?”
“Dawson forwarded the links. I was in Iceland or I would’ve flown back for like, moral support.”
“I didn’t need moral support.” But I could’ve used him around.
After the blowout at my house and kicking Eva out, it leaked that she’d been the one her brother had done time for. Allegedly. My only consolation was that it hadn’t been Terra reporting. In fact, I didn’t see Terra’s name on that news station anymore. Eva’s low blows had done some hull damage. I tried not to be proud of her.
Just like I’d tried not to watch those segments a thousand times.
The three apps I’d been in the process of buying chose other backers. It was a hit financially. A small one that my company would feel in the next year or two.
To salvage at least a good-guy reputation, I made sure to add more money to my holiday charity donations. And for my efforts I’d been invited to a charity supper tonight and caught with no excuse for getting out of it. That, and my new assistant could talk me into gigs that I’d never go to otherwise. Since Taylor was also excellent at damage control and had promised to go with me, I listened.
Xander finished a long swig of his beer. “Did Dad get ahold of you?”
“I called and talked to him. Told him everything.” After saying those words, I had to take a long pull of my own beer.
I wasn’t usually an alcohol-before-five-p.m. kind of guy, but the gravity of Dad’s voice over the phone… He’d been ashamed of me. But I couldn’t tell if it was because I’d lied to him or because I’d dumped Eva over the scandal. The charity supper tonight also loomed over my head. I hated those things. I loved donating, and wished I could do more anonymously. But King Tech’s brand had to be linked to it.
“You’re just too used to being Gooder. Dad will get over it. Besides, it’s been over a year and Aiden’s still married. He could’ve gotten rid of her. That’ll make Dad happy.”
True. Maybe my brother really loved Kate in his cold, robotic way. And Dad hadn’t seemed as worn as he was before the heart attack. His voice had been strong and he’d been astonishingly supportive.
“But I gotta ask.” Xander leveled me with a no-nonsense stare that rivaled Aiden’s. “What’s the big deal over all this Eva drama anyway?”
“She lied.”
“I lie all the time.”
“Your lies won’t take down my company, and we all expect it of you.” I was joking, but he flinched. “Hey, man. I didn’t mean it.”
“No, it’s just— You sound like Dad.”
“You take that back.” His comment gave me a little more insight into his relationship with Dad. “By the way, those pictures you sent were stunning. You should try to get published.”
“Right. I’ll think about it.” I recognized the noncommittal tone as a fresh way to tell me to stay out of it.
“So, I’ve got a function to go to.”
“And here I thought you dressed like that every day. Oh wait. You do.”
“Jackass.” I rose and straightened my vest under my suit jacket. “There are expectations.”
Xander sobered. “Just don’t let them rob you of everything you care about. You can’t wake up to expectations in the morning.”
“Actually, I can.” I woke up to cats every morning. Purring, cuddly cats expecting to be fed. They’d been the only thing I’d been waking up to for the last three weeks.
Rick dropped me off at the splashy downtown Denver hotel. The entrance was off a side street, and there were ushers waiting out there to direct esteemed guests like me into the charity supper.
“Mr. King, sir. Right this way.”
I wandered in, taking my time. Taylor was supposed to meet me here. My priority was looking for my assistant, the best hire I’d ever made. Even Wilma was put to shame under Taylor’s watch.
“Beck, I was getting scared you’d ditch me here.” The deep voice made me smile.
“Taylor, I’d never do that to you.”
He ran a hand over his dark shaved head, then straightened his tie. He wore a vest with a suit like I did, but his vest was a trendy shade of pink and his suit a sharp gray. He was my dad’s age but easier for me to be around than Dad. The guy could kill a spreadsheet and make any scheduling app cry. “I don’t know. You didn’t look too happy when I talked you into this.”
I wasn’t. I wanted to go home and play with the damn cats. All six of them. I hadn’t fou
nd homes for them yet and my housekeeper had suggested naming them. “To make things easier,” she had said, but I really think she thought names would make me want to keep them.
Kitty had been fixed and her litter—Orion, Dipper, Leo, Aries, and Ursa—had gotten their vaccinations. I’d taken them all to the vet. Alone.
“Where am I supposed to sit?”
“We’re at the reserved tables up front. We get the food first and everything.” He spoke out of the corner of his mouth as we took our seats. “I hope you never realize that I make you go to these things so I can get the VIP treatment by proxy.”
“You deserve the VIP treatment.”
Taylor led me to the table with our placards. On our way, local government officials stopped to chat, but mostly I could feel eyes on me, people who thought I looked familiar or maybe knew me from TV. Savory smells wafted across the room. My stomach growled, but I wished I’d eaten a burger and fries at the bar with Xander.
Awareness prickled along the back of my neck, though I didn’t see anything amiss. Just a bunch of people with money celebrating that they were able to give it away and then throw themselves a party. I never understood these things. Logically, I knew that they brought awareness to their charity and make the donors feel special enough to fork over more next year, but I’d rather just cut a check and spend the night at home.
With my cats.
God, I was fucking pathetic.
What had I done when I was single? It seemed so long ago.
The urge to scan the room again hounded me. Taylor was chatting up the others at the table and I missed the whole conversation. I let my gaze wander, wondering what was nudging my intuition.
Then I saw her. Eva. I should’ve seen her before, but like the rich asshole I was, my gaze had automatically skipped over the help.
Her back was to me, but I’d know that hair anywhere, the way she stood, her mannerisms. She was talking to one of her coworkers, pointing out tables. Would she serve mine?
Then she turned and our gazes clashed. For the first time in weeks, the lonely pit in my gut wasn’t so painful.
Her eyes went wide, then she turned and disappeared behind a dark curtain. And I was back to being empty.
“Excuse me.” I got up and went in the same direction.
“Beck,” Taylor whisper yelled. “The speaker is going to start soon.”
I waved him off and kept walking. In my periphery, people approached like they were going to strike up conversation, but the look on my face must’ve told them to back off. No one stopped me.
I reached the place in the curtain where she’d disappeared. In the shadows was a cleverly concealed gap between the curtains. Without thinking, I charged through the opening.
Darkness surrounded me, but I followed the light. It’d lead me to Eva. The bustle of activity got louder. As I was rounding the corner, I rammed into a cart full of plates.
“Shit.” Eva’s voice was a caress to the senses. She was catching plates of chicken parmesan and risotto from tipping off her end. “Watch where you’re going— Beckett.”
“Eva.”
Her gaze darted around, no doubt looking for another escape. A few of her fellow servers shot us curious glances.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
She didn’t answer, just looked down at her ruffled white shirt, black bow tie, and black slacks. “I need to get back to work.”
“Wait.”
She stopped rearranging the plates. A guy in the same outfit took the cart. “Move it or Carla’s going to lose it.”
He spun the cart around me and rushed out. Another server followed him. Eva scowled at a third cart and crossed her arms. “What?”
“What are you doing working? You made a lot of money in six weeks.”
“A month. I didn’t get paid for the last two weeks.”
What? Ah, shit. She had been in charge of approving payroll and Taylor wouldn’t have known that she needed to be paid. “I’ll take care of it.”
“Keep it. Donate it to the charity. I don’t care.”
“I pay my debts.”
She sighed and brushed her hair behind her ear. It was getting longer. I could run my fingers through it now. An ache beat a slow rhythm in my chest. “Don’t bother. I don’t want your money.”
“Why are you working here?”
“Because us degenerates need to make a living if we’re not going to thieve and rob people every weekend. The catering company was generous enough to give me my job back in spite of my face being splashed all over the news. Looks like you’re doing fine though.”
The hostility in her tone pricked my nostalgic bubble. What had happened between us was not my fault. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means that people like you get second chances. No one is going to remember Terra or her breaking story. Nobody’s going to care that the King Tech CEO slept with his assistant or that he compromised his rigid morals for her.”
“My company lost three bids.”
“And next month you’ll get three more. Meanwhile, I won’t get a raise until my six-month probation is up. I would’ve gotten one last month, but I quit to work for you.” She went to the cart. “Not every person who fucks up would beat someone to death if given the chance to misbehave again. You’re so proud of sticking to this unrealistic no-second-chances ideal that you don’t stop and actually see the people you throw away.”
“You want me to feel sorry for the guy that killed my mom?” Did she even hear what she was saying?
“Maybe your mother would have.”
She might as well have slapped me. “Don’t you dare bring her into this.”
“Why not? You bring her into all these decisions.”
A woman dressed like Eva but wearing wire-rimmed glasses and a jacket over her shirt spun around the curtain. “Eva, what’s taking so long—” She blinked at me, recognition flashing in her eyes. “Oh, Mr. King. They were just calling your name.”
This must be the Carla the other guy mentioned. “I missed it.” I didn’t care.
“Is everything all right here?” She looked over her glasses at my torso. “Oh, dear. You have sauce on your jacket.”
“It’s fine.” If the dry cleaners couldn’t get it out, I’d buy a new one. I wasn’t here to impress anyone. I was here because they were trying to impress me.
“Eva.” The woman’s voice rang like a bullet. “Those plates are cooling. We can’t serve guests cold meals.”
“Sorry, Carla.” Eva’s cheeks flushed, but she wheeled the cart between us. I didn’t want her to go, but it wasn’t like our talk was going well.
“My apologies, Mr. King. Please send the dry cleaning bill to us. Can I help you with anything else?” Carla’s tone was the opposite of how she spoke to her workers.
“No. And don’t worry about the jacket. I won’t.”
Weaving my way back to my table, I managed to keep Eva in my line of vision. She disappeared with her empty cart behind the curtain and I took my seat. The guest speaker had started, her voice carrying over the tinkling of forks on plates.
Taylor spoke out of the corner of his mouth. “You missed their recognition of your donation.”
His reprimand was clear and almost made me smile. He wasn’t worried about kissing my ass as much as protecting it. Disappearing during the moment I’d been invited for wasn’t a good look. And I didn’t care.
Eva’s words replayed in my mind. How dare she? She knew exactly why I ran my company the way I did.
I didn’t hear any of what the speaker said. My attention was ready to catch a glimpse of Eva, but I hadn’t seen her again since sitting down. I clapped when everyone else did and laughed at all the right moments, and when the speaker was done, I turned to Taylor.
“Eva didn’t get paid for her last two weeks of work.”
He cocked a brow. “And you’d like it paid out or absorbed into the company?”
“She did the work. She needs to get
paid.”
“I’ll take care of it in the office tomorrow. Are you going to run off again, or can I take you around to work the room? The mayor’s here, along with the folks you already spoke to, and I heard a state senator might drop by.”
“I don’t want to work the room.”
Taylor turned in his seat so the woman next to him couldn’t hear. “And may I ask why? This night could go a long way to getting the local news to lay off you. You risk upsetting some influential friends of yours.”
He had a point, but I still didn’t care. That seemed to be my motto for the night. “Eva’s working with the catering company.”
Taylor covered his sharp inhale with a drink of his water. “So that’s why you ran off. Do I need to do damage control?”
“For what?”
“You tell me.”
“It’s fine.” I hadn’t made a scene. Maybe some of her coworkers were wondering what was going on, but if they’d watched the news the last few weeks, they knew. Or maybe she’d told them. How close was she to the others? She’d never mentioned any friends.
What was she doing with herself? How was her brother? Was she back to working two jobs?
I rose again. Where was she?
“Dear Lord, Beck, don’t tell me you’re going to find her.” The exasperation in his voice should be enough to get me to stop, but I had to find her.
“Work the room and have my dessert.”
Taylor reclined back, kicking one knee over the other. “Don’t make that offer lightly. It’s cheesecake and I’ll eat everyone’s slices if they’re not looking.”
With Taylor mollified, I went searching for Eva. She wasn’t working the floor. I checked out each server while I made my way to the same curtained exit I’d ducked behind before, but none of them were her.
Going through the curtains, I made it to the staging area. The guy that had taken the cart from Eva was walking by.
“Hey, where’s Eva?”
He looked me up and down, his expression less than impressed. “She’s not here, man.”
“Why not?” Dessert still hadn’t been served. Didn’t they work the whole event?
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