“Dad…”
“We have a meeting to get to,” he said, cutting me off. “We’ll discuss this later.” And with that he stormed out, gesturing for Jake to follow.
I stared down at the offending plastic before shoving it in my purse with a disgusted scoff. I’d deal with it later. My father was right, I had a meeting to get to, and work was something I was damn good at, and could control.
At least, I tried to.
My father went over the basics, seeking my opinion on everything, but delegating the biggest tasks to the men in the room. Each job that he passed me over for had my jaw clenching tighter and tighter. My father had groomed me for this position, made me strong enough to stand strong against any man in the business world, letting me know that as a woman I’d be looked down on—doubted and second-guessed.
But his fear of me being disregarded made him into one of the men that doubted me the most. I was his sharpest tool that he never used. Until I forced him to.
“Carina, please make sure you bring Mr. Kent’s paperwork to my office before you go,” he directed as the rest of the team filed out. “I’ll set up a meeting to discuss what steps need to happen next.”
“A meeting has already occurred, and plans are already in motion.”
“I told you I wanted to be brought in on this.”
“No, you said you wanted me to hand it over, and I told you that I’ve got it. Mr. Kent has made it clear that he is happy with my services.”
“But he’s not even using the full business team we offer.”
“Because he doesn’t need it.”
“Carina…” he sighed, dragging his hand through his hair. He already knew what I was going to say, but it didn’t stop me.
“Wellington and Russo is missing a big profit by not offering an individual marketing plan. Established businesses don’t need the analytics and restructuring. They need to expand to different locations that have different markets while still using their tried and true infrastructure. Just like Kent Holdings and his hotel expansions.”
He waved his hand, like my idea was a pesky fly that wouldn’t go away and stood to leave. “We don’t have time for this. Especially in your condition.”
“Dad, you’re not—” I rarely called him dad at work, but the room was empty besides Jake and me.
“You and Jake make a good team, and right now, it will stay that way.”
A low growl vibrated from my chest at his retreating back.
“Are you okay?” Jake asked from beside me.
I took a deep, cleansing breath, trying to expand the tightness restricting my lungs. “Yeah. He just pisses me off so much. He knows how good I am, but he still talks down to me.”
My muscles eased a fraction more when Jake’s hand slid over mine, giving a light squeeze. “You know I’m here for you if you ever need me. As your friend, not just your business partner.”
I turned my hand so I could squeeze his in return, giving a grateful smile. “Thank you.”
“As your business partner, I support you one-hundred-percent on your choices. If you decide to keep working on the Bergamo and Brandt project without informing your father, I back you.” I jerked my wide eyes to his. I may have been taking on clients under the table, so to speak, but I didn’t think anyone knew. “It passed my desk a few weeks ago, and I signed whatever needed signing,” he said with a smirk. “I believe in your ideas, Carina. And we are the future of Wellington and Russo. But right now, we don’t need to convince your father on an individual branch to continue with your plans. We can tackle that when things settle down. Until then, I’m by your side.”
A pinch squeezed my chest because the jaded part of me wanted to retort how he wasn’t on my side anymore. Instead, I leaned in and pressed a kiss to my friend’s cheek. “Thank you, Jake.”
He was right. We were the future of this company. Unfortunately, Jake came into his position of power earlier than me when his father died. But when my father retired, I’d take over his position, and I just had to bide my time to get what I knew was for the best.
“Now, get out of here before your father tries to corner you about the pregnancy again.”
I groaned. “I just found out myself. I can’t deal with him on top of it.”
“Are you okay?”
I froze at his serious tone. Slowly, I slid my bag over my shoulder and looked down at the man who used to be my whole world. It was amazing how much could change in less than a year. Now, I had a small speck of a bean growing inside me, and that deserved all of me—that deserved to be my whole world. As much as I didn’t want to admit it, my father was right about the timing. I needed to focus my attention on the task at hand.
“Yeah,” I answered with a slow smile. “I think I’m going to be great.”
I finished grabbing my belongings and rushed from the office. It was already after five, so today would be a rare day that I left before dinner.
When I got home, I grabbed my mail. A large manila envelope was crammed into my box. I scanned the delivery address as I locked the box up again. Curiosity got the best of me, and I tore into the envelope before the elevator doors closed. As soon as a dark head pressed over a naked breast caught my eyes, I quickly shoved the photos back into the file and clung tight to the package.
The elevator seemed to stop on every floor, and the photos burned hot in my hands. As soon as the doors opened on my floor, I ran down to my apartment and slammed the door behind me, tearing the photos from the folder.
In my haste, they scattered at my feet, like a black and white collage of the day I got pregnant. A CD case fell out last, but I ignored it. Instead, I dropped to my knees and my eyes glued to the top photo I hadn’t even realized had been taken. In my memory of the date, the photographer had never been there. It had just been Ian and me in that room. It had just been Ian on top of me, kissing me, touching me, making me hot, making me annoyed.
I forgot when he made me laugh.
But this photo had his smile buried in my neck, my head tossed back, and my mouth open on a laugh. I looked happier than I could remember. He looked happy. I pushed it aside to reveal the next one; my face tilted up to his, with my eyes closed. He stared down at me with a look of reverence and adoration I hadn’t felt in almost a year.
Tears burned the backs of my eyes again, and I knew I had to find him. I needed to do this with him.
I scrambled through the photos to find the shipping information. It took me three tries to type in the number for the photographer, hoping she’d give me his information. It rang three more times before someone picked up.
“Hello?”
“Hello, Sarah? You may not remember me. My name is Carina, and I was one of your clients. I’m looking for the name of the date that I had—”
“I’m so sorry,” she interrupted. “This keeps happening. Apparently, the person you’re trying to reach—Sarah—isn’t around anymore. She bailed and totally ghosted on her rent last month. I bought the location a couple weeks ago and ended up with the same number.”
My mouth flopped open like a fish out of water. “Ummm…do you know how to reach her?”
“No. But I’m sure the owner of the building sure as hell wished he did. Missing that money.”