“Then you prove my point. You were an easy target.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Please. Can you just be happy for me? I want this.”
“Then you’re as foolish as your mother.”
My jaw clenched. “I guess I am.”
“You will get a nanny. You will find someone suitable to raise that baby so he doesn’t turn out like his mother.”
“I have a nanny.” I sighed.
Or I would have a nanny. Ron had already begun lining up interviews. We’d likely hire someone outside of Welcome, meaning we’d build another home on the property. There was time.
“Unbelievable.” Grandmother sat rigid behind her desk, her entire frame locked tight.
“Aria is a kind, loving person. I realize you two didn’t start off on the right foot. Ironically, she has as much tenacity as you. If you give her a chance, I’m sure you’ll get along.”
“She is trash, Broderick. Trash.” She made the statement sound like fact. The sky is blue. The oceans are deep. She is trash.
Except Aria Saint-James was not trash.
Nothing I said would convince Grandmother otherwise, so why was I here wasting my breath on a woman who was never going to change her mind?
I wouldn’t let her steal this joy.
“We’re done here.” I stood from the chair and walked to the door.
“Get back here. Immediately. I am not done speaking.”
I kept walking.
“Broderick.”
Aria had been right. My full name really was pretentious. Grandmother knew I preferred Brody.
“Broderick! I will sell this company. If you don’t deal with this woman and find a way to get her out of our lives, I will sell this company.”
I stopped walking and turned. “Aria is the mother of my child. She is in our lives whether you like it or not.”
“Get rid of her. Pay her to disappear.”
“No.”
“Don’t push me. I will sell.”
“No, you won’t.” For too long, she’d made that threat.
It was time to call her bluff.
“You won’t sell this company. You won’t sell Grandfather’s legacy. And you won’t threaten me with it again. This is my company.”
“Not yet, it isn’t. I’ll sell.”
“You can make that decision, but I truly hope you don’t. I hope you care about me and my future enough to give me the opportunity to prove myself.”
A flicker of guilt crossed her gaze.
Grandfather had stipulated she receive a monthly stipend as the executor of my trust. Knowing him, it had been a heavy sum, enough to tie her to his company. And she’d also receive a sum when her time as trustee ran out. Maybe he’d worried that she’d sell after his death.
I’d assumed that she didn’t need the stipend. And that if she sold, she’d receive more money for her own shares than the stipend and lump sum together. But maybe Grandmother’s personal finances weren’t as strong as they once were. Or maybe the offers for Carmichael that she’d bragged about had been greatly exaggerated.
Whatever her motives, I wasn’t going to stick around and listen to her shred Aria.
“Have a nice day, Grandmother.”
“Broderick.”
“I’m sure we’ll talk soon.”
“Broderick!”
Grandmother was still yelling as I shoved open the door and disappeared to my own office. I slammed the door shut and went to the windows overlooking the city.
God, she made life difficult. After my birthday, after she was out of Carmichael, I suspected Grandmother would mostly disappear from my life.
I just had to endure until my birthday.
What if I didn’t?
What if I walked away? What if I let it all go? The years and years of work I’d put into this place. Was it even worth it?
Yes. My vision was worth fighting for. So were the employees.
I could lead them and this company into a bright future. Just yesterday, I’d had a call with the CEO of a large communications corporation in California. It had been a casual visit, but we’d danced around a potential deal in the future.
So I’d deal with Grandmother’s dramatics and barked orders. I’d do it for employees like Erika, the head of human resources, who’d been working at Carmichael for twenty-eight years. She was eighteen months from retirement, and if the company dissolved before then, she’d lose the twenty-five-thousand-dollar bonus Grandfather had set up for employees who’d worked here for thirty years. That bonus meant Erika could move to Idaho and live closer to her son and grandkids.
I’d endure for Joshua, the head of security who’d started here as a custodian. He was a single father whose daughter was in college. He was determined to pay for her education and his job was the key to that dream.
I would deal with Grandmother for Matt because that poor guy was her third personal assistant this year. He’d just graduated from college and this was his first job. I’d asked him once, after witnessing Grandmother tear into him for getting her coffee order wrong, why he wanted to work at Carmichael. He’d told me his young wife was undergoing chemotherapy and no other job he could find offered such comprehensive health insurance.
Erika, Joshua, Matt. They were all trapped in their jobs.
And I’d stay trapped in mine.
“Brody?” A knock came at the door and I turned from the window as Laney, my second assistant, walked into the room with a stack of papers in her hand. “Your two o’clock is early. Would you like me to show him to a conference room to wait? Or would you like to get started early?”
“I’m ready. Send him in. And let’s see if we can move up or cancel my last meeting. I’d like to get home before dark.”
“Of course.” She smiled, more brightly than normal. Probably because I’d told her this morning that I was going to be a father. She’d been especially smiley since.
I wasn’t close to Laney like I was Clara. She lived in Vegas, so we didn’t see each other as often. I’d never consider her a personal friend, but she was a nice woman and a fantastic employee. She had two young kids who attended our onsite daycare for employees.
The remainder of my meetings went quickly, and I was able to get out of Vegas an hour earlier than planned. When the plane’s wheels touched down in Welcome, I breathed and unknotted my tie.
I’d stripped it off completely, along with my jacket, by the time I parked in the garage at home. Ready for dinner and a long night worshiping Aria’s body, I opened the door to a loud crash.
“Aria.” I ran toward the source of the noise.
Another crash. “Shit.”
“Aria!” A cold gust of air hit me as I rounded the corner and rushed toward her bedroom.
The patio doors were open. Beyond them, the pool shimmered in the March evening light. The sunsets had been beautiful, and two nights ago, Aria had insisted on sitting out by the pool, bundled in a sweater and wool socks, to watch the colorful show.
Her room was cold and empty. I checked the bathroom, where I’d left her this morning, but it was dark. Another crash echoed from the hallway and I jogged to the room next door.
And there she was, standing in the middle of a mess. Boxes were strewn across the floor. A crate had been ripped open with the hammer and pry bar clutched in her hands. The crate’s paper stuffing had exploded through the room.