Relief blanketed me. My breath shuddered as I inhaled, my throat tight. “Thank you, Hudson.”
Needing to get out of there before sentimentality took over, I stood. “I’ll make arrangements with your secretary. No need for us to have any further contact, as far as I’m concerned.”
“I appreciate that.”
I beelined for the door and was halfway to escape when he called after me. “Celia.” He waited until I turned back around, and it took a beat because I had to gather myself first. When I did, his eyes grazed my belly. “Congratulations on your pregnancy. I once thought you’d make a good mother.”
Tears pricked at my eyes as the past slammed into me, bringing vivid memories to mind. We’d been friends. And he’d hurt me. So I’d hurt him. Then the pregnancy. And he’d claimed it. And I’d lost it. So I’d begged him for an escape. And he gave it while I’d given him companionship.
We’d been bad to the people around us. Really, really bad. Bad to each other, as well. But we’d been good to each other too. When both of us had needed it most.
No matter what else between us, we had that.
My vision blurred, I nodded toward the framed picture on his bookshelf of him, his wife, a baby in each of their arms, a little girl tucked into his side. “Congratulations on your own little family,” I said, amazed my voice didn’t crack. “I once thought you’d make a good dad.”
I went straight from his office to the bathroom, planning to schedule the meeting with Trish on my way out, when I was composed.
Now, though, I needed a minute to myself. Locked in the privacy of a stall, I let the tears fall. Tears I couldn’t quite explain. I wasn’t sad. I was a bunch of other things all rolled into one, a muddy mess of too many emotions to name.
It felt good to let them out, the way it felt good to pull out a fresh clean sheet of paper. A blank slate. A place to start anew.
Edward had said I’d needed closure with the man who’d taught me how to play. It was why he was so determined to find out his identity, because he wanted to seek out that closure for me with hellfire and brimstone and revenge.
But this was what I’d needed. Just this. Just today.
My story with Hudson was over.
Now I could shut the book and move on.
Five
Edward
Hagan leaned over to whisper something to me.
Whatever he said, I couldn’t hear it above the pounding in my ears. I was seething. Violent rage surged through my veins, my vision flashed with white hot anger, and there was absolutely nothing I could do about it but sit and continue to listen to the presentation being given to me in the conference room at Pierce Industries.
Pretend to listen, rather.
I’d stopped hearing much of the details after I’d got the general gist of the whole thing. In a nutshell, Pierce Industries proposed that Werner Media and Accelecom enter into a three-point alliance, and that, when Warren Werner stepped down, the CEO position should be handed to Nathan Murphy.
Nathan Fucking Murphy.
A man with credentials, yes, but not a man with my credentials. No matter what his experience, he was not the right man for the job. For the last twenty minutes he’d been sharing his plans for the company, and except for the idea of the alliance—which was clearly not his own—not a one was new or visionary. I’d given Pierce a missive with a dozen more innovative proposals. He knew that Murphy was the inferior choice, and still he chose to sell it to Warren, knowing the old man would jump on a Pierce-backed proposition in a heartbeat.
Hudson hadn’t even had the nerve to introduce the idea himself. He’d left it to his brother, Chandler, a kid, fresh out of college, with less experience than Hagan.
Worse? Genevieve had a hand in it as well.
Not only did she hand over Accelecom numbers and strategies, but she’d assisted in leading the hour-long presentation that was just now coming to a conclusion. I’d known she was spending time with the younger Pierce and had even suspected they were growing close, but never had I imagined she was drumming up the idea of an alliance that would effectively kill the merger that Warren and I had discussed.
Again Hagan whispered something at my side.
I blinked, clearing my vision before I leaned in to better hear him.
“...not what we were after, but it’s better than nothing. At least they didn’t leave Accelecom in the dark. It’s a rather good compromise.”
What had Celia said was the recipe for a perfect compromise? None of the parties walked away satisfied, something to that effect. Well, from the look on the faces of those around me, the only one dissatisfied in this particular arrangement was me.
This didn’t feel like a compromise. This felt like a giant fuck you.
Except, I was having a particularly difficult time figuring out just who had done the fucking.
I looked at my daughter, smiling confidently as she expertly answered a question from Pierce’s financial analyst. A burst of pride swelled out of the midst of the cacophony of rage and betrayal inside me. She’d had a part in this, but I couldn’t blame her for selling me out. I hadn’t treated her any better, holding her at arm’s length, refusing to let her really sink her teeth into the job I’d given her, forcing her to try to stand out on her own. In many ways, I’d given her no choice but to go prove herself elsewhere.
And, by God, had she proven herself, presenting an attractive strategy to men and women who had far more experience than her under the belt. She’d been bloody brilliant, and I couldn’t take any of the credit for that.
Hagan nudged me again. “We could run this from London, even, which is a plus. Less manpower than a merger. Less risk, too. Merging with Werner while all this business is happening with Ron Werner isn’t necessarily the wisest of moves.”
I turned to face my son as I digested his words. There was logic in them, and from the point of view of the CEO and owner of Accelecom, a merger right now probably wasn’t in the company’s best interest.
It was from the point of view of Celia’s husband that losing Werner mattered. That company belonged in her family. She may have done things that had forced Hudson to take control like he had, but he was well aware that he could still keep that control with me in charge. I’d made sure he understood.
“Look, Dad,” Hagan said, his tone more direct. “Pierce could have shut us out all together. We could be going home empty-handed. We should look at this as a win.”
I studied him, blinking again as I began to come to my senses. There was no betrayal. This was business. This strategy was sound. Had I been in Pierce’s position, this was a move I likely would have made myself.
Honestly, I may not have even been this generous.
“I wonder if it was Genevieve who had a hand in looking out for us.” I turned my attention back to her as I rubbed my thumb along my bottom lip. I’d failed her, hadn’t I? She was smart and savvy and stunning, and even when I’d failed to lift her up, she’d made sure I was taken care of.
I didn’t deserve her for a daughter.
And, Christ. I had another one on the way. How long before I failed that one too?
My thoughts were interrupted by the shuffle of chairs as those around me stood. The meeting was officially over. For a brief second, I imagined ducking out without having to speak to anyone, but before I could really begin to entertain the idea, Warren, still seated, nudged me with his elbow.