I nod and brace myself for her rebuke.
“If you want to lead this company, you will have to put it first.”
“I know. And I have.”
She holds one red-tipped elegant finger up to silence me. “You have not, Tyson. But it’s not your fault. I’ve lied to you about your father, and in doing so, I didn’t allow you the benefit of learning from his mistakes.”
The hairs on the back of my neck stand up, and what feels like an entire shiver of sharks start swimming in my stomach.
“What mistakes?” I ask. Because my father, Lucas Wilde, was the Patron Saint of Wilde World’s dynasty.
A small smile lifts the left corner of her mouth, and her eyes lose their intensity. “Have you heard the phrase Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind?”
I’m at once confused and fucking terrified. I nod. “That’s a movie, right?”
Her eyes narrow. “The movie’s title comes from a poem by Alexander Pope titled ‘Eloisa to Abélard.’ It’s meant to be a letter from a woman in the thirteenth century to the priest she fell in love with. When they were caught, they were separated, and the church punished him with castration and cast him out.”
I clench my thighs. Is she threatening to cut my nuts off? “What has that got to do with me?”
She laughs wryly to herself. “Your father loved that poem. He was such a romantic—he believed in second chances and clean slates. I think before he died he believed he’d have one with you all. I tried to give him that. Now I see that there is no clean slate when you break things beyond repair. There’s only whatever you can cobble together. And people will always be people. I can’t expect you to be something you’re not.”
I run my hands over my face to stifle a scream. “What are you talking about?” And can I fucking sit down? The way she’s talking is making me feel like my legs might not hold me. “Are you saying my father left us?”
“Yes, for another woman. For love. But he didn’t just leave us, he walked away from Wilde World, too.”
I don’t give a shit what she says, I sit. I drop my head into my hands and try to make sense of what she’s saying.
“Yes, just months later when we got word that he was missing and presumed dead, we did what we thought was best for the company, and the family. We rewrote that little blip in his history. Preserved his name and built a brand using his memory.”
“You make it sound like nothing,” I say, incredulous.
“It wasn’t nothing, Tyson. But I’d already lost my husband, I wasn’t going to lose everything I’d worked for, too.”
“I see” is all I can manage.
“You’re so much like your father. A romantic. I know you want to succeed me one day, but I don’t think you’re made for it.”
I stand up again. Her words are like an astringent on my nerves and my worry. “Of course I was made for it. Just like he was.”
“He wasn’t. I’m not saying you can’t be successful, Tyson. But the reason I’m alone isn’t because I’m not interested in a life partner. Yes, I got married and had children…but I also believed in the vision your father had for this company. So I’ve given my life to it because that’s what it takes. I’m built for it. “
“So am I.”
“If you want me to believe that, you’re going to have to do better than what you did last week. You put your feelings first, and look what it’s cost you.” I flinch at the way she characterized it. “Your rightful place.”
I’ve heard people talk about out-of-body experiences, but I’ve never understood until this moment.
As my mother explains how the team I built this year will be redistributed to new roles and how my promotion will be deferred for a year, I feel like I’m watching it rather than experiencing it. My mother’s lack of emotion is a stark contrast to the cyclone of emotions ripping across my face as her words sink in. But all I feel is a rush of adrenaline from the challenge she’s laying at my feet. My nickname in school was The Daredevil. Tell me I can’t, I’ll show you why you should never underestimate me.
Being raised in the shadow of great people might have made an ordinary man insecure. But I’m no ordinary man. I’ve gone from runt to top dog once, and I can do it again. I’ve earned the right to the name. And if she thinks she can take it from me, she has another think coming.
1
I Dare You
Tyson
Ten Years Later
“You’re not still thinking about moving to Paris, are you?” my older brother Remi’s question breaks a very comfortable silence we’ve been sharing on his back porch.
I roll my head in his direction and let out a long-suffering sigh. “I was in a good mood, man, can you not ruin it with talk about that?”
“I know you decided to apply after you didn’t get the promotion. But I’m just saying, after Mom’s announcement tonight—”
I hold my hand up to stop him. “Please, don’t say another word.”
“Merry Christmas, bro.” Remi’s heavy hand comes down on my shoulder in a good-natured slap.
Surprised, I glance at my watch. “Oh shit, it’s after midnight.”
“And that is way past my bedtime.” With a weary sigh, he hoists himself to his feet and yawns.
“Marriage is making you soft, man,” I tease him, but my chuckle is cut off with a yawn of my own.
“But I can still kick your ass.” He grins down at me. “And I’ve got a fine woman, who I get to keep all to myself, waiting up for me because she can’t fall asleep if I’m not there.”
I pick up the sweating tumbler from the table next to my chair and swirl the remaining slivers of ice at the bottom. “I hope you think it’s worth it when you wake up at the crack of dawn tomorrow to put on that stupid suit and play Santa for a bunch of farting, ungrateful kids for two hours.”
“Oh, I’d wear it every day for a year if it meant I could have her.”
I shake my head in dismay. “How the mighty have fallen,” I quip.
He chuckles. “I can’t wait for it to happen to you.”
I snort a laugh. “Don’t hold your breath. I’ve got miles to go before I’m ready to think about that.”
“And the best part is, you’ll never see it coming.”
“I’ve got a plan. If I can’t see it, it can’t see me.” I throw back the watered-down whiskey and ice and reach for the snifter of liquor.
He snatches it out of my way. “That’s the last thing you need, lightweight.” With a warning glance, he walks back into the house, leaving me alone with my empty glass and heavy thoughts.
And they wonder why I want to move. They can’t stop seeing the scrawny runt I was and reminding me that no matter how old I get, they’ll never believe that I can take care of myself, much less the family’s legacy.
I glance around the dark spot-lit backyard of my brother’s house. It’s big enough for a pool and a patio and has a section that I know will eventually play host to a swing set or treehouse.